𓈊 A Poppy By Any Other Name

Act XXXI

"No," she huffed, moving away. She sniffled and attempted to wipe her wet eyes on her shoulder. "No, I get it. You hate me."

"Oh my god," Joel muttered, running a hand down his face. "Liz, I don't hate you-"

"I'm going to go have my dinner with Grian," she interrupted, "and you can ask him if he wants you to eat with us. I don't care." With one last huff, she turned around and stormed off, leaving Joel by himself again.

"Are you okay?" Grian asked when Lizzie walked in.

She stopped and gasped. "Oh, I forgot to get medicine," she said. "Ugh, and the tea, too-" Sighing, she handed Grian the two bento boxes. "Here, the red one is for you. You can go ahead and start eating while I go get you some medicine, okay, hun?"

Grian blinked, slightly confused. "Uh..."

"I'll be right back." After kissing Grian's forehead, Lizzie rushed out of the room, nearly hitting her shoulder on the doorframe. "Joel," she drawled, peeking her head into the kitchen. "Where do you keep your ibuprofen?"

Joel gave her a confused look. "Ibuprofen?" he repeated. "For what?"

Lizzie groaned. "For Grian's fever, you nut job," she said, rolling her eyes. "Where is it?"

"Don't give him ibuprofen," Joel said as he came around the island counter.

"Why?"

"Rebound headaches."

Lizzie nodded in understanding, and her eyes followed her boyfriend as he slid past her to reach into the linen closet, where he had a small bin filled with packages of Band-Aids and over-the-counter medications.

"I should have some aspirin in here somewhere," Joel mumbled as he rummaged around in the basket. "Aha!" He pulled out a small bottle and shook it. "'Bout half full," he guessed before opening it. "Yep."

Sighing, Lizzie held her hand out. "I'll take it to him," she said.

Joel was hesitant giving her the bottle, staring blankly at her for a moment. "Only give him one," he said softly, looking away. "These ones are pretty strong."

"They look big." Lizzie scrunched her nose as she peeped into the bottle to look at the pills.

"He should be fine to take them."

Shrugging, Lizzie didn't object. "Well, thanks," she said, though not sounding very grateful. "Do you still have that tea? He'll need something to drink with it."

Joel shifted. "Uh, yeah," he answered. "I'll go get it." He walked into the kitchen, Lizzie following behind. The two cups were still on the counter, but the kettle had been put back on the cooktop to reheat. Joel reached for the kettle after dumping the now cool tea from one of the cups, carefully pouring the much warmer water into it.

"Don't put too much," Lizzie said, startling Joel. "I'll have a hard time carry-" She gasped when Joel fumbled with the kettle, hot water spilling out of it as he tried to regain his grip. "Joel-"

"Fuck," Joel hissed as the water dripped onto his foot, burning his skin through his sock, and he dropped the kettle, the ceramic shattering into pieces. "Goddammit-"

Lizzie jumped away immediately, doing her best to avoid the hot water. "It was ceramic?!"

Joel let out a frustrated growl as he ran a hand over his face. "Yes, it was ceramic," he bit out through gritted teeth, "it was a gift from your mother!" Lizzie mouthed a silent 'oh,' recalling Josephine giving Joel the kettle after teaching him how to use the cooktop. "And wy is the fact that it's ceramic what you're worried about?"

"Well, I didn't expect it to shatter," Lizzie said in defense, raising her voice slightly. "I'm sorry I didn't know-"

"You seem to not know a lot of things, huh?"

Lizzie stared at Joel a moment before scoffing. "What is your deal?" she asked, incredibly irritated at how rude Joel had been since she got there. "I get that you're upset, but I'm your girlfriend! You should be talking to me, not screaming at me!"

"I'm not screaming!"

"You're raising your voice, it's practically the same thing!"

Joel rolled his eyes. "Well, you're certainly one to talk, now, aren't you?" he spat. "You aren't being particularly nice either if you hadn't fucking noticed."

Lizzie huffed and crossed her arms over her chest. "Well, at least I'm not an asshole and I take care of the people that I give myself the responsibility of taking care of, unlike you, who ignores the-" She cut herself off with a gasp, her head suddenly facing the hallway and her cheek stinging. She could see Grian standing with a hand over his mouth.

"Did you just hit her?" the dirty blonde asked, his voice shrill and cracking, and Joel whipped his head around to look at him.

"Fuck, Grian, I-"

"I'm fine, Grian," Lizzie interrupted with a soft smile, earning herself a glare from Joel.

Grian didn't seem to believe her. "Get away from her," he said, staring angrily at Joel from his place in the hallway.

The brunette looked back over at Grian. "Bud-"

"Get away from her!"

Grian's shout caught Joel off guard and he stepped back. "I'm getting away," he said softly. "I'm sorry."

Lizzie scoffed. "No, you're fucking not," she grumbled. She sighed and set the bottle of aspirin onto the island counter before glancing down at the gold band on her finger. I hate to do this in front of Grian, but... She slipped the ring off and placed it on the counter, then grabbed the green bento box that was meant for Joel. "You can feed yourself, you prick," she said, making sure to keeo her voice down so Grian didn't hear. "And you better take care of Grian, or so help me, I will skin you."

Joel opened his mouth to respond, but before he had the chance to say anything, Lizzie was turning on her heel and making her way toward the door.

"You're leaving?" Grian asked quietly. Lizzie's heart broke at his sad tone.

"I'm sorry, babes," she whispered, shrugging into her coat. "Call me if you feel unsafe, okay?"

Grian looked like he wanted to say something but ultimately didn't as he nodded slightly.

"I love you."

"Love you," Grian murmured.

With that, Lizzie blew a kiss to Grian, who smiled slightly and lifted his hand to pretend to catch it, and left.