"To whom it may concern:
If you wish to enter this apartment, you must come bearing chocolates. Preferably Stork's Orange Creams, but we will be accepting other types of chocolates as well.
Please and thank you,
Bridget Foster-Riley and Linda O'Shea."
Danny groaned and rolled his eyes, "fine." He walked away and back down to his car. Apparently, he needed chocolate.
He hoped Linda didn't start thinking that he hated her, and wouldn't be coming. He had been with her enough times during her period to know that her outlook was pretty grim.
*********
"Sorry I'm late," Danny sat on the bed next to her. He pushed her hair back, and she kept her eyes closed. "But apparently, I had to go get chocolate, or I couldn't enter."
Linda smiled; that would be her roommate's doing. Brie was very sweet, but she was also a total weirdo. That was probably why Linda liked her so much. "Thank you."
She tugged on his shirt, "come snuggle."
"Don't you want the chocolates?"
She shook her head, "snuggle."
Until the cramping stopped, she was usually of little words.
"Okay," he put the chocolates on the nightstand. Then he rounded the bed and snuggled behind her. He could tell right away she was super tense. He made sure his arm wasn't resting on her hips or stomach. Only ribs, which meant it was dangerously close to her breasts, and he was trying very hard not to think about that.
Linda squeezed his hand tightly, surprising him. She whimpered as pain rippled through her body.
"Do you want one of your stuffed animals?" He asked. He knew Linda liked holding onto things, and maybe it'd save his hand.
She nodded, holding her breath and biting her lip.
"Okay, hold on." He got up and picked the pink monkey he won her at the fair from the shelf. He put it in front of her, "here you go."
"Thank you."
He kissed her cheek, but didn't say anything. What could he say other than sorry?
*********
It was an hour before Linda had to get up, when she woke up. She was sure she was rudely woken up by her damn cramps, like she had been all night long. She could tell she needed to change her pad, but that required walking. Eventually, she convinced herself to get up and go to the bathroom.
It was light enough out that she didn't need to turn on the light— besides, she had been doing this monthly since she was eleven. She could absolutely do it in the dark. But after she took her pad off and threw it away, she realized she had bled through. She groaned and dropped her head into her hands, immediately crying.
Danny's going to hate me now, she thought pathetically. If she bled through her pad and onto her pink pajama pants, then she bleed onto her sheets as well. And now Danny wouldn't want to be with her, because she messed up... despite having no control over this thing whatsoever.
(What could she say? The first two days of bleeding, she was hardly rational).
She cried a little, but forced herself to stop. She couldn't sit any longer, and she needed the cushy softness of her mattress. She finished in the bathroom, then headed back to her soft bed. When she pulled the sheets back, she noticed she had bled... a lot.
Why wasn't she over this by now? She was twenty years old— she shouldn't be bleeding through her clothes like an inexperienced eleven year old! She was screaming at herself in her head as she expertly avoided the stain and cuddled up with Danny again.
When he didn't move his arm to hold her, she started crying. He doesn't want you anymore.
Danny, being a very light sleeper, woke up almost as soon as she started. "You're crying," he stated the obvious.
If she didn't feel so pathetic, she would have given him an utterly sarcastic response.
"Why?"
"Why do you think?" She choked out, coughing.
Danny hugged her, "I'm sorry, Linda. This sounds so terrible."
She didn't understand that he meant her situation. She thought he was going to say something awful, like he wouldn't be with her anymore because she was crazy. She cried harder at the thought.
********
By the time she finished crying, it was almost time to get the day started. "I have to go," she said sadly.
"You can't go out like this. You're—" he stopped himself from saying crazy. He knew she'd take it the wrong way. "In too much pain. You have to stay here."
"I have to work."
"I'm sure Pam can get along without you for a day. Call her so she can fix the schedule."
Danny stood and grabbed the phone, then handed it to her. He sat on the bed and waited patiently for the call to finish. Based on what Linda had said about Pam, canceling like this shouldn't be a problem. She was sympathetic, and could relate.
Danny put the phone back on the opposite nightstand. "What do you want to do?"
"You can leave," Linda said out of the blue. She sounded so sad.
"I have to leave for work, but not that's not for many hours."
Danny was back for good now, and he'd been job hopping a little bit. He worked on cars for a while, now he bar tended. He was still waiting on word from the construction company.
"I meant forever."
"Forever? Why would I do that?" Then his stomach dropped through the floor. "What're you saying, Linda?"
She sniffed loudly, then threw the covers back. She gestured to the red stains on her pants and the sheets. "Just go!"
"What the hell are you talking about, Linda?"
She swallowed, "you hate me for bleeding like that. You're mad."
"Don't put words in my mouth," he said, a little annoyed. "I'm not mad that you... bled like that. You can't control it. If you could, you'd never have one again."
That was the truth.
"Why would I get mad?"
She chewed her lip, "my Mom used to get upset with me if I bled on my clothes. When I asked her not to be mad about it, she yelled at me. So you can too." It seemed as though she didn't hear all that he had said.
"Linda," he grabbed her hand. "I'm not going to yell. That'd be like... hell, I don't know. Yelling at someone for having allergies."
The tiniest hint of a smile pulled at her lips, and he continued, encouraged.
"It doesn't ma— bother me that you have accidents like this. It's why God made Oxi-Clean and washers and dryers."
That earned him a bigger smile.
"Honey, if I ever get mad about this, you can slug me. Okay? I promise."
Linda sniffed, "okay. Sorry."
"It's okay."
"My hormones are whacked; I'm not thinking straight."
"I know," he gives her a kiss. "What would you like for breakfast? I can do eggs, bacon, pancakes, or drive somewhere and get you something."
"I'm not hungry." Then a beat later, "where'd those chocolates go?"
He laughed, "eat your chocolates, and I'll take care of your sheets and pajama pants."
"You are seriously the best, you know? Most guys would hide from me now."
"I'm not most guys."
That was very true, on many levels. "I love you," she placed her hand on his cheek.
"I love you more," he booped her nose, which made her smile. (Boy he was on a roll this morning. Usually he couldn't get smiles out of her during the first two days).
"I love you most. And I'm so glad I'm marrying you."
