"Imogen?" I caught my wife's attention and she looked up from her laptop with a smile.
"Hey, babe. You okay?" Her smile faltered a little when I shook my head. She pushed her laptop and papers aside, patting the seat beside her. "What's wrong?"
"I don't know." I sat beside her and let her pull me close, my legs draped over hers.
"You seemed pretty worked up when you came home from work. Did something happen there?"
"Kind of. I don't know what exactly happened, though." I laid my head on her shoulder and watched as she gently began to rub circles into the palm of my hand with her thumb.
"Tell me about it. Maybe just talking about it will help."
"Well, I've noticed that Charlie's been a little drawn into himself so when I had a free period I went to talk to him, ask him about it." I started, speaking quietly as if that would make it better. "He claimed he was fine but then he said something that surprised me." Thinking back to Charlie's words from earlier in the day, I felt tears in my eyes again and I sniffled a little, burying my face against Imogen's shoulder. She hugged me tightly, still gently massaging my hand.
"What did he say?" She asked gently after a while.
"He said I have a perfect life and he didn't want to ruin it."
"What do you mean a perfect life?"
"Just that we have everything we've ever wanted. From the outside, it probably does look perfect."
"We've had our ups and downs, though, and Charlie knows that."
"I know. But I don't think he really meant it. I think something's changed for him." Lifting my head, I looked up at her. "I think me might like me."
"What?"
"Don't freak out. I don't feel anything other than friendship towards him. I love you. Only you. But with everything that's happened, I think he might like me as more than a friend. It's the only reason I can think that he'd say something like that to try and hurt me. To get me to stay away so he doesn't have to deal with those feelings."
"Are you sure?"
"About what?"
"That you only love me."
"Of course I am. Imogen, you mean the world to me. I could never love someone else. It would just feel wrong. Even if you stopped loving me, I never could."
"I won't ever stop loving you, Nick." She kissed me gently, a soft kiss that was filled with love. "I promise you that."
"I know," I whispered, resting my head on her shoulder again. For a long while, we were silent. The heavy conversation hanging in the air around us. "What do I do, Imogen?" I finally asked, my words piercing the silence enough to make her jump a little.
"You need to know if he really feels something for you. That way you can maybe help him work through it."
"So I ask him?"
"It's up to you. I know how much having him as your friend has been good for you. I don't want you to lose that friendship but if you don't want to have the stress of working whatever this is out, I'll support you with that as well." She pressed a kiss to my hair and I closed my eyes, thinking over everything.
"My brain hurts." Imogen chuckled lightly and I had to smile too.
"You want to go to bed?"
"Mhm. Will you come too?"
"Sure. I can finish this tomorrow." She carefully pushed my legs off of her lap to stand up and reached back to help me, pulling me into a real hug when I was stood on my feet. Her arms were tight around my waist and I wrapped my own around her shoulders, tucking my face into her neck. "I'm sorry you're going through this, Nick."
"I thought everything was starting to really be good again. And now this."
"It'll be okay. Why don't you head to bed? I'll be there in just a moment. I'm going to lock up and check on Abby."
"Okay." Lifting my head, I pressed my lips to hers. "I love you, Imogen. With every part of me."
"I love you too, Nick." She whispered, letting me go and giving me a little push in the direction of our room. I took the hint and made my way to the bedroom where I quickly changed into a pair of sweatpants and crawled into bed, waiting for Imogen to join me. I could hear her moving around the house, muttering something to herself.
"Just a message," I mumbled after a moment, reaching for my phone from the bedside table to send a message to Charlie, trying to get him to talk to me.
--------------------
The next morning, I woke to Imogen gently shaking me and kissing my cheek.
"Nick, you have to get up for work. You'll be late."
"Don't wanna go to work today," I mumbled, rolling away and pulling the blanket over my head. I heard Imogen sigh before she tried to tug the blankets down again.
"Come on. It's not as bad as that."
"He won't talk to me. He thinks I'll hate him."
"You don't hate him, though. If you stay home he'll really think you hate him. Don't let him think that." I let her pull the blanket down just enough that only my eyes were out and I looked at her.
"I need a mental health day."
"A what?"
"A day where I can call in sick to work without being actually sick."
"Really?"
"Yes. Imogen, I need this. Please, don't fight me on it." I begged, sitting up just a little and giving her my best puppy-dog eyes, the ones I knew she couldn't resist.
"Okay. But I'm staying home with you." She made to get off the bed but I reached out to grab her arm.
"You don't have to stay. You have work too."
"I can do some from here today. Anything else can wait. You come before work; you know that."
"Imogen, I..."
"You asked me not to fight you on having a mental health day, now I'm asking you not to fight me on this."
"Fine." I sighed and flopped back down, wanting to sleep again.
"You need to call work, babe. They need to know you're not coming in." She reminded me and I nodded.
"Where's my phone?"
"Bedside table. I'm just going to drop Abby off at school and I'll be back soon, okay?"
"Okay. I'll be here."
I made the call to Pinewood, telling them I didn't feel well enough to teach, and then buried myself back under the blankets, listening out for Imogen's return.
