The Whys of Us

26

warning for sexual themes!

*

Rhysand is gone when Andy opens her eyes.

Her head is throbbing, and her memories are fuzzy, but she remembers the crying and the ache in her chest. She remembers watching Rhysand turn around and leave.

Andy's knees buckled watching him walk away like that.

Slowly, she heads to the bathroom to wash up and quietly moves down the staircase once she looks presentable enough. Rhysand is cooking in the kitchen.

She takes a seat on the counter and croaks, "Hi."

Rhysand grabs a glass and a pill near the sink and puts it down in front of her. "To get rid of your headache," he says, then he turns back around to pay attention to the stove.

It smells like pancakes.

Andy takes the pill and drinks all the water. She fiddles with her fingers, not knowing what to say to him.

She remembers their fight, and how childish and humiliating she acted towards him. Rhysand was just—he was just looking out for her. And she hurt his feelings and he walked away.

But he waited in the Jeep and took you home, a small voice in her head whispers hopefully. And he cuddled with you.

Andy inhales a sharp breath and stares at his back. "Rhys. Can we talk?"

"Eat first," he answers, flipping the pancake. Andy can't decipher his tone, but it's making her anxious the more he doesn't look at her. "We can talk afterwards."

Andy hugs herself. "Okay," she whispers.

Rhysand does everything—he sets the table for the two of them and serves the pancakes, and he takes out a bottle of maple syrup and a glass for himself, and he pours the syrup on her pancakes and Andy watches him quietly.

Andy forces herself to eat. Her stomach still feels a little queasy, but the pancakes taste good. Rhysand keeps his eyes on his plate while he eats.

As soon as Andy finishes, Rhysand stands up to take her plate to the sink.

She sputters, "I can wash the—"

"I got it," Rhysand says gruffly, taking his own plate, too.

Andy doesn't know how to fix this. How many times has her heart felt so heavy with Rhysand?

She brings the glasses to the sink to at least lend a hand. She also puts the syrup back in the cupboard and—and there's nothing else to do except stand in the kitchen awkwardly and wait for Rhysand to finish.

So she mutters, "I'm going to brush my teeth. Um, come up when you're done."

She's not even sure if Rhysand heard her over the running water.

Andy takes the stairs two at a time and her fingers shake when she puts toothpaste on her toothbrush that she needs it to do it again. She can't bear to look at herself in the mirror, so she stares at the counter and wills herself not to cry.

Then Rhysand comes in, and he sidesteps her to reach for his own toothbrush. They use the same toothpaste. He brushes his teeth beside her, and it's awkward and silent and Andy ducks to spit in the sink first and rinse her mouth.

When she's done, she decides to wait in the bedroom, hugging her knees to chest, burning a hole through the bathroom's door as she waits for it to open. Her mind is blank, and she doesn't know what to say to Rhysand, but they need to—they need to work this out. No matter what.