Nochelle - Our Stories

S H O E B O X

"I—my period. My period came, and I—I need to go to the store. I don't—don't have anything and—"

Noah is just smiling softly at her as he takes her other hand in his, massaging it gently.

"I—I forgot, I forgot and I don't usually forget and god this is so embarrassing it's six am for goodness sake, you've had such a long week and I'm so sorry, we should—"

He rubs her forearm back and forth, then moves up to her shoulders, kneading lightly into her tense muscles.

"Shh—Rich, it's okay hey, it's okay don't be sorry, don't apologize."

Noah releases her arm for a moment, shifting and pulling back from her.

"Here, c'mon—" he stands up reaches out a hand to her and she looks up at him, confused.

"What? I need to go to the store and—"

"No you don't, I—" he rushes to the bathroom and comes back holding a box of tampons—the exact kind that Richelle uses and now she's really confused. Why does Noah-immature-Erlick have a box of tampons in his bathroom?

"What—why—why do you have...?"

He grabs her arm to help her stand up and looks at her sheepishly, "I—I saw a box like this the other day at your place when I was looking for concealer and thought I'd get a pack for my place too, since, y'know, you're over a lot and you never know—"

Richelle just pulls herself into his arms and hugs him tightly, murmuring against his chest, "Noah—that's –you're so thoughtful—I—"

"Here c'mon Richie, I've got—just, here—"

He grabs a sweatshirt off his shelf and hands it to her

"Go change and put this on—and get back in the bed. I'm gonna go to the kitchen to get some stuff—"

She looks at him, filled with overwhelming affection for her thoughtful boyfriend. He smiles at her and is quickly turning to open the door and run downstairs.

~~~

After changing her underwear and slipping into Noah's sweatshirt, she settles back in the bed just as Noah enters the room holding a—shoebox? She looks up at him to see him smiling and she tilts her head.

"Noah I—I'm so embarrassed I can't believe I forgot—I'm so sorry, just, thanks for having that here I don't know—I'm sorry—"

"Richelle."

He slides in the bed and brings his arm around her waist to draw her closer.

"Stop apologizing. It's literally not your fault at all. It happens, and I'm here for you."

Richelle rests her head against his chest.

"How are you so chill about this? Most guys I know would be freaking out and running away. My stepdad always—"

She's cut off as Noah opens the shoebox and in it there's an assortment of Richelle's favorite granola bars, Ibuprofen, a heating pad, several small bottles of water and dark chocolate.

"Wh-what's this, Noah?"

She looks up at him and he's grinning so widely, she almost forgets why she was upset a minute ago.

"This, is my Get Richelle to Feel Better Cuz She's The Best—kit. It's a working title, but you get it. It's got Advil for the cramps, oh granola bars to eat before taking Advil 'cause I know you hate taking meds on an empty stomach—and, a heating pad, some water, and chocolate! It's still a work in progress, I meant to go to the store and get some soup maybe? I don't know, do you like soup? Jacquie didn't like soup do all girls not like soup I—"