~Season 7+~
Shit.
Richelle rolls over, pushing away the covers, trying to be quiet so as to not wake her boyfriend up. She gets up slowly and turns to look at him – he stirs a little but then settles back into his pillow snoring softly. Richelle lets herself stare and admire him for a while, taking in his messy bedhead and nose scrunched up against the pillow, before the pain in her lower abdomen reminds her again why she was rolling out the bed at 6:13AM on a Saturday.
Shit. They had only been dating a few months and this was the first time she had stayed the night since. And now, she was waking up in Noah's bed with no tampons or pads, no ibuprofen or a heating pad. She chides herself as she squirms over to the bathroom—how could she forget? It's always marked in her calendar, she always has a back-up tampon in her purse, she always remembers. But of course, the moment she's not in her own home and has completely forgotten about her cycle, her body decides it's time. She must've been very preoccupied and distracted to have forgotten it like that. Which, quite frankly, the past few months have been distracting—what with dating the most adorable, sweet and fun boyfriend.
And speaking of said boyfriend, after putting some toilet paper in her underwear, she sticks her head out to look at Noah, still curled up under the covers. Richelle puts on a pair of sweatpants deciding that she needs to go to the nearest drug store and at least get some tampons and Pain-relief. If she hurries maybe she can make it back before Noah notices she's gone. She grabs her purse and quietly opens his bedroom door until—
"Oh God."
Richelle winces at the sharp pain and leans against the door to prevent herself from completely collapsing, unable to stop the grunt that comes out in the process. Behind her she hears shuffling and a groan and she shuts her eyes, trying to chase the ache away.
"Richie?"
"Mmh"
She's leaning on the wall now and clutching her stomach, still trying to hold herself upright.
"Are—are you okay? Why are you up?'
"Mmph—mm'okay, just—go back to sleep"
"What? I—"
The pain gets to be too much, so she lets herself slide down against the wall onto the floor and brings her knees to her chest, resting her forehead against it. She still has her eyes closed but can hear Noah jumping off the bed and quickly padding over to her.
"Richelle? You okay?"
He sits by her, wrapping an arm around to rub her back soothingly. Richelle lets herself lean into his touch, laying her head on his shoulder, still clutching onto her stomach. And, while she feels comfortable around Noah, it's still embarrassing that she forgot her tampons and now was on his floor in pain and... crying??—No, no no no no, no tears, Richelle c'mon get yourself together, this is something that happens every month and you've only stayed here overnight once, you can't be doing this on his bedroom floor you—
"Richie, hey, don't cry here—"
Noah moves to cradle her head in his arms and she shifts to lay her head on his lap, trying to slow her breathing, grounding herself with Noah's hand rubbing her back and whispering words of comfort. She sighs and they stay there on the floor for a while before she feels a stab of pain again and winces a little.
"Richie, talk to me—what's wrong?"
She's pretty sure he's figured it out by now, he was just being kind and considerate by not saying anything and letting her tell him. Ugh, there's nothing to be embarrassed about, right? This is Noah, her boyfriend, duet partner and best friend—she sniffs and sits up a little, leaning against him as he takes her hand and lifts it up to his lips, placing soft, loving kisses. Richelle allows herself to open her eyes, to be met with the warmest, most affectionate gaze and she wants to cry all over again. She swallows and takes a breath.
"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—"
She's at loss for words at how much she loves this man (they haven't said it yet, but in this moment, she's sure already). She thought him buying tampons for her was thoughtful—but this—this, was something else. And now he's rambling and Richelle doesn't know what to do so she leans in, cupping his face as he responds slowly, moving their lips against each other. She pours out everything she can into the kiss—trying desperately to communicate the overwhelming love and affection she's feeling for him right now.
They part and both take a breath, staring into each other's eyes for a moment.
"Noah—I, I don't know what to say this—this is the sweetest thing anyone's ever done for me, I can't—"
She feels tears starting to form and she really wants to blurt out the three sacred words, but she bites her tongue knowing it's probably too early in the morning and she's a little light-headed but god if this isn't the most romantic thing a boy's ever done for her.
"How did you—since when did you have this?"
He grabs a granola bar to hand to her and she takes it, tearing the package open and biting into it.
"I guess, I don't know—to answer your question from earlier—this was the one thing I wasn't super immature about y'know? Everything else, I'd probably tease girls about, but I grew up with my mom, and then was around my cousins a lot so I don't know...I guess I knew that periods sucked and girls shouldn't have to be embarrassed by it. Also, Jacquie's hella terrifying when she's PMSing so..."
Richelle giggles as he grabs the heating pad, plugging it in and passes it to Richelle who places it on her stomach, sighing immediately at the soothing feeling.
"And, I've—I started making this since like a week after our first date." He moves his hand up to scratch his neck, looking almost nervous—why is he nervous? Oh god, her boyfriend was the most precious thing in the world.
"I thought—y'know you were staying in my messy room a lot, you shouldn't have to deal with that and not have these things. Things you'd have if we were at your house—so, I made this just in case. I don't know, maybe it's too much, I think, I guess I thought we—us, we're doing so well and I just wanted to—"
Richelle smiles fondly at the way he continues rambling nervously, and her heart flutters at the words he's saying paired with the already incredibly attentive actions.
"Noah—" she strokes his cheek and tilts his face to look at her "—this is the most selfless, caring, thoughtful thing anyone's ever done for me. I just, I can't even explain it, you—you're the best and I don't know what to say, I—" an involuntary sob cuts her off and she can't help it, tears start to flow down her cheek—damn hormones, and he's moving the box off his lap and shifting her onto him, leaning down to kiss each tear that flows down.
"Hey, Richie—what's wrong, are you okay? Do you—does it hurt? You should take your meds."
He passes the packet to her and opens a bottle of water. She takes it and swallows the pill, going back to lean her head on his shoulder.
"No I—I'm just, emotional. I'm just so happy to be here with you."
As she wraps her arms tightly around his torso, Noah chuckles and moves them so they're now laying down, pulling the covers over them. She smiles and leans up for a kiss—gentle and full of emotion that Richelle can't put into words at this hour of the morning
"Thank you, Noah."
"Of course, Rich—I'm your boyfriend, this—this is what I'm supposed to do. And there's no need to be embarrassed okay?"
She nods against his chest and smiles. Oh, how stupid she was to be embarrassed about this. Of course, this is the way Noah would react. She should know by now that she never has to hide anything from him.
"Did you do this for all your other girlfriends?"
"Huh? Oh, umm I sometimes had tampons at my place, but no—I never made a feel better box—I guess, I already knew you so well before we started dating and I don't know, you were already so important to me— I didn't want to mess up, I didn't want to ruin everything because I didn't have Ibuprofen or you didn't eat anything before you took your meds and oh my god, Richelle do you like soup? 'Cause I know Nana would make me soup when I was sick, and I liked that, but apparently both Jacquie and Amanda don't like soup and I realized I don't know if—"
Richelle lifts her hand up to his hair and strokes it gently, causing him to lean into the touch and look down at her.
"Noah, I like soup."
Noah breathes out a sigh of relief.
"Oh, okay, well then I—I can make you soup later—Nana's recipe."
"That sounds great. Hmmm—but can you just, for now, lay here and cuddle with me? Till we really have to get up?"
"Of course, Richie—I'd do nothing and cuddle with you all day and it'd still be the best day ever."
Richelle giggles and nuzzles her face further into his chest, intertwining her legs with his and closing her eyes. They lay there, Noah with his arm around her waist, keeping her as close as he can—and Richelle buried in his chest. And, despite the lingering pain and drowsiness, she feels so content and safe, right here in her boyfriend's arms—
"Noah?"
"Yeah Rich?"
"Don't ever change—keep being the thoughtful, caring guy you are—the world needs more people like you—and just, don't change that. It's so great, it's so rare—something you don't come by often, and I just feel like I won the lottery with you."
"Oh, RiRi, I feel like I won the lottery with you—god I sometimes have to remind myself that dating you isn't just a dream—that it's real life and that you're actually with me."
"hmm I—" she stifles a yawn and feels Noah shake a little under her, laughing
"C'mon Richie, go back to sleep—I'll be here when you wake up."
Noah tangles his fingers in her hair and massages her scalp gently, and Richelle undoubtedly knows that what she feels for this man is so real and she wants so badly to say it now, because her heart is bursting, but before she knows it she's falling asleep to soothing hands stroking her hair, and a steady heartbeat under her.
~~~
Flufff