“It’s all for you. I ordered it at the start of the movie and it was delivered while you were in the shower.”
She starts to sort through the bags, and I try to stir the soup, but I can’t take my eyes off of her. She’s in pink sweats, and her hair is pulled back with one of those clippy things girls wear. She’s so pretty.
“You got all of this for me?” she asks, digging through a bag full of Almond Joys, electrolyte packets, and pain medicine.
“Yeah, I wasn’t sure what you needed, so I just got everything I could think of or could find online.”
She opens a different bag, and a laugh bubbles out of her. “How many tampons do you think I need?” She gestures to the three boxes on the table. “Oh, my god, and they're all super pluses.”
“I wasn’t sure which ones to buy, so I got the ones with the best rating.” I shrug, and my cheeks heat.
I have a sister, but she’s younger than me, and I wasn’t really raised in the type of household that discussed periods with the boys. It’s safe to say I have no idea what I’m doing when it comes to this stuff, but I’m trying.
“Best rating?” she asks.
“Yeah, the store had regular, super, and super plus, so I got you the super plus because they're the best ones right? Like the plus means they're better than super.”
“No.” She cringes. “It’s the size. Super plus means, like, extra-large.”
“Oh, like condoms? Did I buy you magnum tampons?” My eyes widen.
“No, not like condoms. I meant the absorption, not the size. You know what, it doesn’t matter. Thank you for the tampons.” She giggles.
“I got you pads and one of those cup things too.”
More laughter erupts from her. “Stop it. This is actually adorable.” I beam at her compliment. She digs in another bag and pulls out a heating pad.
“Wait, you knew I already had one of these. Why did you buy another one?”
“When we were on the couch, you said you wished you had two, so I added it to the order.”
She places it back on the table and walks over to where I stand.
“Thank you,” she says, wrapping her arms around me and squeezing tight. “For taking such good care of me today. I’m not used to being the one who gets taken care of, and it means a lot that you would do all of this for me.”
I slowly let go of the spoon and wrap my arms around her too. Inhaling deeply, my nostrils fill with cherries and vanilla, and we both let the hug linger longer than we should. Herhead nestles into my chest, and my hands gently rub along her spine.
Dolly pushes herself between our legs, forcing us to break the embrace.
“I think she’s jealous,” Wren says. “She really likes you.”
“Is it so hard to believe that I’m likeable?”
“No, I’d say that it’s becoming very easy to believe,” she says.
Blush covers both our faces, and as much as I wish I could grab her and kiss her, I know I can’t. The timer on the microwave sounds.
“Soup’s done,” I say.
“Good. I’m so hungry.”
We work together cleaning off the table and collecting everything we need for dinner. When we’re done, we both sit down.
“What did you think of the movie?” she asks, blowing on a spoonful of soup.
“I loved it.”
“You loved it?” she asks.
