Page 108 of Last Letters to Ara
“I’m not ready for the firsts to be over, anyway.” With a kiss to my forehead, he walks over to our suitcases before digging around for a minute.
Pleasure surges through my body as he kneels in front of me with fresh underwear and fuzzy socks to help me dress, hands grazing my body as he stands up.
He shakes his head. “I just can’t help myself.”
A little shiver escapes me as he holds one of his shirts up, so I can stick my hands through the sleeves as he pulls it down over my head.
Theo walks over to the bed and pulls away the sheets for me to get in, just as the pains start to pick up. He tucks me in before calling room service to order a chocolate sundae.
“I’ll be right back,” he says, kissing my forehead. “I’m going to gather reinforcements.”
I raise my brow.
“Don’t worry, I’ll be back soon.” He leans down and kisses me on the lips. He meant for it to be a quick peck, but I deepen the kiss, showing my gratitude with my mouth.
“I don’t know how I’m going to ever be able to leave you.”
“Then don’t.”
“I’ll be back soon.” He kisses me one last time, and three words begin to climb their way out of my throat, but I remind myself that I need to walk before I can run.
“Theo?”
“Yeah?”
“I like you.”
He smiles. “I know.”
What can I say? Power walking is still walking.
• • •
A while later when I’m already halfway through the sundae, Theo comes back into the room, clutching his so-called reinforcements.
Red wine.
Heat packs.
Three different brands of pads and tampons.
Chocolate.
After Theo pours me a glass of wine and applies a heat pack, he’s there curling around me, left arm circling my front, and his right hand rubs everywhere that I hurt.
Just after I’ve lost the battle to unconsciousness, perhaps in a dream, I think I hear Theo whisper those three little words I was so afraid of, which changes us forever.
And together, we run.
Present - Ara
I ALMOST DON’Teven notice my uterus trying to murder me from the inside out. Thanks to the kind of comfort only a hotel bed can give, paired with the warm, heavy arm draped around me, I could stay here forever. It brings me back to when I woke up similarly in Theo’s bed after he rescued my drunk ass. Realizing how far we’ve come, how farI’vecome, I smile. I’m in New York, in bed with Theo, on purpose.
A little blue liquid gel and glass of water beckon from the nightstand, surely put out by my knight-in-Henley-armor. Normally I would let myself suffer through it, but I don’t have time for that today. I’ve got a task to complete.
It’s a weird feeling, that this task isn’t sending me to the corner of the room to collapse. Five months ago, I couldn’t bring myself to get out of my apartment, let alone fly to another state to pursue a passion of mine. That familiar monster who lived so close beneath my skin hasn’t sunk its claws into me in... a while.
I slowly lean forward, reaching for Advil to get it into my system as fast as possible, when the arm squeezes around me, pulling me back to where I started.
