Milkshake Hearts

Chapter 103: Niggling

A/N: I definitely won't have time to post tomorrow morning, so have an update 14 hours early.

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Their night on the floor of their new living room is certainly not their most comfortable, although they knew that would be the case – they just wanted to do it, anyway, and let themselves be affectionate and cheesy over buying their first house together. They both wake early on the Saturday morning, tidying up a little before they drive back to their apartment to shower and start loading boxes into their cars, forgoing the gym in favour of lifting boxes of books, clothes, kitchenware and décor. They label everything, stacking boxes in the rooms they will be unpacked in where they won't get in the way of the furniture coming the next day, or in the downstairs bedroom, if they will be in the way – given it won't have anything in it until they get around to buying things for it (and given they'd recently paid the deposit on the house, and Courtney had done the same for her wedding dress, furniture was going to have to wait for their next credit card cycle).

The movers they have hired for Sunday are efficient and professional, but the move still takes them most of the day, largely because more things than they would like need to be partially disassembled to get out the awkward, tight walkway in front of their apartment so they can be loaded into the moving truck. They had ended up accepting Rob's offers to help them move, and while they don't make use of his truck – their furniture fits comfortably in the movers' larger truck – he is quite valuable in the process of disassembling and reassembling furniture at the other end as Shayne and Courtney flit all over the house, directing where certain things should go.

"Any more grand, loving statements you gotta make now we're actually living here and we have a real bed to sleep in?" Courtney asks him, with half a laugh, when they both collapse into their bed that night, having spent the few hours since the movers, and later Rob, left unpacking the things that they would need most urgently – mostly in the kitchen and their bedroom.

"I love you, I'm tired, let's sleep," he answers, messily, twisting onto his front and pressing his face into her shoulder. She smiles lightly, hand tangling gently into his hair, not feeling the need to express her agreement in words. She expects them to fall into sleep, then, but he surprises her by speaking up, again, mumbled against her shoulder. "By the way... I swear I didn't forget, happy valentine's day."

"Oh, shit, I did forget," she replies, but he quickly shakes his head as best he can without moving.

"Meh, who cares, we were busy enough today. And we can be sappy whenever, we don't need a stupid Hallmark holiday for it," he tells her.

"Mmm. Love you."

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Courtney remembers, amongst the busyness of moving house and unpacking everything and continually rearranging until it looks right, to book an appointment with Shayne's doctor. She can't get one quite as immediately, given she's a new patient to him, but she manages to fit an appointment in the following weekend.

"Courtney?" Dr Bruce calls them in from the waiting room – only five minutes past their actual appointment time – and as with last time, Shayne falls into step beside her.

"Oh, Shayne! I've seen you before," he comments, in recognition, when they both step into the room and he shuts the door behind them, gesturing to the two seats beside his desk.

"Yeah, Courtney's my fiancé," Shayne explains the connection, Dr Bruce nodding and pulling open a new file on his computer, gaze shifting to Courtney.

"How can I help you today, Courtney?" he asks.

"Well I- I have a history of tension and stress headaches, but in the last couple of months I've had four of these really intense migraines..." she starts, explaining what happens, and how she can't relate them to tension or stress whatsoever. He asks plenty of questions, and types away on his screen, although they all simply seem to be looking for more of what she thinks.