Smiley and Sunshine

25.

**Short and sweet**

Hayes curled up tight into a fetal position, a death grip on the pillow that she had squished between her stomach and her knees.

She closed her eyes tight, wishing she had the power to will the pain away. If only there was an easy route to take that would alleviate her pain within minutes.

No, she was stronger than that.

Highly uncomfortable, Hayes flipped over to lay on her other side. She shoved her head into the pillow letting out a little whine. She didn't sign up for this. Could she have a refund?

Because being a female sucked right about now.

She'd rate her pain a 10 out of 10 on the pain scale, the worst of the worst.

Which brought along good news, sort of. If she could get through these next couple of hours, it was all downhill from here, though there certainly didn't seem to be a light at the end of the tunnel. This cycle was to repeat once again next month.

Hayes curled into herself even more as a cramp hit her followed by shivers. That was the other annoying thing, besides just being uncomfortable due to the pain, she also couldn't regulate her body temperature.

Blanket on - scorching hot.

Blanket off - freezing cold.

Blanket on with one foot sticking out - just no.

There was no winning against mother nature for the time being. No getting around being uncomfortable.

Thankfully the worst of her pain lasted for maybe 24 hours, then she'd be good as new, minus the whole bleeding part for 5 days, but that's just a minuscule detail.

Giving up on her attempt to sleep through it, Hayes sat up, instantly pulling her knees to her chest, the pillow remaining tucked against her stomach. Sometimes when she was lucky, the pressure of the pillow combated the painful cramps. But only sometimes.

Even though she hadn't been sleeping, it still was a little disorienting for a moment as she let her eyes adjust to the dark room.

Like always, she had no clue what time it was but at least recognized that it was after midnight. Austin had already done his bed checks for the night, his routine before he went to sleep himself. Hayes had only been lightly sleeping at that point and woke up when he opened the door. She was instantly busted, of course, since Austin had that sibling 6th sense.

Hayes should really bother her brothers for an alarm clock, especially now since her phone was confiscated except while at school.

Her guess? probably 1 am.

Perfect time for ice cream. It was 5 o'clock somewhere, right?  Hayes laughed at herself, because that saying totally applied to more than just alcohol.

The girl could wish.

Hayes briefly skimmed the floor for her favorite sweatshirt before remembering that Austin had snatched it away when he had the chance. According to him, it was due for a wash.

Humph.

Guess she'll just have to go get another one now and she might as well grab her partner-in-crime, too.

It'd be just like the old days, where Glen loyally stayed up all night with her when Hayes had cramps. Then again, it's not like he had a choice. They shared the same bedroom.

Digging deep inside to find her grit, Hayes tossed the pillow to the side and did a slow tumble off the bed. Standing up, she quickly wrapped her arms around her stomach, her shoulders curling in.