Tommy dropped his keys onto the counter, kicked off his shoes, and sunk into the living room couch with a sigh. His head pounded with exhaustion and his stomach ached with a familiar emptiness. He'd skipped dinner again. If Evie was there with him, she'd chastise him for not taking care of himself. But as he peered into the dimly lit kitchen, thinking of the instant ramen he'd cook up for himself, he noticed several bowls covered neatly on the kitchen counter. A sticky note with Marina's small, cursive font, "Tommy, don't forget to eat. Help yourself to dinner."
Touched, Tommy smiled to himself as he warmed the dishes in the microwave. Where was Marina? The light from her bedroom crept from under her door into the hallway. No doubt, she was frantically studying for her finals. Knowing that she still thought to save his dinner made his heart tighten in an unfamiliar way.
Wanting to deliver something to her, he made her a cup of tea. But as he neared her bedroom door, he heard her soft sniffles and shaky breaths.
"Marina? Are you okay?"
On the other side of the door, there was silence, but he imagined her pulling herself together, taking in a shuddering breath.
"I'm fine," she said. But her voice was strained, higher pitched than normal.
Unable to control himself, Tommy pushed open the door to find Marina on the floor surrounded by notes and her textbooks. Her face was turned towards him, wide-eyed, red-nosed, tear-streaked cheeks. At the sight of him standing in her doorway, so put together in his suit, a stark contrast to her rawness, her instability, Marina couldn't hold in her sobs. They flooded out of her, a culmination of weeks of holding them in.
"Shit," Tommy murmured under his breath, and hurriedly set her tea on the table before rushing towards her. Kneeling on the floor, he pulled her into his arms, and tucked her face into his chest, stroking her hair.
For the next few minutes, he stayed silent as he held her, gently rubbing her back, feeling her slowly calm down. But inwardly, he was thinking about how he could help her. Was it the stress of her exams? Or was it something else? Had someone hurt her?
"I can feel you thinking," Marina said tiredly, slowly pulling her face away from his chest. She took in a deep breath and wiped her face, finally daring to look up at him.
Tommy gave her a wry smile but gently tucked a loose curl behind her ear. "Tell me what's wrong," he said, wanting to help her badly.
Marina sighed, and slumped forward, glaring at the books around her. "I hate this course! I'm going to fail it, I just know I will. No matter how much I study, no matter how many times I read the notes, I don't get it. And so I'm going to fail this final and I'm going to lose my scholarship."
Tommy gently pried her hands off her face and kept them tucked in his own. "Okay, slow down, just take a deep breath for me." He could see tears welling in her eyes again and was desperate to not see her cry again.
He glanced at her notes and saw that she was preparing for her statistics exam. Inwardly, he thanked the heavens for his good luck. He squeezed her hands. "Marina, I promise you, you're not going to fail this course. I'm going to help you."
Marina looked up at him in confusion. "How are you going to help me? You're a lawyer." Something about her expression of disbelief, those shining eyes, her red nose and cheeks, made him want to pull her in and squeeze her tight. He was overcome with tenderness for this girl.
He flashed her a confident smile. "Trust me. You'll see."
The night passed quickly as the two of them worked together. Tommy was a good teacher, patient, unassuming, and most important, an expert on the subject. Marina didn't know how a law student such as Tommy was well-versed in statistics but he seemed to have no problem explaining to her the core concepts and working through problems with her. At times he would ask her if he could read the textbook for a few minutes to remind himself of the methods, but that would be all he required to explain it to her.
Several cups of earl grey and bags of crisps later, Marina felt much better about her exam, thinking that if Tommy could teach her this much in a couple of hours, she would no doubt have it all figured out within a week's time.
"I'm going to clear this away," he said, grabbing the cups and heading toward the kitchen. Marina sighed happily, letting herself lie back on her bed, and rest her eyes for a moment. What time was it? Midnight? 1AM?
When Tommy returned, he found Marina fast asleep, head on the wrong side of the bed. He chuckled and knelt down to bring a pillow under her head. Marina mumbled something, flailing her hand as if to grab him, but her eyelids remained heavy.
"What was that?" Tommy asked, leaning closer toward her face. She finally managed to grab his hand, and she held it tightly, with a small smile on her face. With her eyes still closed, she looked adorable to him, smiling like that.
"Thank you," She said. Tommy grinned and pulled her blanket over her.
"You're welcome, Rina."
YOU ARE READING
Growing Pains
Romance"You left me. You. left. me. You ran away. How do I know that you won't do it again the next time something goes wrong?" As kids, Evie, Tommy and Abel were best friends. Kind-hearted Evie brought Tommy and Abel under her wing. Until one horrible da...
