The Adventures of BFF!Bill and tiger

Part 6

In hindsight, the ice cream was a terrible mistake.

To your credit, it had taken awhile for things to get awkward. A good few weeks. And to Bill's credit, he really made it near impossible to be awkward around him.The awkwardness had littered your friendship to varying degrees, but no matter how mortifying the events were, Bill just never seemed plussed about any of it. There had been the time he had gotten food poisoning on a camping trip in the woods, pitifully crawling his way on all fours to your tent in the middle of the night. You had woken up to what you thought was a wounded animal, unzipping your tent and seeing Bill's curled up form on the ground in front of you. It had taken over an hour to help him crawl just a hundred feet to the communal washrooms, where you stayed with him on the floor for the entire night. It was nothing short of contortion, the way he folded his large body in on himself in the tiny stall, groaning in pain and discomfort. Your heart bled for him that night, he was so sick he had gone grey and the only thing you could do to help was stroke his soaked back and keep wetting paper towels to hold on his neck while he wretched. He had eventually passed out, thunking his head hard right onto your chest, and in your sleep-deprived hysteria, you thought he was dead. Mutual friends still tell the tale over beers, now a great source of laughter, of how you had emerged from the washrooms in the wee hours of the morning screaming for help with Bill–all 6′4 of him–slung over your shoulders in a fireman carry. Bill's feet still dragged on the ground and his upper body hung limp over your shoulder, but you didn't care. You just knew he needed help. When he eventually came to, hooked up to an IV and still looking grey, he didn't seem at all shocked when he was told how he made it to the medical centre.

Then there was the time during a traditional movie night at his place, when you felt the tell-tale cramp–that deep cramp low in your belly that had you folding in on yourself briefly. Your cycle wasn't due for another 3 more days, but your body had other plans. You hadn't even brought a purse to Bill's, and looking frantically at your light coloured jeans, you knew you were in trouble. Bill stared at your form, gradually closing in on itself as another cramp hit.

"You okay?" he asked, putting a hand on your back.

"Yeah I uh...I have to go. Sorry, forgot I needed to do something tonight.." you trailed off, tossing the blanket and slowly shifting to stand in a way that would attempt to minimize the flow that you could now feel starting between your legs. Bill eyed you cautiously, then rolled his eyes. Grabbing another slice of pizza from the box in front of him, he stood and grabbed your elbow.

"C'mon," he said, leading you to the bathroom.

"What are you–" your sentence was cut off when he reached an arm up, opening the cupboard. Inside, you stared in confusion when you spotted a small box of tampons, a few pads, even a little bottle of Midol. He turned to you, shoving another bite of pizza in his mouth.

"If there's something in here you need, just take it," he said, his mouth full as he chewed loudly.

"Bill why the fuck do you have these in your bathroom?"

He shrugged, blasé.

"Because I'm a grown ass man and I have grown ass women in my life," he said, as if it was the most obvious explanation in the world.

"Take whatever you need and get your ass back on the couch, the best part is coming up," he turned to leave before calling over his shoulder "or if you need something else or whatever, just write it down and I'll pick it up next time I'm out."

When you emerged from the bathroom a few moments later, a pair of sweatpants hit you smack in the face.

"In case you're bloated or whatever," was the explanation.