Perfect Strangers

Chapter 9

On his way to Molly, Mathew stopped off at Boots only to be confused about the gallery of medicine and products.

Did she need pain relief? Something else? Maybe something to eat? It had never occurred to him that all women dealt with this every month, but as her boyfriend, he should support her when she's suffering, right? He never cared before but he wanted to do his best now.

Confused, he brought the snacks she liked, paracetamol that seemed to cure anything and some juice, maybe flowers? Nah, that would be overdoing it. Oh, wait, does he need to buy pads and tampons? Surely, she would have that already.

Shrugging, he chucked it all in the basket and headed out.

By the time he arrived, he knocked only to realise that she was probably sleeping and used Heather's key. Heather said not to worry but he didn't like the knowledge that his girlfriend was sick. One of the main reasons he totally ignored this until now.

Once inside, he put down his shopping on the counter and went to her room to find her sleeping in the same position as this morning but moaning slightly in pain, making his worry spike as he rushed to her side.

"Molly," he called, shaking her a little to wake her up.

Once his worried face came into view after she blinked a few times, Molly forgot about her stomach pain for a moment and blanked.

"Mathew?" she called unsurely. "I must be dreaming," she mumbled nonsensically.

"You're not," he assured, helping her sit up, frowning at how warm she felt, and the sweat gathered at her temple.

"What are you doing here? Don't you have class this afternoon?" she asked, a hand still on her stomach.

"I heard from Heather you weren't well and decided to come to see you."

"Ah, it's nothing serious, happens every month." she brushed off.

"Still, I don't like knowing you're sick, I wanted to be here." he pushed earnestly, making her want to laugh if she didn't think it would hurt his feelings.

"Well, thank you, but it's really not a big deal," she reassured, poking between his eyebrows to stop his frowning.

"Mn," he hummed which pretty much meant 'no comment'. "Do you need me to do anything?" he asked ready to help in any way, making her fall for him all over again.

He was casual about everything but when he did get serious about something he looked like a child learning something for the first time and trying to stumble through it perfectly to her.

"Well," she hesitated. "Just you being here is enough." she settled with and that seemed to appease him.

"Okay." he agreed instantly, making her actually chuckle.

"I'll go bathe first," she said.

"Okay, I brought some snacks and stuff that are easy to eat, as well as medicine and stuff." he rambled.

"Thanks, I'll eat after," she said, giving him a kiss before disappearing into the bathroom.

When she was done freshening up, she then realised the amount he actually brought and couldn't help but shake her head fondly. She didn't need half of what he brought but she was touched that he was truly trying, that he was keeping to his promise to be better at every chance.

Before he would have simply sent her a get well soon message or not even know, but now he was clumsily trying to do his best for her, and she couldn't help but imagine how funny and clueless he must have looked in the store. To think he would go the extra mile to try to support her with something she was sure he'd just keep avoiding like before. She knew that the topic of periods and all that could make certain men uncomfortable, and she didn't want to burden him with that or make him uncomfortable, it only lasted a few days a month anyway. Sure, it hurt like hell for her, but it wasn't anything she wasn't used to.