It All Started With A Tampon

(26)

Another plastic cube hits Dean's head, and Gabby giggles. He frowns, and throws it away. I don't think he's very good with kids, but he's trying. By trying, I mean he's not yelling at her. She doesn't even look scared of Dean. Another cube hits his head, and he groans.

"Hey kid." He says through his teeth. "Don't you have to go to bed or something?"

"Nope." She grins toothily.

"Yes you do." Eva interrupts, sweeping her off the ground.

"Oh, no fair." Gabby whines.

"Say goodnight." Eva smiles.

"Good night everybody!" She calls, before disappearing upstairs. Dean sighs in relief, and falls back on the couch.

"Finally." He says.

"Hey." Ben says warningly.

"Ben." He argues. "I love your kid, and I love you, but kids and I just don't agree."

"Understatement of the year." Liam cuts in.

I'm going to bed." He grumbles, and leaves the room. Uh. I'm so bored. It's been four days and I haven't left the house. The guys get to leave. But no. Not the girls. Because girls can't take care of themselves. Uh. My mental rant comes to a sudden stop, as I double over in pain. Oh no. No wonder I've been so emotional, and crabby today. I yelled at Nathan for chewing too loudly this morning.

"Are you ok Gem?" Liam asks, as I bend over in pain again. I make eye contact with Charlie, and she understands immediately.

"Umm." She says, trying to figure out how to handle this. "We need to go to the store."

"Why?" Ben asks. "I just did the grocery shopping."

"You didn't get...what I need." I say slowly. Come on. I just need one of these brain dead morons to catch on, so I don't actually have to say it.

"You know." Charlie continues. "We only need it once a month. And Gemma needs it now. I will need it in about a week." Nothing. Freaking crickets.

"Come on." I growl. "Don't any of you have girlfriends? Really?"

"Umm." Ben guesses. "Did I forget the milk?"

"TAMPONS!" I yell. "I need TAMPONS! AND PADS! Are you THAT DUMB? TAMPONS! I have my PERIOD!" They all look away, and I swear Brodie, sitting next to me, slightly shifts away. Seriously?

"It's not contagious!" Charlie sneers. "Just someone has to go buy a pack of tampons and pads." Crickets. Silence. Are you actually serious.

"Are you kidding me?" I seethe. "You're in a gang. You fight people. You scare people. And you can't even go to a store and buy-"

"Stop saying the name!" Sam bursts out.

"Please!" Ben insists.

"Don't make us do this!" Liam pleads.

"Can't you just hold it?" Nathan asks. I leap up from the couch, swinging my arms at him.

"OK!" Liam yells, holding me back. "Stupid idea." He looks around, and lands on Ben. "Ben, go buy them." He says quickly.

"Why me?" Ben protests.

"You have to practise!" Liam argues. "You'll have to do it for Gabby one day!"

"Never!" Ben screams.

"Oh my god!" I growl. "I need them now. Ben. Take me. You can stand in the aisle over, while I pay for them."

"No." Liam says quickly. I whirl around to face him, outraged. "Ben, take Charlie."

"No fair." I whine, copying Gabby.

"It's to dangerous!" He says. "They won't bother risking it with Charlie, if Ben goes with her." I huff, and sit back down. Charlie looks at me apologetically.

"What kind?" She asks.

"LA LA LA LA LA!" Everybody starts to scream, and sing. I groan at the immaturity, and tell her. She and Ben leaves, and the noise stops. I glare around the room, and they look away, sheepishly.

"You're so pretty." Liam begs.

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"No Rose. You love him. Help him." I cry, and spoon more ice cream in my mouth.

"There was so much room on that board." I look over at Liam, and glare.

"What?" I growl.

"There was so much more room." He explains. "Rose just let him drown. The Titanic's so stupid." He finishes, reaching for the ice cream.

"You're stupid." I retort, ripping the ice cream away from him. He sighs.

"Sorry." He says. "What can I do to make it better?"

"What?" I look at him confused.

"You're obviously in pain." He says, turning the T.V off. "How can I help?" I stare at him, not sure how to answer. This has never happened before.

"Umm." I say. "I don't know. No one ever asked me."

"Not even your mom?" He asks. "When you were younger?"

"My mom wasn't really the comforting type." I muse, leaning into his chest, on the couch. "She wasn't even in town when I first got it at thirteen. Josh was seventeen. He had his friends over... It was embarrassing. He just laughed, and then they practised their soccer aim at my stomach for fun, to make it worse."

"That's horrible." he says softly, staring at me.

"I'm used to it." I frown. "I never really thought of that memory as horrible."

"Well..." He says thoughtfully. "Maybe when this whole mess is over, you should... Fill your life with good memories. So you can tell the difference."

"Starting with what?" I tease. He grins, leans in, and kisses me. I giggle, and kiss back. He runs his hands through my hair, but then- Mother Nature.

"Ahh!" I yelp, reaching for my stomach, bending over. You little bitch. He chuckles, and rubs my lower back.

"Oh!" I moan. "That feels so good."

"I bet it does." I jump up quickly, and look at the living room door, to see Chuck grinning at us.

"Chuck." Liam growls.

"What?" He asks cheerfully. "It's ok." He sways his hips. "Feel the love."

"What do you want?" Liam growls.

"We have a lead." He says, sobering up. "We think we found them."