fallin' out of love (stemxstud)

15

Valentine

"I love you," Teece smiled, wrapping her arms around me as we laid in bed together.

It had been a few days since I last saw Anaela. Work had kept us apart but we were both actively looking into what happened to Dom. It was Sunday, the weather was absolutely perfect, and Teece was wiggling her soft toes against mine as we cuddled.

It was hard pretending.

It was even harder knowing.

"I know I said today was gonna be for us, but I wanted to run some errands," I mumbled, laying my head against her hair. Her hands trembled over the edge of my boxers, as she pouted. "But...I wanted to do something else today, Tino."

"I'm sorry. Look, maybe you could do a favor for me today," I held her chin, staring into her eyes then giving her cheek a kiss.

"What is it?" she asked, her voice soft.

"Stop by the community center and thank Anaya for me. I have something for you to give her, okay? If it wasn't for her, I wouldn't have this amazing ass job, okay? If it weren't for her-

"Okay, okay. I get it," Teece frowned, obviously irritated. "I'll give her the present or whatever. But running errands for you like some type of coffee bitch is sposed to make me feel better? I wanted some strap today, not this."

"You can still get it," I murmured, pulling her on top of me as I laid down.

"Go run your errands, Tino. Do what you have to do," she sighed, still irritated.

"Nothing I do makes you happy," I commented, looking at her with exhaustion. "Just tell me what it is, and I'll be it for you. You see I'm trying, Teece."

"I don't know. The spark is just...gone," her voice broke a bit.

"I'm sorry. I'm sure it's cause of me," I sighed.

"No...it's prolly cause of me. I've made a lot of mistakes. More than...you could ever dream of. I guess losing your love is my due karma," she chuckled bitterly.

I frowned, like I didn't know what she was talking about. "What do you mean? You haven't lost my love, Teece. I don't think you ever could..."

"I think I already have," she touched my face softly.

"No," I said firmly. Because most of me didn't want that to be true. A lot of me didn't want that to be true. Despite everything I now knew.

"It's okay for us to be honest with each other," she whispered. "Even though...I..."

The doorbell rung and I slowly sat up; Teece moving off of me. "I'll go get it," I mumbled.

"Yeah," Teece sighed, crawling back into bed.

I got the tiny tacos we had ordered and the two large Sprites from our door step, placing our food on the kitchen counter.

I was going to meet Anaela, not run errands, but Teece couldn't know that. Maybe Teece talking to the career coordinator would buy me some time today while she gave my small present to Anaya.

The sooner we get the bigger picture, the sooner I can know how to confront Teece.

After eating, I got ready to go "run errands". Teece was warming up her food when I left our bedroom and I gave her another kiss on the cheek. "Don't forget to drop by the community center and give Anaya her present," I reminded her.

"Mhm," Teece mumbled, watching her food spin around in the microwave.

"Love you," I said weakly, opening the front door.

"Mhm."

Why go through all this trouble to have me and...not do anything with me?

I closed the door behind myself, switching my mind to seeing Anaela and solving Dominique's murder.