My Love Mine All Mine

16

JJ had invited her friends from work to her apartment tonight and wanted me to swing by if I could. I originally didn't want to because I didn't want to go through the process of meeting everyone but she assured me that it wouldnt be weird so I came over.

She opened the door and greeted me with a smile, throwing her arms around me. "You must be the infamous Iris. I'm Derek." One man I recognized from the bar walked up to me. "Penelope over here brought some cookies, wanna try one?" She handed one to me and I shook my head over JJ's shoulder, letting go of her.

"No thanks." I looked around at everyone who just waved at me before going back to conversation. I saw all the food in the middle of the table and turned to JJ who was still smiling at me. "I um...I think I'm just going to go to the bedroom...I don't really feel like socializing."

"Yeah, that's fine. Are you ok?" She rubbed my arm, almost making me melt into her.

"Yeah...well...could be better but I can talk to you later." Her eyes flashes with concern and she nodded before I shut myself in her bedroom.

I got a hoodie from her closet and made sure it smelled like her before crawling under her covers and hugging it.

"Hey baby." JJ walked in about 20 minutes later. "How are you feeling?"

"I don't know." I sat up and she sat down next to me. I laced my fingers with hers and rested my head on her shoulder. "Can I stay the night?"

"Of course." She caressed the bridge of my thumb.

"Don't you have to go back out?" I asked her.

"No. I told them I was gonna be a little bit. They can entertain each other for a while." I nodded and put my arm over her waist, relaxing my whole body into her.

"Thank you." I whispered.

"For what?"

"For staying with me."

"Of course." She started playing with my hair and I smiled into her neck. "You like that?" I nodded with a dopey smile.

We stayed in that position for around 10 minutes until I spoke. "I don't know why I'm feeling the way I am right now...just heavy...for no reason. I've never felt that way before, there's always been a reason."

"There doesn't always have to be a reason. Bad days are bad days, whether something bad happened or not." She rubbed my shoulder and I tangled our legs together. She smiled as she kissed my forehead. "Honey?"

"Yeah?"

"I love you." I lifted my head from her shoulder, my heart swelling. "I love you." She said again, staring into my eyes as she said it. I couldn't help but smile.

"I love you." I beamed at her and leaned forward, resting my forehead against hers. She reached up to touch my face softly, brushing her knuckles across my cheek before kissing me sweetly.

"I'm here for you, ok?" She whispered after we pulled away.

"I know."

"You can talk, not talk, whatever, just don't shut me out."

"I'm not."

"I know you're not. I just don't want you to ever shut me out, please? Let me know when you're feeling upset." I nodded and rested my head on her chest, hearing her heartbeat. I didn't know one sound could comfort me so much. "You ok?"

"Yeah."

"Good, I thought you just died there for a second." She started playing with my hair again and my head dropped into her lap. I wrapped my arms around her legs and hugged them.

"I love you." I murmured. "I love you so much and I don't want to stop saying it." She laughed and smoothed my hair back from my face.

"I love you too."