Love Isn't as Easy as the Books

Part 13

 For the first time in months Becky felt somewhere in the vague realm of rested. She felt like she'd actually gotten a decent night's sleep for the first time in a long time, so it only served to make her even more exhausted.

"Mmm," Freen moaned. "What time is it?"

"Almost nine thirty," Becky muttered. It felt weird making words with her mouth. She'd spent so long maintaining a stony silence, that merely speaking was almost a forgotten skill.

"Sorry," Freen muttered into Becky's shoulder. "I fell asleep on you. You could have pushed me over. I can't imagine it was terribly comfortable for you."

"It was fine."

Finally Freen sat up and rubbed her eyes. "What's for breakfast?"

After getting another massive food deliver (this time bagels), the pair sat in another silence.

"How long are you going to stay?" Becky asked tentatively.

"I took a week off," Freen answered. "I got someone covering everything for me. I could be here longer or shorter, depending on emergencies or if you need me to stay."

Becky's heart beat against the walls of her chest and screamed and yelled to tell her to stay, to get her to hold you one more time. But her head was in charge and her head was not right and she knew, but still she said, "I'm fine, stay as long as you want."

Because some stupid part of her thought that admitting weakness was worse than anything else.

"Then it seems like I'll be here for a while," Freen said. "I managed to get myself a small place, well I mean I rented that hotel room for the next week. If you want, you can help me move in and we can hang out with the pay-per-view."

Becky shrugged.

"Come on, we can have a bit of a change of scenery," Freen said as she extended a hand to help Becky stand up off the couch.

An hour later Becky found herself in the exact same hotel room that she shared with Freen all those months ago.

Freen was in the bathroom laughing, "Becky come here."

With a blank expression Becky walked over to the bathroom where Freen pointed to a little sign next to the hot tub.

"Hot tub for lounging ONLY" it read.

"I think that was because of us."

Becky grinned, not wide and bright eyed like she would have before, but it was a smile none-the-less and for a moment she felt like she was her old self.

For the next couple of days Becky spent most of her time with Freen in the hotel room they once almost ruined with all their sex. Slowly she started to feel better, to feel happier, but at the end of the fifth day Freen was called away to a Future Industries emergency which meant that for a few nights Becky had to sleep by herself again.

She didn't realize it until Freen was gone and she couldn't sleep with their hands touching or the feel of Freen's hands in her hair or just her presence in the room, but she missed her. A piece of her soul felt like it was gone with Freen around. She slipped back into her quiet, reserved, bitter depression when Freen was gone.

Or maybe that hole in her soul was always there, maybe her depression never left. Maybe Freen just made it feel better temporarily.

She was gone for three days. And for two of those, Becky got drunk enough to pass out, because it made it easier to deal, easier to sleep. Even though she felt even more exhausted than she did the night before.