We Fell In Love In October - Wintumn Flufftober

Sick/Injury

The morning started like any other, Autumn and Winter sat alone in the staff room sharing a cup of coffee before the chaos of the day set in. They were always the first people in the office. Aside from both of them always being early for everything, they loved being able to walk into the building holding hands without their coworkers staring and to say goodbye properly without their affection being on full display. Everyone knew they loved each other, they didn't want or need to prove that at every turn.

After they finished their coffees, they headed back downstairs to begin the day. They knew they still had a couple minutes before the rest of the staff would start showing up, so when they arrived at the manager's office they took just a second outside the door giving each other a kiss before parting for the day. They were so engrossed in each other that they never saw Marjorie coming. As Winter backed away, not wanting to take his eyes off of Autumn yet, he was shoved into the wall without so much as a warning.

"Sorry, Winter!" Marjorie yelled over her shoulder, not even breaking her stride to see if he was alright as she ran down the hallway.

Winter hit the floor hard; a loud pop came from his ankle as he did. Autumn was by his side in no time, all traces of her hard exterior gone as she checked over him. Winter just sat in awe of the woman he married, the side of her that only he was able to see on full display as she doted over him, making sure that he was okay. She didn't care if anyone came up on them, he was hurt, he needed her.

"My sweet, are you alright?"

"Fine, my love."

He tried to hide his pain as he started to get up, but he never could hide his feelings from her. Autumn slid her hand under Winter's arm, supporting him as he stood up. She hated hearing him groan in pain as he tried to put weight onto the injured ankle. Once he stood again, his ankle gave out causing him to fall again, but this time Autumn caught him.

"Fine, hmm."

"Yes, my darling." Winter spoke through gritted teeth. He didn't want to worry her. "All I need is a little ice and I'll be good to go."

They walked slowly together down the corridor, Winter leaning on Autumn for support the whole way. When they reached the stairs Winter hesitated. Even though the pain was going away slightly, every so often he would feel another pop and stumble again. He really wasn't sure that his ankle would hold up.

When Autumn saw the look on his face she knew exactly what she needed to do. Without a word she scooped him up into her arms and carried him. It took Winter a minute to realize what had just happened, but when he did he couldn't help but stare at her face. His eyes widened with wonder as she held him as if he weighed nothing. Winter knew that Autumn was strong but seeing it first hand took his breath away. She really was the perfect woman. At that moment he was thankful for the throbbing in his ankle keeping him from showing just how excited he was.

Once they reached the staff room, Autumn set to work making Winter as comfortable as she possibly could. She rearranged the chairs at the back table, placing one on either side of where Winter had settled. One for him to set his leg on, keeping his ankle elevated; the other for her to sit in so that he could lean back into her when she finally sat down.

Winter watched her buzz around the staff room quickly gathering everything she would need to take care of him. Autumn got an ice pack out of the freezer and wrapped it in some paper towels before kneeling next to his legs. She rolled his pant leg up to find his ankle had already started to swell. She checked that they were still alone before giving it a quick kiss and placed the ice pack.

"Thank you, my love."

"Of course, my sweet."

She returned to the cupboards to get some paracetamol from the first aid kit and a glass of water. Autumn sat it all down in front of him as she finally took her place in the chair behind him. After taking the tablets, Winter leaned back to rest his head on her shoulder, relaxing into her touch as she ran her fingers through his hair and placed kisses all over the top of his head.

"Are you sure you don't want to go get checked properly?"

"No need," Winter removed the ice from his ankle, the medicine had started to kick in and he was feeling much less pain. "It's probably just a sprain."

"Hmm." Autumn hummed at him as she watched him stand up, successfully this time. "I'm still taking you home."

"There's no need for that, I'll be fine."

"No, my sweet, you are very hurt. I need to take you home to take care of you and Marjorie will just have to cover the rooms in your absence."

"My love,"

He started to protest before he turned to see the slightly evil glint in his wife's eye. He knew better than to get in the way of her having her fun at someone else's expense. Really Winter was just glad Marjorie had been the one to know him over. Had it been anyone else that hurt him there would have been where they could hide from his wife's wrath, but since it was Marjorie Winter wouldn't have to sort out bail money. She'd never admit it but he knew that she did care for the other manager. Besides, Marjorie probably would have preferred violence over having to cover in the rooms. This was the perfect punishment.

A smile danced across Winter's lips as he saw the smirk on his wife's face, he knew exactly what that face meant. They weren't going to pass up this chance to spend an extra day alone together, it was just too perfect.

"I think you're right."

As they made their way out of the staff room Winter was still leaning on Autumn mostly just to sell the bit, but his ankle was still a little sore. And he wasn't going to miss a rare opportunity to have his arms around her in public. When they reached the top of the stairs he stopped again and looked over at Autumn.

"You know, my love," he started tentatively. "Marjorie could very well be waiting at the bottom of the stairs for us. Do you not think it might look more legit if you..."

His words trailed off as his eyes traced over Autumn's body lingering on her arms. She let out a breathy laugh, knowing exactly what he wanted. With one fluid motion Winter was back in her arms and their lips connected in a sweet kiss. He was so in awe of this woman, the only woman who had ever been able to, literally and figuratively, sweep him off his feet.