We Fell In Love In October - Wintumn Flufftober

Massage

A/N - I mean...a massage happens...that's enough right? I'm still rushing to get caught up (I know I don't have to but...I'm going to anyway) so the ending may have gotten a little wonky...anyway Enjoy! <3

"My love?"

Winter mumbled as he woke up to the feeling of Autumn trying to sneak out of bed. He was usually a very sound sleeper, but ever since being with Autumn he'd found that even her slightest movement would wake him up. Especially when it was clear she wasn't well.

"Are you alright?"

Autumn sat on the edge of the bed, turned away from Winter so that she couldn't see her holding her stomach. She had woken up just a couple minutes earlier with a familiar, severe aching in her lower abdomen and back. Somehow it had managed to sneak up on her yet again. No matter how closely she tracked her period or how prepared she was based on her PMS, the cramps always had a way of surprising her.

"Mmhmm." She responded as the pain grew sharper. "Go back to sleep, my sweet."

Autumn had tried so hard to not wake Winter. It wasn't that she didn't want him to know why she was awake. She had never felt the need to hide her period from men. Autumn grew up in a house with only men, it wasn't like she could lock herself away once a month to keep it a secret. Even though Mia helped her through the first period, because she received a phone call from an incredibly panicked Reece who was sure that his little sister was dying, every time after her big brother was the one who took care of her. He'd paid just as much attention to Mia's lessons as Autumn did so he knew how to help. So she was never made to feel like her period was something that men couldn't handle, especially since her 15 year old brother never had a problem with it.

In her past, far less serious relationships she was very open with her partners about just how bad her symptoms were. They were grown ass men, if they were uncomfortable with periods that was a clear sign they weren't mature enough to be in a relationship at all, let alone a relationship with her. And now she had Winter who was always ready to take care of her at a moment's notice. If she'd woken him up and told him just how much pain she was in, he would have sprung into action in a heartbeat just like he had done every month since they'd been together. He was always doing everything he could to make sure she was comfortable. And that wasn't even just limited to when she was sick or in pain; anytime he could he was checking in on her, making sure she was comfortable. Autumn wasn't sure that anyone had ever asked her if she was drinking enough water in a day before Winter came along; no one had ever paid that much attention before.

Tonight was different though; the cramps hit at truly the worst time. If it had been a few hours earlier or a few hours later she would have woken him without a second thought. But it was 2:30 in the morning and she knew how long it was going to take her to get comfortable enough to get back to sleep. She didn't want him to miss out on any rest because of her. The couple had a long day ahead of them. They were meeting his parents for brunch, for Autumn's first time meeting them, it was already going to be so stressful that they didn't both need to be sleep deprived on top of that.

And Autumn knew that she could take care of this on her own. She had for years. Reece and her fell out when she was only 15 and Roger sure wasn't going to take over helping her. Also Mia's periods were never as severe as Autumn's growing up; so there was still a lot that Autumn had to figure out on her own. If Mia didn't know how to help then Reece didn't know how to help leaving Autumn to experiment with ways to help. Her father always told her that no matter how debilitating her symptoms were she was always told her period wasn't an excuse to be lazy and would often make sure she had more to do during that week; so she had to figure out ways to cope. And she did, before long she had found a routine that would at least make it so she could get through they day. Nothing was ever perfect, but it was fine.