I was in the kitchen, washing my hands before helping Ty with dinner. "One, two, three, four-"
"Babe will you grab the peppers from the fridge when you're done?" I knew he didn't mean to but it made me lose count and I had to start again.
"Fifty-five. Fifty-six. Fifty-seven. Fifty-eight. Fifty-nine. Sixty." I looked down at my hands that were bright red. It stung, sure. Tyler looked at me with sad eyes. He didn't like when I did something like this, but he knew that I couldn't control it or the thoughts that came up.
"At least you'll never have to worry about getting sick around her." One of his teammates snickered.
"And everything will be neat and in place." One of them moved the salt and pepper shakers, knowing that I would move it back as soon as I noticed it.
"I'm not some freak show, you pricks." They put their heads down and avoided eye contact with me and Tyler. He had talked to them a lot before, but they obviously didn't care that this wasn't something that I could really control.
I started dinner, ignoring Ty and his team, but had to leave everything once the urges were getting too strong. I wasn't able to control my actions, so I went to the bedroom to try and calm down. I sat on the edge of the bed, eventually falling to my back. Staring at the ceiling, I could hear someone open the door and sit down next to me.
"Babe. Babe, don't let them get to you." He put his hand on my thigh, trying to calm me down.
"I just- I can't handle them. Not if they're going to be like that." Tyler got up without another word.
"Leave."
"We were just-"
"Leave now. You're not going to disrespect my girlfriend like that when she's nice enough to put up with your dumb asses and cook dinner for all of you." He started raising his voice. "Out. NOW."
He came back and carried me to the theater room where he brought all of the blankets and pillows when I realized I had left everything in the kitchen, just the way it was.
"I forgot to turn off the stove and put the food away." I got up to clean the mess I had left.
"I turned it off and put it all in the fridge." He told me that, but he didn't stop me. I wouldn't be able to calm down until I knew that everything was perfect.
