A Story With No End *Robert Manion*

29

I woke up to Roberts alarm blaring and groaned

"Come on love" I say groggily leaning over his body to give him a kiss on the cheek. I stretched my arms, raising them above my head with my hands tightly clenched in an attempt to get some blood to my joints before peeling the blanket off of my body. I played with the ring on my finger and smiled, feeling a glow in my chest and a swell of joy. I decided to finally get up and brush out my hair, still damp from washing it late last night I threw on a cropped rugby shirt and some ripped skinny jeans before tying my doc martens and pulling back my bangs in a headband. I rolled my eyes in realization that Rob had only turned his body over in an attempt to get warm since I kissed him on the cheek. "Rob, baby?" I asked in a slightly higher pitched voice, slightly concerned as he was evidently awake, yet not moving much. "Love, flail slightly if you're alive." I called again from the other side of the room. I received a slight rise and fall of the bed sheets where his feet are. I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding in and sat on his side of the bed gently, in hopes to not disturb him. I bring my hand up to his soft hair and tuck my fingers around the locks, moving it out of his eyes which tighten in response to the harsh light hitting them. My face contorts in concern as I saw just how absent the color was in his face. I immediately hugged him which he groaned at slightly in response. I looked at him and weighed my options before speaking up, "you're not working today" this seemed to have peaked his attention as he shot up from his pillow and glared in my general direction. To which I glared right back at him. Rob opened his mouth to speak but all that came out was a faint cough.
"I need to do the show" his voice sounded incredibly strained a frown grew on my face
"Hon you cant sing like this" I put the back of my hand up against his temple "Thankfully you're not warm, but I'm calling you out of the show"
"But-"
"Rob if you protest one more time I'm not gonna cuddle you" he pouted then flopped back onto the bed
"Fine" he let out a series of coughs
"I have some errands to run, I'll be back just for a bit then I'll have to head to the theater. Ok?" He nodded his head gently I smiled and kissed his forehead. Entering the kitchen I filled a glass with water and grabbed some cold medicine. I reentered our bedroom and set them on the bed side table seeing that he was already fast asleep. I smiled shaking my head lightly. I slide my jacket on over my shoulders and spun my car keys around my index finger. "Come on D/N" I attached their leash to their collar and lead them out of the apartment locking it behind us. I began dialing Jon's number he answered almost immediately
"Hello" a very energetic voice practically yelled into the phone
"Jesus Jon, I was wondering if you wanted to come with me and Rhi before the show, don't tell Rob, but were gonna go look at dresses"
"Oh my god! Oh my god! Of course I do" I laughed at how excited he was
"We can pick you up or you could meet us there"
"Just shoot me an address I'll leave now" we said our goodbyes just as I got to Rhi's apartment. I knocked lightly with the tips of my knuckles. I door flew open as a very tired Joey rubbed his eyes
"Hey?" she questioned
"Just here for Rhi, but since you're up. Do you mind watching D/N for a bit. Rob's really sick and I don't want them to bother him."
"Yeah i don't mind, do you want me to call Nick for you" he took the leash from me
"Please, I don't want him getting even sicker"
"Yeah no that's reasonable. You girls have fun" he pecked Rhi's cheek as she exited the apartment. I waved at joey as we entered the elevator
"Jon's gonna come along" i smiled as we made small talk

We pulled up in front of the dress shop and saw Jon waiting by the entrance scrolling through his phone. He looked up once we parked our car
"Hey jonny boy" Rhi smiled hugging him. We entered the building and immediately got helped by a girl with long Red hair.
"Hello, I'm Eve the owner of the shop. What are we looking for today?" I took note of her british accent then spoke up
"I am looking for a wedding dress" I smiled
"Ah, is this the groom"
"Haha no, uh I'm not. Were not" I cut Jon off
"This is my best friend Jon, my Fiancé is at home sick" the girl followed along as I spoke
"Alright um, what kind of dress are you looking for. We scrolled through the small aisles of the shop looking at all the different dresses as I explained my dream dress to her "Ok i think i can whip something up, why don't I take you to a room and I can bring in a few dresses for you to try." I smiled at her as she lead me to a room Rhi and Jon sat on a couch outside and started talking about lord knows what. "Go ahead and change into the rob and ill be right back"
"Ok thank- you" the door closed mid sentence. I change quietly then sat staring at myself in the mirror fiddling with the dainty ring on my finger wonder how in the world Robert summed up my personality in one tiny piece of medal. The door opened the reveal Eve with around 4 dresses I clapped happily as we started trying them on
As I put on the last dress I stared into the mirror as my eyes welled up... it was exactly what I wanted. It was perfect. Eve opened the door for me as I walked out and stood in front of Jon and Rhi a tear rolling down my cheek.
"This is it, this is the one" Rhi smiled at the dress Jon's eyes were burning straight into my own as he noticed my tears
"What's wrong?" he asked a smile never leaving my face. I smiled
"It's perfect." I stared into the mirror at myself and envisioned little me spinning around in a homemade white dress "Me and Poppop used to play wedding.. He would walk me down the aisle and hand me off to Sir teddy. Who was a giant teddy bear that my grandpa lended his top hat too" I chuckled as another tear ran down my cheek. I turned back to the two "I miss him," I said softly. Jon smiled sympathetically and stood up pulling me into a hug. Rhi soon joined in and we all laughed.
I changed clothes and ordered the dress in my size a smile never leaving my face. The door chimed signaling someone entering the shop
"Hello hon just finishing up" Eve smiled
"Hey guys, what are you doing here?" I heard an all too familiar voice
"Hey Joe what's up" Jon hugged the man
"You guys know each other?" Eve asked
"I can't believe I didn't recognize you. You were at homecoming" i smiled and she looked confused
"Eve this is Jon and Y/n they were both in The Guy who didn't like musicals" she made and O with her mouth and continued printing my receipt.
"Well we have to go, I have a sick Fiancé to take care of. I'll see you later" I smiled as the three of us exited the shop
"Ok Jon I'll see you at the show"
"Good luck with sick boy" I smiled at him as me and Rhi entered our car.

 I unlock my apartment dog leash in hand and entered as quietly as possible. I peeked into our room to see the medicine gone and the water cup empty. I smiled and cooked up a pot of soup. I grabbed a bottle of tea out of the fridge and set it on the counter. I poured about half of the pot into a bowl and set it on the kitchen table along with the tea. I walked into our room and sat on the end of the bed Rob stirred awake lightly "Hi baby. How are you feeling" He smiled at me 
"Better than earlier thanks to you leaving that medicine for me" I smiled at his raspy voice
"You're still not doing the show. But its nice to see some color in your face again" I kissed his forehead and stood up. He pouted at my response "I put some soup on the table for you"
"Have you been crying?" he asked as I was almost out of the room I stopped dead in my tracks
"I'll talk to you about it later" I smiled without turning around "I have to get ready for the show" I cleared my throat and started to fill up my backpack in the other room. I refilled my water and ran a hairbrush through my hair 
"Ok" a tired Rob entered the room still in Pajamas and sat at the table starting to eat his soup "I love you" he said opening his tea. I turned to him a smile on my face 
"I love you too"

I got home late that night exhausted from the show. Everything that could have gone wrong went wrong, people forgot their props, costumes malfunctioned, mics stopped working. Practically everything broke. So i stayed behind to fix stuff. I shuffled into mine and Roberts room "Hi love" I smiled tiredly at him as i threw on some random sleep clothes. I crawled into the bed and rested my head on his chest. The room was silent for a while before i started to speak up 
"I always thought... My grandpa would be the one to walk me down the aisle.. And now he's gone" I got quieter as I spoke. I felt Roberts body shift as his chest vibrated while he spoke
"Is this why you were crying earlier?" he asked and I nodded my head as a tear ran down my cheek.
"I miss him Rob" he ran his hands through my hair soothingly "I know you do baby I know you do" he shifted our bodies so he was hugging onto my waist closer to him and he quietly rocked me to sleep, 
"You know who you should ask"
"Who"
"Jon" I smiled into his body 
"Perfect idea" I chuckled lightly then drifted off to sleep


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IMPORTANT

do you guys want the next and final chapter to be their wedding which requires quite a big time skip or do you want it to be closing night of BF?