Intertwined

Therapy

Bradley worked on breathing through his current stretch while every few seconds taking a moment to look at the closed door. He didn't know why it bothered him so much, but he really had hoped she would've taken his invitation to join him in physical therapy. Bradley smiled at his therapist once he finished his exercise and grabbed a sip of water, quickly turning just as the door opened. Gaga slowly shuffled her way in, accompanied by Natali for support. "Oh, don't mind me. I'll get there some time next week." 

Bradley quickly swallowed and lightly jogged as best he could over to help. "As soon as you work your muscles you'll feel a lot more mobile, I promise...Hi." Bradleys eyes lingered on Gaga and then to Natali.

"I'm going to head home. Call me later." Natali waved and turned to leave knowing Gaga would be in good hands.

Bradley offered his arm to which Gaga accepted. "Hi..." He slowly guided her to sit about to ask how her day has been when he was startled by the therapist who immediately put them to work.

"I'm so glad you can join us, Gaga! We are just getting warmed up." The two smiled at each other, sitting in their awkwardness. Gaga was in much better spirits and fully participated in all the activities, even when they seems repetitive and unnecessary. With Bradley by her side to make her laugh, she was open and willing to take on any task. 

Gaga only rolled her eyes once but then soon found comfort in the few times her hand grazed Bradley's. Bradley blushed the few times he caught himself staring at her for too long, or teasing her, or trying to tickle her to get her to smile. He was never this flirtatious. His past girlfriends have always been previous friends or set ups who rarely liked PDA. Even with Irina, it was a set up with his publicist but he stayed in it when his mother warmed to the idea of him finally settling down. Flirting never came as easy as it did when he was with Gaga.

Bradley was right. The more stretching and work she did the easier it was to reengage her abdominal area, allowing her to stand up straight and walk better without assistance. Better, not completely healed, she still required some help. Bradley couldn't help notice how small she was, how soft she was, how her smell completely captivated his sense, while he walked her back to her room. "Hello, earth to Bradley Cooper..."

"Sorry, what did you say?" He shook the thoughts from his mind.

"I said you're quite the gentleman walking me all the way to my room." Gaga joked, enjoying the extra time she got with him, even if it was only a short slow walk.

"Well, I wanted to make sure you got the whole Physical Therapy experience." She shyly smiled at his reasoning. "See, I knew you'd benefit from it."

"Yea, well I don't like it."

"Oh, I think you liked it just a little." His smile was contagious and she wanted to softly kiss the dimple that formed as he beamed down at her. Gaga saddened knowing that day may never come. "So, what? You're not going to invite me in?" 

"I'm a little tired after all that work." She wanted to cry and bury her head deep in her pillow and forget the perfect day they had. She had already spent enough time with the unavailable man. She didn't want to torture herself any more. But is that a hint of sadness in his eyes? "I'm sure you have your super model girlfriend waiting for you anyway. Don't want to keep her waiting and I'm probably just going to sleep-"

Bradley looked down the hall to his room, dreading going back, then down to his slippers, noticing how big his were in comparison to her tiny pink ones. "Yea, she really hasn't been around...too busy, I'm sure. Something makes me feel like I said something or something happened before all this..." he tried not to get frustrated over his memory loss. "...I wish I could remember." He rubbed at his forehead.