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Adam knocks on the door of his girlfriend’s apartment. He planned this night perfectly, and has been doing so for two years now. He is in a nice, navy blue suit, and has a reservation for a nice restaurant close by that Olive loves. He pats his vest pocket, relieved to find his most important purchase still sitting safely inside.
When the door opens, he holds his breath, determined not to show his nerves to his beautiful, genius, amazing-
…severely underdressed girlfriend.
“Um…” Adam is momentarily stunned. “…hey.”
Olive studies him for a moment, then gasps. “Oh my god, our date… I’m so sorry, Adam, I completely forgot.” To her credit, forgetting seems to be the least of her worries. Olive is in a hoodie, messy bun, and her glasses. Not quite on par with the upscale evening Adam had planned.
“It’s okay, liefje,” Adam smiles. “Are you… okay?”
“Yeah, I’m fine, let me just-…” she looks around her apartment. “I’ll just get dressed and-”
“Olive,” Adam’s voice is gentle, but firm. “What’s wrong?”
Olive is silent for a moment before bursting into tears. Adam immediately pulls her close to his chest.
“Hey, hey, it’s okay, you’re okay… what’s going on?”
Olive cries into Adam’s dress shirt for a moment longer before speaking. “It’s just…” she sniffs, her voice tense with embarrassment. “I… I just got my IUD removed, and now I have my period, and I haven’t gotten one in years and I forgot how terrible it is and…”
“Shhh, shh, it’s okay…” Adam rubs her back, but is silently panicking. He has no idea how to handle this.
“I just…” Olive leans into him. “…I kind of just want to sit on my couch and watch movies and eat chips…” She looks up. “Is that okay?”
Adam barely pauses. “Of course that’s okay. Let’s sit.”
“Adam no, you don’t want to see me like-”
“Yes I do.” Adam rubs his thumb along Olive’s cheekbone. “Do you… need anything? How do I help you?”
Olive smiles. “I… honestly, just being here… and, I mean, I could use some tampons, but I get if you don’t want to buy those.”
“No, no, of course I’ll get you tampons, I… I might mess up, but I can do that.” Adam smiles down at his beautiful girlfriend. Their reservations will have to wait. He has a new most important purchase now.
~~~~
This is how Adam ended up in a three-piece suit in the Feminine Care aisle of a CVS. Adam towers over the shelves, literally sticking out of the unfamiliar aisle. Adam has instructions on what to buy, but no understanding of how to buy them. An older woman seems to see his confusion and taps him on the arm.
Adam looks over. “Hi… sorry, am I in your way?”
“No, no honey, you just… look out of place.” She smiles.
“Yeah, um, I’m a little out of my element… you wouldn’t happen to know which of these boxes is Tampax Pearl Ultra?”
The woman giggles and hands him a blue cardboard box. “Who are these for, can I ask?”
Adam smiles gratefully. “Uh, my girlfriend… she’s… really struggling right now and I have no idea how to help her. I’m not well versed in… I don’t know, tampons.”
“Well, my advice? Chocolate, heating pad, and closeness. Never fails.”
“Got it.” Adam nods, committing the woman’s list to memory. “Thank you. You might’ve saved my life.”
“No trouble, sweetie.”
~~~~
When Adam gets back to the apartment, he finds Olive curled up in the corner of her couch, dead asleep. He smiles softly, places the grocery bag down, and sits down beside her. When she doesn’t wake up, Adam pulls her onto his chest, where she stays for the next forty five minutes. Adam simply watches her breathe, relishing in the fact that she isn’t dealing with this alone.
When Olive finally opens her eyes, she smiles. “You make a great pillow.”
“I should do this more often, then.”
Olive snuggles closer to him, and Adam kisses the top of her head.
“I love you.”
“I love you too.”
After a moment, Olive uses the bathroom. Adam takes the opportunity to unpack the grocery bag. When Olive comes back, she gasps, then starts laughing. “What the hell?”
“What?”
“Adam, that’s a lot more than tampons…” Olive beams. On her coffee table is a box of tampons, as well as chocolate bars, salt and vinegar chips, a heating pad shaped like a polar bear, and teal, fuzzy socks.
“I… I just know you aren’t feeling well, so I wanted to do anything I could to help.”
“This… this is just so incredibly sweet…”
“Please don’t cry again.”
Olive laughs, clearly tearing up a little. Adam pulls her close, pulling her onto the couch with him. She lies on his chest eating her favorite snacks and watching trashy Hallmark movies. They stay this way for hours.
After one particularly cringey movie, Olive laughs.
“Alright, I’m done with cable. I’ll go see if I have a DVD or something…”
When Olive moves to stand, she pushes against Adam’s chest, right on his vest pocket. Adam winces as the corner of the box pokes into his chest. Olive stares at him.
“…what’s in your pocket?”
“Nothing important.”
Adam has never felt less convincing in his life. Olive pats the pocket again.
“Adam…”
“Olive.”
“Is this…” What else could it be? “…tell me I didn’t.”
“Didn’t what?”
“Didn’t ruin your proposal.”
“You didn’t ruin anything.” Adam stands up to meet Olive’s eyes. “Look at me. Nothing is ruined. I’m just glad you’re okay.”
“Still, you probably had all these plans, and-“
“Olive.” He cups her face in his hands. “Nothing in this world matters to me more than you do. When I do propose, I want you to be able to enjoy it, and I don’t think you can do that while bleeding through your sweatpants.”
Olive laughs softly and falls into his chest. “Why are you so perfect?”
“You more than anyone know that I’m not.”
“Still, you’re just…” Olive smiles and looks up at him. “…when you do propose, just… know that I’ll say yes.”
Adam knew that, but it still feels like a weight off of his chest. “Then I’ll try again soon.”
~~~~
Adam stays the night, holding Olive until the sun comes up. Sure, his long awaited plans were thwarted, but he’ll get another chance. Today, he got a chance to show Olive exactly what she can expect from having Adam around all the time. Something that he hopes to be able to do again and again and again for the rest of their lives.