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It was one of those days. Everything that could go wrong did. The first thing that greeted you was a phone at 20% because the damn thing got unplugged during the night which was then followed by the handle of your favorite coffee mug snapping off which lead to the cup shattering once it hit the floor then the morning ended with your car needing a jump.
Even though you were very tempted to just give up on the day and crawl back under your blankets you knew you couldn’t. Not with Steven coming over for a date night later. You needed groceries and other supplies.
Thanks to your wonderful neighbor, who was able to jump your car for you, you were able to start your day. By the time you got to your first destination the place was packed. When you saw an empty spot at the front of the lot you couldn’t help but smile. Was it possible luck was on your side? As you got to the spot you were suddenly slamming on your brakes. Some woman had cut you off and had snatched the spot in a matter of a second. Instead of yelling at her, your hand clenched the steering wheel. When she stepped out of her car, you weren’t surprised to see the Karen haircut, she gave you the world's smallest violin motion.
The only option you now had left was to park at the back of the parking lot. It was frustrating because you didn’t have the patience to walk through giant slush puddles.
Once you finally found a place to park, there was a couple leaving in the middle of the lot so you were able to snag their parking spot and after triple checking to make sure you had your keys, phone and wallet in your bag, you trudged your way through the sludge parking lot and made your way inside. Inside looked even worse than the parking lot but you knew you needed to get this done. There was absolutely no way you could treat Steven to takeout, again. Luckily there were some carts left so you grabbed one and went on your way.
Even though the pickings weren’t the greatest you were able to get what you needed. You got Steven fresh fruit and vegetables along with some almond milk, bread, dried pasta and lettuce. For everybody else you got regular milk, chicken breasts, some frozen fish and a small container of boneless pork chops. Now that the proteins, and Steven’s groceries were out of the way, you finished up your shopping which was mostly for some frozen items and some stuff for simple meals like macaroni and cheese and lunch meat. By the time you got to the checkout you were done. There were way too many people out for your liking but after a few days of horrible weather it wasn’t surprising. Thankfully as you pulled into one of the long lines of people a new cashier opened up. Once you got into the new line, the Karen who had cut you off in the parking lot had tried to slip in front of you which the cashier wasn’t putting up with, you were out the door.
Although it took you a little bit longer to get back to your car due to pushing the cart through the slush you finally made it to your vehicle. It didn’t take long to get the reusable bags loaded into your trunk but right as you slammed the door down you found yourself soaking wet.
Looking up you saw the stupid Karen from earlier speeding her way through the puddled parking lot. She had driven through the puddle you had avoided stepping through. It took everything not to scream out in frustration. You didn’t even want to treat yourself to lunch anymore. You just wanted to go home and crawl back under your warm blankets.
It didn’t take you long to get out of the parking lot but on the way back you managed to hit every single stoplight. That just added to the frustrating day. When you finally pulled into the parking lot of your apartment complex, your body was sore and very cold. At this point you didn’t even care about taking a shower to warm back up. You just wanted to get the groceries put away and go back to bed.
Once you got your bearings together, it was taking everything you had not to break down in your car, you exited your vehicle then went to the trunk to grab your grocery hall. After rearranging the items to your reusable bags, you wanted to try and make them as equal weight as possible, you grabbed everything out in one go. You were not in the mood to make two trips. After you slammed the trunk down with more force than necessary you headed inside.
As you walked up the stairs, there were some days you wanted to take the stairs instead of the elevator, you started to calculate what to make Steven for the dinner date. The only thing you had prepared was homemade lemonade you had made the day before. It was something you had actually been looking forward to since you had made it.
When you finally got to your door, you set the bags down then go into your pocket to find your keys. This day just needed to end. It took a minute to get the door open and once you got your bags inside you kicked the door closed with your foot. Now it was time to put everything away.
There was an upside to not having many groceries in your apartment. You didn’t have to organize anything. Plus you didn’t really have the patience for it anyways. The only thing you had to do was organize the fridge a little better. Once the pantry items, and the frozen items, were put away you went to organize the fridge. This was the part you hated the most.
After opening up the fridge you stare it at for a minute then start to organize it better. The lemonade you had made the night before went on the table along with some fresh fruit you had cut up. The newer produce and milk products went to the back of the fridge followed by the lunchmeat and perishable items. When you finally had nearly everything organized, and had the items you were going to make for dinner at the front of the fridge you stepped back and admired your handiwork. Your fridge now longer looked like a chaotic mess. Now there was only one more thing left to do. Get the lemonade back in the fridge. You wanted it as cold as possible.
You spun yourself around to get it but in doing so your arm collided with the container. In the blink of an eye the container and the liquid was all over the kitchen floor. There was no holding back now. Tears started to flow down your cheeks as you just sat in the middle of the kitchen floor. You weren’t sure if you were sitting in lemonade but you didn’t even care. Your hands went to cover your ears to try and block out sounds. You didn’t notice that your nails started to dig into your scalp as the voice in your mind reared its ugly head.
“You can’t even clean up right.”
“You deserve this. “
“You’re absolutely fucking worthless. Can’t even handle a container of lemonade right.”
“Steven and the others don’t deserve you. You don’t take care of them. They always wind up taking care of you.”
“ Why can’t you do anything right?”
As more thoughts started to plague your mind, you pressed your nails deeper into your scalp. The pain didn’t even bother you. You were in full panic attack mode now. You had no idea how this got out of control so damn fast.
You didn’t hear the knock on your door and you hadn't noticed the door opening up and you didn’t process your name being heard. You didn’t hear the words being spoken to you. When you felt a hand on your knee you finally opened your eyes. Everything was blurry but once you started to blink to clear your vision, you were greeted by a very concerned pair of dark brown eyes.
“M…Marc?” You stutter out as you try to focus on him.
“Yeah. Baby, I need you to listen to me. I want you to try and focus on my voice okay? I need you to try and take slow, deep breaths for me. You’re hyperventilating and that isn’t good.”
You tried to do as he said. You tried to focus on his voice. You could hear him telling you exactly what to do. Look around, name 5 things you could see, 4 things you could touch, three things you could hear, two things you could smell, and one thing you could taste. When he saw you struggling to focus, he repeated the steps but slower.
“ What are the 5 things you can see?”
“I can see your messy curl, the kitchen table, my bag, my blanket on the chair, and the clear container on the floor.”
“What are 4 things you could touch?”
“ My wet pants, your hand, my hair, and the wood floor.”
“What are 3 things you could hear?”
“Your calming voice, the refrigerator behind me, and a phone notification that just came through.”
“What are 2 things you can smell?”
“Your cologne and sugar cookies.”
“ What is the one thing you can taste?”
“Cottonmouth. My mouth is very dry.”
“That’s very good,” Marc reached up and placed his hand on yours. You had taken your hands away from your ears when Marc started to go through the steps to stop the panic attack.
“Thank you for helping me.”
“You never have to apologize for that,” It wasn’t Marc who had spoken up. It was Steven. You could tell by the look in his eyes he was very concerned.
“Love, what happened? We’ve never seen you have a panic attack that bad before.”
“It has not been a good day,” You told Steven. Now that you were calming down you could feel how cold you were.
“Why don’t we get off of the floor and talk about it, yeah? I can make some tea while you go change.”
Dry clothes did sound good. And so did tea. Steven got up from the floor and once he got up he offered his hand to you. You instantly took it and didn’t argue as he helped pull you up.
“Love, you are practically frozen. You need to warm up.”
“I’ll be fine once I clean up this mess and get out of these clothes.”
You didn’t notice the shift in Steven’s body language. They had perfected the transition between them. You weren’t surprised when Jake spoke up. He was just as protective of you as he was of Marc and Steven.
“This is not up for debate, Mi niña hermosa,” Jake spoke up as he pulled your hand up to kiss your cold fingers. “We don’t want you to get sick. Steven was right. You are practically frozen. You go take a shower and get some clean clothes while I clean up this mess.”
You opened your mouth up to argue with him but by the look on his face you knew you weren’t going to win any debate. You hated that they were going to clean up the mess you made. You didn’t say a word to him as you headed back towards your bedroom. Although it seemed like you were angry it wasn’t with them. It was how horrible the day had turned out.
Jake listened for the shower and once it started going he grabbed a roll of paper towels off of the counter. He wanted to wipe up what he could before washing the floor. When he got to his knees to start wiping up the liquid he looked up at the fridge to see his reflection.
“ I wonder why she is so upset over some spilled liquid. I’ve never seen her have a full on panic attack like that.”
“We’ll have a conversation with her after she showers and changes,” Marc responded to Steven. He was just as concerned about you as they were.
It didn’t take Jake long to get the floor cleaned up and washed. It was like the spill never even happened. A loud thump made Jake look up. That didn’t sound good. Quickly he made his way to the bathroom and knocked on the door. He didn’t even get a chance to ask his question.
“I’m fine.” You yell through the closed door. “I just dropped a shampoo bottle on my foot.”
“ I think we need to wrap her in bubble wrap.”
Jake didn’t acknowledge Marc’s comment but he knew he was right. There were days that just didn’t seem to go your way and today must have been one of them. Jake decided to pick up your stuffed animals while he waited for you. They had been spread across the floor. You must have knocked them over in the middle of the night.
He found it funny, and adorable, that you had a stuffed animal named after all of them. Marc was a little angry wolf with a crescent moon on his forehead, Steven was some very colorful salamander looking thing, and he was a giant stuffed black cat with crescent moon eyes. The hippo plush Steven had gifted you was even on the floor. Once they were all back in place Jake grabbed the little wolf plush then laid down on his back. He didn’t know what else to do while you were in the shower. He started to toss it up in the air to catch it and didn’t even notice how much time had passed until your voice got his attention.
“Are you having fun with Squishy Marc?”
Jake set down the little plush then sat up. He scooted over so you could sit next to him. By the way you were dressed he could tell you were ready for some sleep. Your sleep attire usually consisted of a tank top and panties.
“What happened today?”
Normally Jake wasn’t blunt about things like this but he could tell the day was still eating at you and that you were upset. He was the one that could read you the best.
You couldn’t help but sigh as you started to explain your day to him. It started with the nearly dead phone, the broken mug, a dead car battery, the trip to the store, the stupid Karen and her temper tantrum that ended with you soaking wet because she drove through a puddle to be a petty bitch and it ended with the lemonade you had made specifically for Steven on the floor and completely wasted.
Jake’s hand reaches up to cup your cheek. Instantly you turn into his touch with a sigh. This day just needed to end. His thumb lightly traced your cheek.
“Steven is threatening me. He wants to talk to you.”
It wasn’t hard to notice the shift between Jake and Steven. While Jake liked to stroke at your cheek Steven preferred to give you kisses. After placing a kiss on your forehead Steven looked into your eyes.
“It’s the thought that counts, Love. We can make another batch tomorrow. Together. It will be made with just as much love. Does that sound okay to you?”
You couldn’t help but nod in agreement. Steven kissed your head as he stood up. He motioned for you to lay down and when you did he placed a piece of your top blanket in your hand then started to roll you up. Once he was done he couldn’t help but smile at his work.
“Did you just turn me into a human burrito?
“Yes I did.” Steven laid down next to you as he wiped some hair from your face. “You’re a cute human burrito. Now it’s time for us to get some rest, Love, don’t you think?
You couldn’t help but smile at Steven. He did the most random things to bring you comfort. After kissing your head Steven laid down next to you and started to tell you a story about Isis, the Egyptian Goddess of Healing and Magic. She was married to Osiris, and when he was killed and disassembled by his brother Set over power and jealousy, Isis got help from Nephthys , Thoth, and Anubis to find the pieces Set had disposed of and they reassembled him. Using her magic, Isis brought Osiris back to life and because Isis had used a fake phallus when she brought him back to life she was able to give birth to the rightful heir to the throne, Horus.
When Steven was done explaining everything he knew about Isis he looked down to see you had fallen asleep. His fingers wiped some loose hair from your forehead as he smiled down at you. Even when you were sound asleep you were still gorgeous in their eyes.
“Sleep soundly, my beautiful Goddess.”