Page 71 of Here In Your Arms

“You know, when you pass the person a note and there’s a box to check ‘yes’ or ‘no’. I can’t answer without that kind of legal document in front of me.”

Kyle busts out laughing, and I join in with my own chuckles. Rory looks proud of herself and looks between the two of us as we get ourselves under control.

“I would love to be you guys’ girlfriend. Honestly, I kind of assumed we were there, but it’s nice to have it spoken out loud. Makes things easier.”

“Agreed,” Kyle chimes in.

Once we’ve finished eating, I grab everyone’s plates and get the dishes into the dishwasher. As I do, I look over at Rory and notice she’s got a bit of a vacant look on her face. It’s not quite detached, but she’s not really here either. My eyes meet Kyle’s and I raise an eyebrow in question. He bites his lip and nods a little. He’s concerned too, then.

“You mind if I run out to get some stuff?” he asks me softly.

“What do you need?”

“I think she’s going into a bad head space. I want to get some easy activities and snacks to help her get out of her head.”

“Good plan!”

Kyle heads to the bedroom to get dressed while I load the last few dishes into the washer. I grab Rory’s hand and lead her from the table to the couch of cushions. She flops down and I make a show of digging a hole to sit beside her and build up pillows and blankets around us.

“I’ll be back in a few!” Kyle calls out.

“Where are you going?” Rory finally tunes into the environment a little more.

“Just gotta grab a couple things. I won’t be long.”

“Oh, okay.”

Rory starts to retreat into herself again, but I seize the moment to try to get her to smile.

“We need to buy some Nerf guns,” I whisper to her.

She looks confused. “Why are you whispering?”

“You can’t conspire on these things in a normal voice. You have to whisper.” A giggle escapes her. “Now, next time I need to get to the store, I’m gonna buy us a couple of Nerf guns. Then we’re gonna build a fort on the couch like this and ambush the shit out of Kyle!”

She laughs outright at that. “Can you imagine the look on his face?”

“It would be so epic!”

We grin at each other before I see her start to slide again.

“Talk to me?” I ask.

I know she probably doesn’t want to talk about whatever is happening in her head, but I want to know how to help her through whatever it is. Maybe if she can at least give me a little information, I can try to step up unlike last time. She chews on her lip, contemplating my question.

“I just-I just feel like I’m going to have a bad brain day. Everything feels heavy since we sat down to eat breakfast and I hate it. We had such a good night last night. I don’t understand why this happens.”

Her eyes fill up with tears and I pull her close. She sniffles a little while getting her breathing under control, and I pull back to look at her.

“Can I show you something?” I ask.

She nods, so I stand up and grab her hands, pulling her up as well. Keeping one hand, I pull her toward the room that houses my guitar. I’m not sure if this will actually help, but I sure hope so. Once we’re there, I realize there aren’t any super soft spots, so I tell her to wait and I jog back to the couch, grabbing some blankets and pillows. I make her a little nest near my guitar and gesture for her to lie down. Smiling a little, she puts her head on a pillow and pulls a blanket over herself, up to her chin.

I sit down near her and grab my guitar. Taking a moment to tune the guitar, my hands take over with muscle memory. I start to strum some chords, an aimless tune building. My hands pluck the strings individually before doing a full strum and I cycle back between the two actions, making a small nonsense song. Inspiration strikes me, and while I don’t know the verses very well, I manage to pull out the chords for a song.

“Well, I guess you say, what can make me feel this way? My girl,” I croon to Rory, just repeating the chorus and adding in little music breaks and changing the words on occasion to see if I can get a smile.

She’s laying in the same position, her eyes on my hands as I create the music with strings, but she no longer looks quite so detached. There’s something there. Now she’s able to focus and remember that she’s not alone right now. After talking with Kyle, that was the biggest point that I walked away with. She just needs someone to be here with her. My guitar and I can do that. I mess around with the music for a little longer, and we hear the door open and close.

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