Page 21 of Call Don't Fall

“Sorry about that. I know that I’m not the best at minding my own business when it comes to that arena,” I said, feeling sheepish.

“At least you have some professional medical knowledge behind it. They’re artists like me,” Chasten said. “It’s not just you or them I’m worried about. It’s everyone. My carrier was diabetic. Everyone had an opinion on the best way to eat or what to eat to make it go away forever or what you could absolutely never eat.”

“Well, tell them to shut the fuck up if they start that shit. Nutrition may be a science but it’s not that cut and dry. Bodies react differently to food because there are a million different variables and not even all of them, we know about. I’m more worried about making sure you eat something and don’t skip that many meals since that’s what made you faint.”

Chasten sighed and leaned his head against the window. Faint. He hated that word.

“Swooned?” I tried.

“Isn’t swooning supposed to be romantic?” he managed a quiet laugh.

“I’m not sure,” I shrugged. “I think it just means to swoon.”

“Sounds like some southern gothic stuff. ‘Oh, my lawdy! Judas on a biscuit! I was swoonin’ all over the fall fair, y’all.’”

“I’m not going to lie. That sounds adorable,” I said. “The festival’s still ongoing, right?”

“Yeah,” Chasten nodded. “All week.”

“We could give it another go. This time I’ll remind you to eat.”

“I bet that’s where they’re at. Treg and Grina.”

“Wanna find out?” I asked him.

His scent perked up.

“Will your stuff be alright back there?” he asked.

“Yeah. It’s just stuff. Nothing perishable.”

“Alright. If you want to.”

“I haven’t been to one of them since I was a kid. Might be nice to see what they do now.”

Chapter Nine

Chasten

Grina and Treg were indeed at the Fall Festival. Kirk and I found them in the parking lot where Grina was taking her time to construct a long well thought out text to check on me. It dinged off in my pocket when we were almost to them. Her head jerked up and Treg let out a low, throaty laugh.

“Well, at least we know for sure you’re alive now,” Grina said, pulling me into a hug.

She held on tight for several long seconds before letting me go. Even then she held onto my shoulders, looking me up and down as if I might’ve been patched up with sticky tack and duct tape.

“I’m alright,” I said, blushing.

I was never good at being doted over even when I was sick. I hated to imagine anyone using their limited minutes worrying about me or my wellbeing when they could be enjoying themselves.

Treg saved me from Grina and pulled me into a bear hug. They gave some of the best hugs I’ve ever received. I hugged them back, putting off the moment when one of them would ask for too many details.

“The nurse from the hospital is your true-mate?” Treg started off the round of rapid-fire questions.

Which included: whether or not that was legal, whether I thought I fainted because I was fated to meet him, whether or not he moved in with me, how many kids we wanted, and if I was still allowed to have snacks at the fair.

Lucky for me, once I introduced him Kirk took over answering most of the questions. He put on his nurse’s voicewhich amused my smiling friends. He skipped out on how many kids we wanted and went straight onto a short monologue about not moralizing food.

“Food isn’t good or bad. It’s fuel. It’s just about finding the right fuel for your body and the same goes for Chasten or anyone,” Kirk said, slipping his hand into mine and entwining our fingers.

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