Page 66 of Falling Together

“Where is your medicine? I’ll grab it and then get your food ready for you. Let me guess.” Blair tapped her chin and looked toward the ceiling. “Broccoli and cheddar, right?”

How the hell did she do that?“Okay, that’s just freaky.”

“Or maybe,” Blair leaned in and kissed Erin’s nose. “I just know you.”

It had been a long time since someone reallyknewErin, and that fact had her fighting back tears. Correction… the tears were coming, and now that they started, she couldn’t stop them from falling.

Blair brought her hands to Erin’s cheeks and placed more kisses across her forehead. “Baby, what’s wrong? Are you getting worse? Do you need something else? Name it and I’ll get it for you. The sky's the limit. Seriously.”

Her sweet words only made Erin cry harder.Holy shit, I’m a mess. No one should have to deal with this.“I’m sorry. I’m not crying because I’m sad or in pain. Being sick is just messing with my emotions and you’re being so sweet right now, and no one is ever this sweet to me, and I don’t know. I guess I’m just surprised and overwhelmed.”

Blair placed another kiss on Erin’s forehead. “Get used to it. I care about you, which means I’ll take care of you. Always. In every way. No matter what.”

Erin could read between the lines of what she was saying. Blair was making a promise to her that it didn’t matter what did or didn’t happen between them. She would be there for Erin. Blair definitely deserved someone better, and she deserved to not have to wait around for someone with more issues thanVogue. God, this line of thought was not stopping the tears. Without saying another word, Blair stood up and headed to the kitchen. “Is the medicine in one of these cabinets?” she yelled from the other room, again proving how well she knew Erin since she somehow figured out she would keep her medicine in the kitchen.

“Yes! The one all the way to the right.”

After a few minutes, Blair walked back into the room carrying soup, medicine, and water. She set the soup on the coffee table, then handed the medicine and water to Erin. “Hopefully this will get you feeling a little bit better.”

Erin had no doubt that it would. She felt better from just having Blair here. Blair scooted the coffee table closer to the couch so Erin could reach it. A moment later, she went into the kitchen again and came back carrying soup for herself. They ate in relative silence, but it wasn’t uncomfortable at all. It was actually the opposite. Erin felt completely content sitting beside Blair, not saying a word.

She had almost finished her soup when Nolan started to stir on the love seat. “Mommy?” he asked as he slowly opened his eyes. “I’m so hungry, Mommy.”

“On it.” Blair jumped up before Erin even had a chance to respond. “What do you want, buddy? Mac and cheese or chicken noodle soup? Now, be warned that it’s not your mom’s mac and cheese, so while I’m sure it’s very tasty, it’s notthattasty.”

Nolan crossed his arms over his chest and glared at Blair. “I wantMommy’smac and cheese.”

“Mommy isn’t feeling well, sweetie,” Erin told him. “I promise I will make you my mac and cheese once I’m feeling better though.”

“I wantBearto make it.”

“Me?”

The way Blair pointed to herself, as if she was shocked anyone would ever ask her to cook, made Erin laugh.

“Yes! You!” Nolan jumped off of the couch and wrapped his arms around Blair’s legs. “P-ease, Bear.”

Erin watched Blair’s face soften and she could tell she was going to give him what he wanted, in one way or another.Sucker.Erin smiled to herself.

Blair extracted Nolan from around her legs then knelt down in front of him. “I’ll make you a little deal. If you eat chicken noodle soup tonight, I’ll come back tomorrow and make your mom’s macaroni and cheese. I don’t have the ingredients to make it now.”

Nolan scrunched up his nose and tilted his head. “In-gedients?”

Blair smiled over at Erin, which made Erin’s stomach do a somersault, then focused back on Nolan. “That means I have to buyall of the cheesethat makes your mommy’s mac and cheese so tasty.”

“You come back tomorrow?” Nolan asked, as if he were seriously considering his options.

Blair nodded. “I will.”

“No!” Nolan said matter-of-factly.

Great. This is not a battle I feel like having right now.

Before Erin had the chance to tell Nolan he needed to be nicer to Blair, he spoke again. “I want you to stay.”

“Stay?” Blair looked at Erin as if she was waiting for her to tell her what Nolan meant.

The problem was, the only thing Erin thought that could mean was that Nolan wanted Blair to stay the night. A terrible idea that also sounded pretty amazing at the moment.

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