Come On, Sweet Catastrophe

With a sigh, I trudged up the long, narrow staircase and made my way down the hall. I stopped in front of the door, pressing my ear to the peeling, white-painted wood, listening intently for some sign of life inside the room. When I heard nothing, I reached up and knocked lightly on the door, hearing the sound of the comforter scrunching as the person rolled over in their bed.

"Derek," I huffed, reaching for the handle. "You better not be naked because I'm coming in."

I could hear him chuckle lightly as I spun the doorknob, pulling the door open and leaning against the doorway. He laid on his stomach, with his face buried deep into his fluffy, down pillows. He was shirtless, and his sheets were bunched loosely around his thin waist.

"Come on, Derek. It's noon. Time to wake up." I clapped my hands together, walking over to the window and pulling open the curtains. He didn't even flinch as the sun cast a warm, yellow glow across the room. "Derek, come on. Please? Wake up."

He grumbled, burying his head even deeper into his pillows. I let out a sigh, pinching the bridge of my nose, feeling a migraine coming on. I knew this wasn't going to go over very well, for Derek had these moods quite often. He was so stubborn, and seemingly loved to make things difficult for me. It was times like these that I felt like I was dealing with a child rather than a grown man. I shouldn't have to force him to get out of bed and get ready for work. He doesn't even really have to get ready. He could go to work completely naked if he wanted, because he worked in his own office in the middle floor of his house. But no, he didn't want to get out of bed.

I sat down on the edge of his bed, hesitantly reaching out and placing my hand on his bare back. I felt his muscles tense, for he had admitted to not having received any sort of physical contact with another individual for a very long time. Especially not on his bare skin. I felt his ribcage expand as he breathed in deeply, slowly relaxing his body and sinking back into the plush mattress.

"Derek, you need to get up. I'm being serious." To this, he groaned, turning his head so that he could look at her.

"I'm really not in the mood today, Ruth." He muttered, tracing a pattern onto the linen sheets of his bed. His eyes flickered up to look at me for a moment, before he looked back down at his hand, his shoulders slightly slumping. His lips were pale, and in a thin, straight line, and he had purple circles surrounding his blue eyes. He looked tired and completely depressed. His doctor had warned him of days and nights like these. These were the times that his medication did not take affect properly, for whatever reason, and left him feeling more depressed and exhausted than he normally would have.

"I understand that, Derek." I whispered softly, rubbing soothing circles into his back. "I need you to wake up, though. Get some fresh air and something to eat. Maybe you'll feel better."

He blinked, his brows furrowing slightly. "But... Ruth, I can't."

I smiled sadly down at him, lightly patting his shoulder. "Here. I'll help you. Sit up."

I made my way into his large, walk-in closet, sorting through the hangers of clothing that I had organized just a few days ago. I grabbed a plain, gray, v-necked tshirt, and a pair of dark jeans. I draped the garments over my arm, making my way back towards his bed. He was relieved to see that he was sitting up by the time I had returned, because I would have had to literally drag him out of his bed if he wasn't. He rubbed his eyes tiredly with the heels of his palms, and ran his hands through his messy hair.

He pouted up at me, and I sighed, helping him slip his skinny, pale legs into his restricting jeans. I reached over as he buttoned them up, grabbing his shirt from the bed beside him and pulling it roughly over his head. He glared up at me, blowing away a few stray strands of hair that had fallen in front of his eyes. I grinned back innocently, helping him get his arms through the arm holes and pulling the material down to cover his torso. I rested my hands on my hips, watching him carefully. His hands were intertwined, resting neatly in his lap. He looked up at me, eyes glazed over, and wrapped his arms around my waist, pulling me closer to him. I felt his head press against my stomach, and his hands grab fistfuls of the navy blue, cotton material of my shirt. Stunned, I froze in his arms, glancing down at him as he hugged my tightly. I heard him whimper, and my face softened, and I cupped the back of his head very gently with one of my hands, smoothing out his hair with the other.

We stayed like that for a while, until he turned his head so he could rest him chin on my abdomen, looking up at me from beneath his lashes. I cupped his cheeks in my hands, using my thumbs to brush the moisture from beneath his damp lashes. "You okay now?"

"I think so." He said softly, smiling weakly up at me. "Thanks."

We slowly pulled away from one another, and Derek wiped away what moisture remained on his cheeks with the palms of his hands. "We should take a walk."

He looked up at me, shaking his head from side to side. "B-but... But I, uhm, I can't. I'm... Hungry."

I laughed, raising a single brow at him. "Okay, I'll make you something to eat. Then we'll go."

And I left the room before he had a chance to object.

------

"What do you want for dinner?" I asked absently, picking through the pile of tomatoes and grabbing three without soft spots or blemishes.

"You said we were going for a walk," He whined, pushing the cart behind me. "Not grocery shopping. I hate grocery shopping."

I laughed, tying the top of the plastic bag and setting it down gently inside the buggy. "Well, I had a few things I had to pick up for you, anyways. I thought I'd bring you along. Maybe give you a choice this time."

"I like not having a choice!" He complained, and I pulled him to a stop by the meat section.

I looked over the selection, grimacing at the steaks that had started turning a very unpleasant shade of brown around the edges. I stopped at the chicken breast, for it was the only thing that looked like it had yet to pass it's expiration date, turning to Derek. "What about chicken?"

"Chicken's fine." He mumbled, leaning against the handle bar of the cart.

I laughed at his sullen expression, taking him up and down the isles until we had everything we needed. We made our way to the check out, paying for everything and grabbing a bag each. He sighed in relief as we made out way out of the automatic doors, and I looked up at him, raising a single brow. "Now, was that so bad?"

"Yes, actually." He huffed. "It was really bad."

I rolled my eyes at him, shoving his shoulder playfully. "It's about to get worse, then, because now we have to walk home."

He groaned, using his free hand to push his hair away from his face. "Why must you torture me?"

I scoffed at him. "You're such a baby."

"We've been walking for hours! I am justified!" He exclaimed, glaring down at me.

"We've been away from the house for like, a half hour!" I laughed, shaking my head.

"Really?" He asked in disbelief, trudging along the sidewalk beside me at a pace comparable to that of a snail. "But we had to walk all the way over here..."

"Derek, I can see your house from here." I said, rolling my eyes at him. With my free arm, I grabbed a hold of his bicep, pulling him along beside me. He groaned, taking longer strides to keep up with me. "It's just a five minute walk!"

"Too long." He muttered, allowing me to pull him all the way back to the house in silence. He kicked off our shoes at the front door, carrying the groceries into the kitchen and putting them away in the cupboards and refrigerator. When he was finished, I could hear him scrunch the paper bag into a ball in his fist, tossing it into the waste bin beneath the sink. I was leaned against the counter as I stacked the cans on the shelf, vaguely hearing the sounds of Derek's approaching footsteps behind me. I almost dropped the can of stewed tomatoes in my hand as I felt his head rest on my shoulder, putting the can down and shutting the cupboard door. Slowly, I turned around to face him, and he buried his face even farther between my neck and shoulder, hugging me loosely around my waist.

Hesitantly, I busied myself by running my fingers through his hair, wondering why the hell he was acting this way. I had known Derek for so long, but yet, he had never hugged me before. Hugs were too intimate for the type of relationship we had. Especially one like this, where my body was almost entirely pressed against him, and I could feel his lips brushing against my skin every time he opened his mouth to breathe. It sent shivers down my spine, despite the fact that I wasn't even cold. In fact, I was warm. It was like my entire chest had engulfed in flames, and I could feel thousands of tiny electric shocks beneath my skin.

"How are you feeling?" I asked softly, rubbing soothing circles into his back.

He was quiet for a moment, and I could feel his fingers drawing shapes in my lower back through the material of my shirt. "Sad."

I slightly pulled away from him, taking a hold of his wrist. "Let's get you to bed, then. Maybe a nap will help. What do you think?"

He let his hand slowly lip into mine, intertwining our fingers. We both looked down at our connected hands, most likely because he hadn't held hands with another individual since Sadie, and because the feeling of his palm pressed against mine made my entire right arm numb. He looked back up at me and nodded, letting me lead him out of the kitchen and up the tall set of stairs. By the time we had reached the close door, I had to let go of his hand, despite the fact that I really liked the feeling of his soft skin against mine. I turned the knob slowly, and pushed the door open, watching as Derek moved around me and collapsed on top of his unmade bed. I made my way closer, kneeling on the floor beside him and resting my chin on the edge of the bed, watching him as he slowly turned his head to look at me.

"Do you need your pills?" I asked softly, pushing his hair away from his eyes.

"I don't think so." He answered back just as quietly, biting down on his bottom lip.

I stared into his light blue eyes, tucking his hair behind his ears. "Everything will be okay, Derek. Everything is okay. Try and get some sleep."

He nodded, burying the side of his face deeper into his down pillows. With one last reassuring smile, I slowly rose from the floor and brushed the dust off of my jeans. I pulled the blanket over Derek's body, and left the room, hoping to myself that everything would be okay. Just like how I said it would be.