I'm All Yours Somehow

When I returned home the next morning after my run, I smiled as I walked into the kitchen.To my surprise, Garrett was out of bed, still in sweatpants, but out of bed nonetheless. Abigail was in the high chair while he sat at the island. He was slicing a banana up for her, giving her a new piece whenever she'd finish the previous one. Garrett had a bowl of cereal in front of him, taking bites between slicing the banana.

"This is cute," I told him, kissing the top of his head. He had a very strong case of bedhead and I attempted to smooth his hair down a little, but it did no good.

"I try," he said with a shrug. At that point Abigail, who'd finished her slice of banana, slammed her fist down on the tray of the high chair and started wailing. "I'm trying!" Garrett told her loudly over the sound of her screams. He picked up the banana and the knife and cut her another slice.

"Are you okay with her while I get a shower?" I asked, kicking off my shoes. Garrett only nodded, taking a bite of his cereal.

Taking my hair out of it's ponytail, I entered my bedroom at the end of the hall. Sighing, I sorted through my closet for work clothes. Not even wanting to work, I grabbed the most comfortable outfit I could find and took it into the bathroom me. I showered quickly, blow drying my hair afterwards before getting dressed.

After doing my hair and make up, I returned to the kitchen, shoes in hand.

"Want me to make you some breakfast?" Garrett asked, looking me over as I scrolled through some things in my phone.

"Uhm, no, I'll grab a granola bar in a minute," I said, absentmindedly. I sent Mila a text, telling her that I was leaving for work, but Garrett would be at the house with Abigail whenever she wanted to pick her up.

"What time is your lunch break?" He questioned, taking a bite of cereal as Abigail smashed a piece of banana in her hair.

"Usually around twelve thirty," I said with a quick nod, moving across the kitchen to get the banana out of my niece's hair. "But hey, I've got to head out."

"Okay," Garrett said, his shoulders slumping a bit. "Come here."

Smiling softly as he looped his arms around my waist, I pressed my lips against his. He kissed me softly three times before letting me pull away. I kissed his stubbly cheek, leaving behind a smudge of lipstick which I wiped away with a smile.

"Have a good day. I love you," he said as I kissed the top of Abigail's head.

"I love you too, G," I said before walking out the door. Getting into my car, I sighed as I started the engine.

The office was boring that day. I spent hours calling insurance companies and patients, answering phones, and adding notes to patient files. The last appointment before lunch was at twelve fifteen and at twelve twenty, as I was finishing a call to an insurance company, the bell above the door chimed again.

"Can I help you?" the girl on front desk asked, fixing her hair a bit as she spoke.

"Uhm, I'm looking for Tallulah," a familiar voice answered from the other side of the desk.

"Garrett?" I said with a frown, standing up from my chair to lean over the counter.

Sure enough, Garrett was standing at the main part of the counter, his hands shoved in his pockets awkwardly. He was wearing a plaid shirt and ripped jeans.

"Hey," he said with a smile, walking over to me. He leaned toward me, kissing me softly.

"What are you doing here, G?" I asked, pushing a section of hair behind my ear. I was blushing slightly, knowing my coworkers were staring at us.

"Thought I'd take you out to lunch. I feel like we've barely seen each other lately," he explained with a shrug.

I smiled. "You're cute," I told him, kissing his cheek. I turned away from him and grabbed my bag from the floor. "I'll be back later," I said, turning to the girls in the office. I walked around the counter to Garrett, smiling as I did so.

"Get it!" one of girls said, earning laughs from the rest of my coworkers and a blush from me. Garrett smirked, putting his arm around my shoulders.

"Where to?" he asked, opening my door for me and closing it behind me when I was seated.

"It doesn't really matter to me," I answered, fastening my seatbelt as he started up the engine.

"Panera okay? I knows there's one up the street," he suggested, pulling out of the parking lot.

"Panera sounds good," I nodded, smiling.

The drive was short and silent. We reached the restaurant and he opened the door for me as we stepped into the cool air of the establishment. Garrett laced his fingers through mine and squeezed my hand.

"What's it going to be?" he asked as we scanned the menu.

"I get the same thing every time, so I don't see why you always ask," I teased, looking over at him. He shrugged, still looking at the menu.

In the end, I ordered a bowl of cheddar broccoli soup with an apple, and a lemonade. Garrett ordered a chipotle chicken sandwich, no tomato, and chips, a soda to drink. We got our food and a table and as I sat down, I sighed.

"What decided you to do this?" I asked with a smile, propping my feet up in his lap.

He rolled his eyes at my action and took a bite of his sandwich as he shrugged. "I feel like I've barely seen you the last couple of days," he said, swallowing his bite.

"We were together for most of yesterday," I reminded him, taking a bite of my apple.

"Kenny was there for most of the time and we had Abigail too." He paused, shrugging again. "I just feel like we haven't spent any alone time."

"You sound like a girl," I teased with a wink. He gave me an unamused look. Laughing, I said, "I know what you mean though. I get off work at four and when I get home, what do you say to locking ourselves in our bedroom with some pizza and a stack of movies?"

Garrett smiled. "I like that idea. I have one condition though."

"This ought to be good." I took a sip of my lemonade and looked at him, waiting for him to speak.

"We only remained clothed for only an hour."

"Then why even have the movies in the room?" I joked, feeling a blush burn at my cheeks.

"We don't have to do anything, really. I just want to cuddle," he said, shrugging.

I smiled. "Deal, I suppose."

I'd gotten off work at four, stopped to pick up pizza, and arrived home nearing four thirty. We'd eaten quickly, selected a nice stack of movies, and retreated to our bedroom, flipping the lock once the door was closed.

Sure enough, an hour into the first movie, Garrett left the bed and stripped down completely and waited for me to do the same. Pulling my shirt over my head, a blush colored my cheeks.

"Why are you blushing? I've seen you naked more times than I can remember," he teased, smiling.

I shrugged, unhooking my bra. "It's just weird. The idea of just...laying here," I laughed awkwardly, unbuttoning my trousers and letting them drop down my hips.

"Well, we won't just be laying here." Garrett smirked, reaching across the bed and grabbing my wrist and pulling me down onto the bed.

After the second movie, we'd both slipped into a light sleep, curled against each other. We woke up around eleven by the sound of Garrett's phone ringing and vibrating on the night stand.

"Who is it?" I grumbled, burying my face in the skin of his chest as he reached for the phone.

"It's Kenny," he told me before answering it. "Yeah?" I frowned, rolling away from him. "Okay, when is it?...Yeah, that should be good...just send me the info in a text or whatever...I'll be there. 'Kay, bye."

"What'd he have to say?" I asked, leaning against my own pillow, holding the sheet up to my chest.

"I guess John signed us up for some interviews in a few days, and an acoustic in-store and forgot to tell us about them until now," Garrett explained, rolling his eyes.

"Where at?"

"New York. We leave the day after tomorrow and we'll be gone for three days," he said with a sigh.

"But we have my friend Leah's wedding to go to this weekend," I reminded him, frowning.

Garrett blinked. "When were you going to tell me about this?"

"I told you yesterday, I told you a few weeks ago, I told you when we got the invitation, which has been hanging on the fridge since it came in the mail."

"I don't look at the fridge, I open it to get food."

"Now you're just being an ass about it," I told him, pursing my lips. I threw back the sheets and slid out of the bed. I quickly pulled on the pair of boxers I'd slept in the night before before putting my bra on, fastening it agitatedly.

"Tallulah, I'm sorry, but there's not a lot I can do about it. I have to go to New York with the guys." I could tell he was getting irritated. I was plenty irritated myself at that point.

"Does it really matter if you're there or not?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact, it does. It's not my fault John didn't tell us about it until now. Don't be a bitch."

I laughed once, shaking my head. "You were the one complaining about how we never see each other, and now that we actually have plans for something - plans that we've had for well over a month - you get pissed at me because I 'did tell you' about said plans. Oh, and once again you're leaving me. Is that what just happened?"

"First off, I'm not fucking leaving you. I have to go out of town again. Don't be so dramatic," Garrett said, his voice rising. His cheeks were pink with frustration and he ran a hand through his hair with a heavy sigh, leaving it on end.

"I'm not being dramatic, Garrett," I said, my voice nearly a yell. "You're just really pissing me off."

"I'm pissing you off? I find out I have to leave in two days because John didn't tell us that he booked the interviews and you start screaming at me about it. I'm the one who should be pissed," he yelled back at me. By now, he'd left the bed as well, putting on his boxers quickly.

"Well we've had these plans for how long?"

"You didn't fucking tell me, Tallulah! How am I supposed to know about plans if you didn't tell me? If I had known about the wedding, I would have told Kenny that I wouldn't be able to make the trip to New York, but it's too late now."

"Garrett, I've told you at least three times! You just choose not to listen!"

"Well, if you're done yelling at me, I'm going to 'choose not to listen' somewhere else," he said angrily, grabbing his pillow off the bed and storming out of the room. He slammed the door behind him when he left and I sat down on the edge of the bed, fuming.

Angry and breathing heavily, I grabbed my pillow and pushed it to my face, screaming into it as loud as I could. Angry tears welled in my eyes and I wiped them away furiously. Taking deep breaths, I walked to my dresser and stripped down again before pulled on sweatpants, a sports bra, and a cut-off t-shirt. Sighing, I went into the bathroom, brushing my hair up into a ponytail and washing the makeup off my face.

A few moments later, I crawled into bed, alone, burying my face in my pillow. It took me a while, but eventually, I fell into a light sleep, waking up and rolling over every forty-five minutes. At three twenty two, I sat up in the bed and looked around in the dark. There was a knot in my stomach and my shoulders felt heavy.

Throwing back the sheets, I left the bedroom and walked through the house in the dark, the wood and tile of the floors cold against my bare feet. I turned on the light over the stairs to the basement, not trusting myself to go down them in the dark. I already knew which room Garrett was in because whenever we'd fight, he's always go to that same room.

Without knocking, I twisted the knob of the door and pushed it open just enough to step in. In the dark, I could make out Garrett's figure in the bed. He was sprawled out on his stomach like he alway did when he was sleeping alone.

Pressing my lips together nervously, the knot in my stomach twisting tighter, I tip-toed across the room. I lifted the sheets and slid in next to him.

"Gare," I said quietly, putting an arm across his back. He hadn't grabbed a shirt when he'd stormed out of the room, so he was sleeping shirtless, like he usually did anyway.

He scrunched up his nose in his sleep and I kissed the skin of his shoulder.

"Garrett," I said a bit louder that time.

"Hmm, what?" he asked, jumping as his eyes flew open. "Hey, babe," he said with a smile when his eyes focused on me in the dark. He rolled onto his side, facing me.

I sighed, smiling a bit sadly. "I'm sorry about earlier," I told him, resting my head on the extra pillow on the bed.

"I'm sorry too," he said, leaning forward enough to kiss me softly.

"I shouldn't have yelled at you."

"I yelled right back though, and I need to listen better." He nodded, running his fingers over the skin of my arm. "Can we just forget about it?"

"I'd like that," I agreed, nodding as well.

"I'll call John in the morning and tell him I won't be able to go to New York this weekend."

"No, Gare, you need to go with the guys," I told him, frowning.

"Well, what about the wedding?"

"I'll still go. Dree and Stephen will be there, so I won't be completely alone," I said with a shrug.

"They'll probably need a designated driver anyway," he joked with a wide smile.

I laughed quietly. "You're right."

"I still feel bad though, for leaving you here alone."

"I'm used to it by now." I shrugged with a half smile.

"When I get back next week, let's do something."

"Do what?"

"Go somewhere, just the two of us. By then I'll still have three weeks before tour starts, so let's just disappear for awhile."

"You're crazy Garrett," I said with a laugh, pressing my lips against his quickly.

"Only about you." He shrugged and I couldn't help but smile as my cheeks turned pink in the dark.

"That was really corny," I told him, my cheeks still pink.

"You love it though." Garrett yawned loudly as he spoke and I smiled, burying my face in the warm skin of his neck. He wrapped his arms around me tightly, locking them in the small of my back.

I took a deep breath, inhaling the very familiar scent of his skin, and smiled.

"I don't like fighting - especially with you," I told him quietly, my eyelids beginning to feel heavy.

"I don't either, Tallulah," he said with a sigh. He was fiddling with my hair which only relaxed me further. "I love you." Before I could even respond, my eyelids slid shut.