I'm Here With You

The sun shines in through my windows despite the fact that my curtains are drawn. How is it already so bright? Isn't it only like seven o'clock? The birds chirp loudly outside of my window and I feel my head pound with every sweeping melody. I hope we have some tylenol cause I really don't want to have to deal with this bitch of a headache all day. In fact, it's still winter, it actually shouldn't be this bright in general.

I quickly roll over to my side and immediately grab my phone, "Fuck!" I shout and immediately cry in pain from my headache. I've slept in, I'm two hours late. I'm fucked, the day is pretty much over already.

Just then my door slowly drifts open and I see my father with a worried expression splashed all across his face. His thick beard is a mess, I must've just woken him up, whoops. His long, brown hair is no laughing matter either, it looks like it was just sucked up by a vacuum. Mom must've wanted to try a new beauty routine on him, poor guy. But he loves her, they somehow bond a lot whenever she's messing with his appearance. His hazel eyes have light bags under them and it still seems as though that he's struggling to even stay awake.

With a bit of anxiety mixed in, he speaks with his deep and caring voice, "Is everything okay, Princess?"

"I slept in," I answer him, then immediately wrap my hands around my head. It feels like a spear was just shot through my skull. "And I'm dying from a horrible fucking headache."

"Well we're out of Tylenol-" He then goes completely still. Looking pale and scared like all of the other times that I have some sort of headache. "Wait a second. Don't you usually have really bad headaches once you start your… You know… Period?"

Shit! Shit! Shit! No wonder I slept in! I immediately jump out of bed and rush out of my room. By that time my dad and his lean build has stepped out of the way, he's still pale like the usual scared father. I love it when he gets like this- even though I get pissed off from the hormones and all of the pain- his fear still manages to make me laugh.

I nearly slammed the bathroom door behind me, I just stopped it with my hand because I'd rather not add being lectured by my mother to the list of shit things that occured today. I grab a tampon from the box on my little personal shelf of lady products and sit down on the toilet. Lo and behold, I started my fucking period. Great, just fucking great. Well, at least I have an excuse for not coming to school today.

After finishing cleaning up I make a mark on a little calendar on my shelf with a red marker and exit the bathroom. It seems that I started my period three days early this month, it must've been because of my new workout routine. The calendar is mainly for a warning for my family to be careful if my period is about to start. I tend to be a bitch on the first day, which is really not much of a surprise due to all of the pain, but all of the days after that I'm quite a sweetheart. I tend to get really happy and cuddly after the first day. Sometimes my parents would even joke around by saying stuff like, 'If only we could on a one day vacation from you whenever you start your period so then we can skip past the bitch phase.' A few times before when I was on my period, my father would open my door, throw some chocolate bars at me then shut the door and run away shouting, 'The demon has been fed!' I love it when he does that, it's hilarious.

Once I get back to my room, I already see that there's a cup of tea next to my bed with a heating pad already waiting for me. I don't know if it's because of the pulsating headache or because of how amazing my dad is, but I start to cry a bit as I grab a fresh pair of clothes and slide back into bed. I have about five to ten minutes until the deathly cramps start to swarm in.

"Hey, sweety, I noticed that you're also almost out of Midol so I'm going out to get you some more," My dad carefully speaks to me as he peeks his head through my door. "Would you like to come?"

I really do, but I can already feel the pain coming in. "I would but the pain is already coming in, thank you though."

I can see him gulp as his face is painted with another layer of fear. "Alright, sweety, I'll be back in a bit."

With a twitch, I respond, "Alright." Shit the anger is already coming in. Poor guy isn't going to survive once he gets back.

I can see him take a double take after noticing my sudden change in attitude as he exits my room and soon leaves the house.

"Fucking pussy," I mumble to myself as I wrap myself in my covers and try to ignore the pain. "Fuck I'm a bitch."

After almost an hour and several mini cry sessions, my dad peeks in through my door. He immediately notices my tears and comes rushing over to give me a hug, making sure to not hold me too tight. I guess that I may not be as much of a bitch this month because something like this would've definitely made me snap at him, but this time it feels like I needed it.

"I know, sweety, I know you're in a lot of pain," He sounds like he's crying along with me. "I hate seeing you in pain. I love you sweetheart."

Another waterfall begins to pour out from my eyes as I hide my face in his chest, "I love you too," I weep.

After another few minutes of us crying together, we finally break the hug and he wipes the tears off my face and gives me a loving smile. "Want to relax on the couch and watch TV all day?"

"Yes!" I shout joyfully.

"Sweet! Let's go!" He hands me some Midol and Tylenol and carries my cup of tea, heating pad, and some pillows for me as we make our way back upstairs. I'm so lucky that I started my period on my dad's day off instead of my moms.

He sets me up comfortably on the couch and turns on Netflix, without speaking we both automatically agree that we're watching some Marvel movies. As we finish watching them with the only sounds other than the movies being us eating and drinking, my mother comes into the room. She looks pissed but as she slowly looks at the both of us she begins to calm down a bit.

"You started your period?" She asks me, I can tell that she's trying to hold back the anger in her voice.

I nod, "Yeah."

She gives me a loving smile then turns her focus over to my dad, "You forgot to call the school and tell them that she's going to be absent."

My dad face palms and chuckles a bit, "Shit, that's what I forgot to do. I'm so sorry, sweety, I'm sure that must've made you worried."

"Well I'm just glad that everyone is alright," She lets out a sigh then looks over the mess of empty cups and snacks all across the table. "Please tell me that you still have some room for dinner."

My father and I look at each other with mischievous smiles then back to my mother. Simultaneously, we both shake our heads at her.

She giggles, I haven't seen her smile like this in forever. I guess that dad really does bring the best out of her. "Move aside." She swats at my dad's feet and takes a seat next to him. She shoves her hands into a bag of M&Ms and stares at the now unpaused movie. I love this, I miss this. We haven't done this in months, I'm so glad that nothing has changed.

Once we've finished eating all of the snacks and watching a quarter of the Marvel movies, I glance outside and notice that it's pitch black out. Shit, I still have school tomorrow. I won't be able to easily get out of bed tomorrow even if I do go to sleep right now. Maybe I can talk mom into letting me stay home again.

"You're going to school tomorrow," She immediately says blankly the second I look at her.

"But-"

"No buts," She cuts me off. I don't bother to look over to dad and ask him for assistance. I know I shouldn't use him to get what I want. Besides, I had a nice day off.

"Okay," I mumble and begin to grab my pillows and heating pad. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Princess," They both say in unison as I tiredly make my way back to my room.

After I finish setting up all my pillows again, I slide back into bed and grab my phone, immediately noticing that I've been getting messages all day. Mainly from people asking why I'm absent today. I send the same message to all of them saying that I slept in because I started my period and that I'll be back tomorrow.

Then I instantly got a message from Knox, he must've seen that I was active. I click on his message and see that he sent me four more during the day.

'Goodmorning, how are you feeling today?' (9:59am)

'Hey, I just finished streaming and I was wondering if you figured out what you'd like to do for our birthday?' (1:37pm)

'I just got a message from one of your classmates asking why you weren't at school today, is everything okay?' (3:21pm)

'I saw your dad looking terrified this morning and I think that I figured out why you're not responding, you're on your period aren't you?[laughing emoji] (3:41pm)

'Oh good, you're alive'[laughing emoji] (12:56am)

'Yeah, sorry, I was watching movies with my dad all day and I left my phone downstairs,' I respond to him.

'So was I right?' He asks me. 'Did you start your week of possession?'

I send him a few laughing emojis then follow them up with, 'You bet, you should've seen his face'

'I'm assuming that you're too tired to talk right now?'

'You fucking bet.'

He sends another laughing emoji, 'Well alright, have a goodnight and I'll talk to you tomorrow.'

As I type in goodnight I contemplate if I should add in a heart or not. I don't know how he'll take it. After all, I haven't added a heart in any of the messages I've sent him since Zack and I started dating. But now I'm single again, so it's not like I have to worry about anyone thinking of it as cheating. You know what, fuck it.

'Goodnight<3' Without even checking to see if he'll respond, I immediately put my phone down and roll over to go to sleep.

It takes him about ten minutes to respond to that. My curiosity takes over and I decide to check the message. His only response was a heart emoji. I laugh quietly to myself as I think about how much he must've over thought that heart. Then, I roll back over and finally pass out in less than ten seconds. Dreaming about how amazing today was, of course.