Chapter thirty eight

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"What else are we missing?" I question, rubbing my chin as I look down at the cart we're dragging around. Luca leans on it and walks with a bored expression,
"Tell me again why I said yes to this?"
"Because you're my best friend and you'd do anything for me?" I smile,
"Wrong."

I see the make-up isle, but before I can even consider it – Luca is moving the cart to the opposite direction, "fuck no."

"Well, I think we have everything then? Bathroom robe, the entire damn La Mer skin care collection, toothbrush, spare bag, towels.." I look inside the cart, it looks like we have everything.
"I don't understand why you're buying all this, why couldn't you just move her stuff over to your apartment instead?" Luca asks, as we move to the cashier.
"I don't want to pressure her into thinking that she has to move in with me already. We're practically together every day though and she's always missing something essential, yesterday she went to her apartment at 1 am to get her exfoliator."

I'd love for Amalie to move in with me, we're practically already living together but we've only been officially together for two weeks and she's very independent, I'm not sure she'd want to move in yet.

Luca stops and gives me a dumbfounded look as I unload the stuff in the cart.

"What?" I ask,
"She's always coming up with something that she's missing at your apartment?"
"Si?"
"And sometimes she even goes all the way home to get it even though it can wait?"
"Uh.. si?"
"You're such a dumb fuck."

What the hell. How am I a dumb fuck?

"She's literally hinting to you that it'll be easier if all her stuff was at your place."
"Wait what.." Is she? But..
"Who the hell goes to their apartment in the middle of the night to get an exfoliator. Did she even use it?"
"No.."
"Think with your brain not your damn ass man."

I smile to myself, could she really have been hinting?

"Is that everything?" The cashier asks, catching our attention. I throw one last glance at the stuff we've bought,
"I think so- TAMPONS!"
The cashier doesn't even react at my sudden outburst, I turn to Luca with the best smile I can do.
"We forgot tampons; I have to pay and pack, will you-"
"Don't even think about finishing that sentence."

***

I bring all the bags upstairs and drop them on the bed, as I wait for Amalie to come home. Maria just left after making dinner, I made sure it'd be extra romantic because if I'm going to ask Amalie to move in, then everything has to be perfect.

I haven't seen her all day, she left to work before I woke up and left a note. I've been missing her all day, and I won't admit this in front of Luca, but I even wore my shirt that she'd worn yesterday because it smells like her.

I go downstairs and make sure everything's ready; the candles are lit and the bouquet of exactly one hundred roses lay in the kitchen. I turn the lights off so the place can look cozier, and play some music in the background but make sure that it's very low.

Fifteen minutes pass by and I hear the front door open. I hide my smile as I take one last glance at the set-up,
"Bruno?" Amalie calls out, her voice is calmer than usual which means she's probably had a long day.
"In here, baby." I call back.

She walks in and before she has the time to react, I see the look on her face. She looks tired, like she hasn't slept a lot. I wonder if something happened, if her day was rough or if she just had too little sleep.
"What's all this?" She says, her expression changing slowly into a happier one.
"This is me giving my girlfriend what she deserves after a long day at work." Damn, I sound like a housewife.

"You did all of this?" She says with soft eyes, if she's happy just by looking at this then I can't wait for her reaction when she sees all the stuff upstairs and the roses.
"I can't take credit for the food sadly, Maria did that." I admit.
She smiles and gives me a hug, "I love it."

"I missed you." I admit, placing a kiss on her forehead before I let her go so she can eat.
"I missed you more." She says back,
"Impossible." I smile.

We look at each other in awe, then as if we think the same thing our expression turns upside down as we both scrunch our nose.
"God, we really are that couple." Amalie says,
"I never thought I would say this, but yes. Yes, we are." I agree. We both look at each other for a moment, then smile again. So, what if we are.

I drag her chair out and get her seated, then I sit on the opposite side of the table. We eat and talk about our day; I notice that she isn't as talkative as usual. She doesn't say that something is bothering her, but I can feel it. I don't know if I should push or let it be until she feels like talking.

"Why are skeletons always so calm?" I ask, going for a plan b.
She rolls her eyes immediately, "I don't know but I'm sure you'll enlighten me."
"Because they don't have a nervous system."
She tries to stop herself from giving any reaction to my bad joke but fails to hide her smile.

"Your jokes are so lame." She says,
"Well it made you smile so it worked." I wink.

She breathes out a laugh, and reaches out for the bread across the table but ends up smacking my drink in the process – spilling it all over the table.
"Oh God, I'm so sorry." She says, rushing to grab the napkins.
"It's okay, I got it."
"No, I spilled it, I can clean it.." she trails off, and stops rubbing as her nose scrunches.

She stops and looks at the table then at me, "Why does this smell like whiskey, Bruno?"
There goes the entire dinner down the drain. "Because it is." I answer honestly, refusing to lie even though it might lead to the night being ruined.
"I can't believe you!" She throws the napkin in anger and takes a step back, "We've talked about this Bruno!"

She's raising her voice, and Amalie rarely raises her voice without really being provoked. I stand up from my seat, "I know baby and I promised that I won't mix alcohol with medicine or anything like that again, but you can't expect me to cut it out completely just like that?" I like drinking, and sometimes I go overboard – I just have to learn to control it.

I take a step closer, and she doesn't walk away which is good. We can talk about it,
"I don't want to fight." I say, we've been doing so good lately.
"Neither do I but you have to get your shit together, you can't be a mess forever." She says angrily, and I'm taken back from the hostility in her voice.
"Amalie, is there something else bothering you?" I ask, genuinely confused on why she's yelling at me – I understand that she's mad, but we can talk about it.

She turns silent and looks away.
"Talk to me, what is it? We can figure it out." I say in a softer voice, signaling that I'm not going to fight with her. I rarely get angry, the night we fought at the apartment, and I lashed out on her is a reminder on why I have to keep my emotions intact. "Please."

I go to hold her, and it looks like she almost gives in until she pushes my hands away,
"Clean your own mess before you try to clean someone else's." she says coldly, ouch. I know damn well that I have my own issues, but I wouldn't let them stop me from helping her when she needs me, the fact that she's initiating that, hurts.

It seems like she notices that her words actually cut, and her cold demeanor changes.
"Fuck, I'm-" She pauses, "I didn't mean it like that."
"Just talk to me, I didn't know that you were that bothered by this." I say genuinely.
She looks away, and after a few seconds she says – "I have to go."

I part my lips, about to tell her that there's still stuff I want to show her. That there's unopened bags waiting on her upstairs, and a hundred roses in the kitchen. That I haven't asked her to move in with me yet, but she leaves before I have the chance.

She leaves.

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