barlissa abbott elementary ship novel

melissas pov

i'm at home, running on the treadmill, when i hear a ding on my phone. it's from barbara. i stop the treadmill for a minute to respond . "melissa , you said if i needed a place to stay i could come over. me and my husband just had a really big fight , and i need to come over for a while. is that okay?"
i immediately text back.
"of course barbara. come over rn. i'll make you dinner , okay? your favorite . "
"sounds great! thank you. i love you melissa. "
i blush unconsciously.
"i love you too barbara. it's okay. anytime. " i normally wouldn't offer anyone to spend the night at my house , but barbara is , well, special to me.
i hate to cut my workout short, but anything for barbara. id been running for the past 30 minutes, anyways.
i get to the kitchen and start making one of my italian recipes. barbara loves it when i cook for her, and i'm always up for it.
by the time she gets here about 30 minutes later, her dinner is cooking in the stove.
im not sure what im gonna do about dinner for me , because she will want me to eat something. and i cant say im sick, because now is not the time, when she's in such a bad place like this . i might run to a store in the middle of the night while she sleeps for some laxatives. she goes to sleep pretty early . 9 pm or so. and she knows i stay up a while, so it would be okay .
barbara walks in the door , and sets down her bag by her feet, and hugs me.
we let go, and she walks into the kitchen. "oooh i smell something cooking." i smile at her . "like i said, your favorite. " i say.
"you won't believe the day i've had." barbara says with a laugh sigh. "ugh, tell me about it." i say back.
"damn, both of our lives are pretty sucky rn , huh? " i say .
"language ! " barbara teases sarcastically, poking my shoulder. she's secretly in love with when i curse.
"but yes. we must have a connection with always having things happen to us at the same time." she laughs.
we sit down on the couch.
"so ." i say. "let me hear abt what happened that led you here on this fine night."
"as you know , he's just been so crappy lately. but tonight , i had enough, i texted him after telling him at the house that i want to divorce , and said that until we officially are divorced , we are separated."
"GOOD FOR YOU , BARB! i'm so proud of you. im so happy that you stood up for yourself , that mf is a bitch. you deserve so much better then what you have been given. and i hope that you can find that one day. you can stay here for however long you need. we can even make a chore chart, to avoid fights. but of course i know your mental health has been bad, so just let  me know and i'll do it for you, i promise  . it's okay. you're safe here."