Valerie

21 - Thomas

TW: Mentions of suicide and E.D.

Valerie was sat on my sofa, in front of the TV, again. She was starting to become a part of the apartment and I was worried that it might start to feel strange if she wasn't there.

"Do you want something to eat? A drink?" I asked from the kitchen.

"Oh, I'm okay. You're already doing so much for me and I-"

"Tea it is, then. With a cookie." I said, putting on the kettle.

I heard her sigh from the sofa but she didn't complain.

After grabbing a t-shirt and pyjama shorts from my room, I came back into the living room and handed them to her.

"What's this?" She asked, looking at the clothes in confusion.

"I told you I would give you some of my clothes, didn't I?"

"I mean yes but I didn't expect-"

"The bathroom is that way." I said, nodding my head in the direction. "There's a lock on the door."

Valerie muttered a quick "Thank you." before getting to her feet and making her way to the bathroom. 

I was carrying the teas and food into the living room when she came back in. In my clothes.

I stared blankly at her, just blinking.

She shifted on her feet. "What?" She said nervously.

"Nothing just..." Just that I really liked how she looked in my clothes. I cleared my throat. "We should um..." I gestured to the sofa and she sat down.

"Are you feeling okay?" She asked, furrowing her brows at my reaction. 

"Yeah, I'm fine. So," I said, "what should we watch?"

"Last time we watched my favourite movie so we should probably watch yours." She said, leaning into the couch.

"Okay, we'll watch Superbad then."

"Superbad?"

"You've never seen it?" I asked, sitting down on the sofa. I sat right next to her so our thighs were touching. I knew exactly what I was doing.

"No." She said, a little flustered. I grinned into my own cup of tea.

It was fifteen minutes before she properly leaned into the sofa, half an hour before I felt her body relax against mine and an hour and a half before I noticed her eyes start to drift shut. She had drunk all of her tea but only taken one bite out of her cookie. Maybe she didn't like them and was too polite to say so. I wouldn't put it past her, what with her always being so worried that she's selfish. I made a mental note to find out what her favourite snack was so I could get it for her in the future. 

After the movie had ended and I had turned the TV off, she sat up again. "I definitely did not fall asleep." She said, her eyes slightly glassy.

"Sure." I said, grinning at her slightly dazed look.

"I'm sorry it's your favourite movie and I should have-"

"Stop saying sorry." I said, laughing slightly. "It's fine."

"Okay." She said quietly. "I'll stop."

"If you're tired, we should probably go to bed." I said, even as it took every fibre of my being to not keep her there, right beside me. "You can have my room." I said, getting up. It didn't even cross my mind. Of course she could have my room.

"What? No, don't you have a spare room in this fancy apartment?" She said, getting flustered.

"Yes-"

"Great, then I'll take that." She said, standing up.