Short Stories

Lover's Quarrel

"No! Don't do that; that'll mess it all up!"

"I'm literally placing a bouquet of flowers, Anna."

"But it'll ruin the whole aesthetic!"

Faith shook her head at her anxious girlfriend.

"Anna, it's not going to hurt to have a nice bouquet of flowers in the living room. The sun will shine on them nicely and it'll look good. You'll see."

Anna ran her hands through her hair frantically.

"No, no, no! It doesn't fit the scene at all. Everything needs to be perfect for when our parents come see the new place."

"Anna, our parents aren't going to burn us at the stake if the bouquet is a little brighter than the rest of the room." Faith was quickly loosing her patience. "I honestly think it gives the room a nice feel."

Anna snatched the vase off the coffee table and set it on the dining room table.

"There. It looks better there."

Faith sighed and crossed her arms.

"You know, ever since we moved in here and started renovating, you've been really controlling and kinda snappy, Anna."

"I have no idea what you mean", the blonde said as adjusted the flowers inside the vase.

"You know exactly what I mean!" Faith raised her voice slightly. "Anna, ever since we walked in this door, you've been freaking out about every little detail. I know you're excited and nervous, so am I! But you're not the only person here, and you're definitely not the only person capable of having complex thoughts and emotions."

Faith sighed again, lowering her voice. "Let me help, alright? I love you, and this is my house, too."

"I love you, too", Anna hurriedly, rushing to throw cardboard boxes out into the recycle. "I just... let me clean up just a sec."

As Anna ran out the door with her arms full of cardboard, Faith let out a big sigh and rested her head in her hands. Then she gave up and went to go lay down and have a rest.

When Anna came back in she didn't see Faith in the living room, and she resumed cleaning the kitchen, assuming that Faith was cleaning somewhere else.

She was very surprised when she entered the master bedroom to find a charge cord for her phone to see Faith tangled in the sheets, fast asleep and fully clothed.

Anna quickly shook Faith awake.

"Hey!" She said loudly, but not shouting. "We're supposed to be cleaning remember? And you're dirtying the clean sheets!"

Without a word, Faith rubbed her face, threw on a sweater, and walked out.

Out of the house.

And she drove away.

Leaving a shocked Anna standing by the front door.

Eventually Anna got back to work, but she had a nagging feeling she had pushed it too far. Faith was right, she had been really snappy and mean lately. Anna was just really anxious about moving.

When night came, Anna waited for Faith to come home so she could apologize.

But she never did.

Anna nervously shot her a text, asking her when she would be home.

She never answered.

It was 10:30pm when Anna decided to keep cleaning, and deal with Faith later. She trusted her, and she knew she wouldn't leave forever.

Probably.

~ • ~ • ~

Faith came home to a silent house. She was surprised, and had expected Anna to be up cleaning endlessly again.

She did not find Anna cleaning. She found her passed out in a chair at the kitchen table. She had apparently tried to rest for a moment and had fallen asleep.

Faith sighed with a small smile on her face, and gently picked up her girlfriend out of the chair. She was a bit heavy, but she managed.

After she tucked Anna into bed, she crawled in herself, after making sure to set an alarm for seven o'clock in the morning. She wanted to get up to clean and give Anna some rest from all the house organizing.

Anna awoke to the smell of eggs and cheese, very confused as to how she woke up in her bed. She vaguely remember sitting down at the kitchen table for a moment to rest.

"Must have climbed the stairs to bed", Anna mumbled as she took off her shirt and threw on a flannel over her bra, leaving it undone. Then she padded down the stairs, rubbing her eyes.

"Morning, loser", Faith said affectionately to her messy haired and tired eyed girlfriend. "How'd you sleep?"

"Fine, I guess", Anna replied and she looked at the scrambled eggs sizzling on the stove. "Why are you up so early?"

"Early?" Faith glanced at her girlfriend while putting two tortillas with shredded cheese on them in the microwave. "Anna, it's 10:30 in the morning."

Anna's eyes grew wide. "Frick! Mom, Dan and Robert are going to be here in half an hour! Why didn't you wake me up sooner?"

Anna was referring to her mother, her mother's boyfriend, and Faith's dad. They were all super excited to see the house.

"Chill, dumb dumb", Faith laughed. "I got up  three hours ago and did whatever you didn't get done yesterday. I wanted to let you get some sleep since you've been overworking yourself."

Sighing, Anna took over the scrambled eggs while Faith cut up some slices of ham. She knew Faith was right, and she felt horrible about being so snappy to her partner while going through the process of moving.

"Thanks, babe", she said quietly. "I'm sorry for being a bitch to you the past few days."

"Hey, no bad words!" Faith scolded. Then she accidentally dropped a bunch of ham on the floor. "Fuck!"

Giggling, Anna picked up the meat and, knowing full well she had scrubbed that floor clean at least twice yesterday, popped it in her mouth.

"Go sit down, and let the master chef do her work", Faith frowned jokingly as she shooed Anna away to the kitchen table. Then she got the cheesy tortillas out of the microwave, put the ham on them, and added the scrambled eggs.

She set one plate down in front of Anna and sat down with the other.

"Ta-da!" Faith said in a singsong voice. "I made us breakfast burritos."

Smiling, Anna began eating her burrito and wondered how she got stuck with such a lovable doofus like Faith.

When they were done eating, they quickly washed the dishes, and cleaned up the kitchen. Anna wanted to continue cleaning, but Faith managed to convince her to cuddle up on the couch and watch cartoons instead.

It was while they were doing this that the doorbell rang, signifying their parents were at the door.

Jumping up, Anna ran to get the door while Faith shut off the TV. She took one last look around the living room. It looked... like home.

And with that thought, she ran to meet the others at the door.