The Last Epistle

11. warding off obsessions

Diane out off reading the letters for as long as she could, if it were up to her she'd stay up all night just reading it, though she knew this little obsession of her was a little out of line, okay a lot, so she would distract herself to set healthy boundaries,

Diane spent the say cleaning the house, as Steve had been gone to visit his brother and also the casserole set they'd left behind after the the last time they had hosted dinner for the family,

She'd vacuumed the carpets clean, wiped the Windows down, dusted off all the residues of wind from the furniture,

Changed the linens, rearranged her closet, neatly put away any products clustering their bathroom sink, and when that wasn't enough she baked,

A marvellous blueberry pie to be exact, and then she cooked, and that took up the rest of the time, even before that was complete her mind had already started racing with anything else that could occupy her,

Her fingers twitched when she thought about setting the table, as she inched closer Steve came back, announcing his presence loudly,

"Hey honey i- woah what up with you?" He asked coat hanging limply from his arms from where he'd frozen mid way into hanging it in the coat rack,

"What? What's up with me?" Diane huffed, breathing in small puffs and hands coming up to rest at her hips as she tried to control her breathing,

Coming down from her fervent cleaninf fever or sorts by the second, effectively drenched in sweat and grime, wide eyes shadowed with a light veil of haziness, shedding by the second.

"Come on, off to the bath" Steve made quick work, hanging the coat in its respective place as he marched over to her, hands setting with a gentle firmness on top of her raised shoulders,

Before she knew it he was turning her around like a wooden doll and then pushing out of their hall and towards their bedroom,

He sat her down on the bed and rushed into the bathroom before she could protest, the noise of water flowing and filling the tub, filtered through the room, clouding everything else,

Diane just sat silently, knowing better than to protest or interject or ask questions, in her whim of not obsessing she'd made it much more worse,

She hung her head and shook it a few times, settling for keeping her eyes down, Steve rushed back out and went to their closet,

He opened it, pause, shuffling, and then closed it again with a slight creek,

He rushed back inside, only to come out for the final time after the sound of the tap water stopped,

Steve walked towards her, the sound of steps, pause, a sigh and then he was kneeling in front of her "take a bath, relax for a while, I'll set the table and anything else you ask of me" he tells her, fingers guiding her chin towards him.

"You know I will never judge you right? For anything?" Voice irrevocably soft, deep blue accents of eyes boring into the cerulean of hers,

"All I ask is for you to take care of yourself, I don't like seeing you this way" he said, lips forming a faint pout and his fingers reaching down to hold hers

"What way?" She asked just as softly "bothered" he breathed out and then pressed a kiss to her positively sweaty forehead,

By if you were to ask Steve he'd say that a little bit of sweat and grime would never be enough to separate him from her.

"Go on sweet girl, I've got it handled" he shooed her gently, as she got up along with him and walked over to the bathroom, closing the door behind.