Curfy closed her eyes as she lay down. Ugh… what a day…
She suddenly felt her head lift up and set back down on something softer and warmer than the couch. She was too tired to see what it was. A hand stroked her long, braided brown hair, and she smiled slightly.
"I'm terribly sorry about my brothers," Cilan laughed nervously. "I really don't understand why they don't like you."
She giggled quietly. "Maybe they're jealous of me, since I'm getting to spend so much time together."
He chuckled. "Who knows? Maybe they just don't like facing the facts that we're almost adults now."
"You're closer than I am," she sighed. She opened her blue eyes and looked into green.
"You'll be fourteen soon."
"Yeah, but then seven months later you'll be seventeen."
He grinned and looked at the ceiling. "…I wonder when they'll warm up to you…"
"Same here… Ah… headache… Nooo…"
He looked at her, smiling still. She blushed and closed her eyes again.
"Having those a lot lately, haven't you? Maybe you should see a doctor about that…"
She shook her head, groaning slightly. "It's just my period. One of the stupid symptoms, along with mood swings, stomach cramps… It'll happen for twelve out of fifty-two weeks a year, give or take a couple for the beginning or the end of the year."
He sighed and looked at the ceiling again. "Maybe that's why they don't like you right now… It's your time of the month… They can somehow tell when girls are, and they don't flirt with them then. They make me take those tables."
She laughed slightly. "Maybe that's why they're letting you take me."
She suddenly had lips against hers for a second. She opened her eyes, blushing and smiling.
"Well… I probably have to get back to work… I'll let you stay here until your symptoms relax. Is that okay with you?"
"It definitely sounds tasteful. Thanks."
"No prob." Her head was gently lifted and laid on the couch again, and he quietly walked to the door, gently opening it. "Feel better."
"Thanks. Have fun with your brothers."
He snorted. "Like that's possible…"
She giggled, and then he gently shut the door. Her throbbing headache was added on by a gentle knock at the door about five minutes later.
"Curfy? Are you okay?" It was Chili. He sounded concerned. She pulled a pillow over her eyes to block out any excess light, and she sighed.
"Yeah, I'm fine, just a headache. I'll be down when it's over with."
"Okay… Um… Sorry about me and Cress… We're sort of treating you like our period girls, when we should be treating you like a sister. I mean, I can see the way Cilan looks at you. He's never looked at any girl like that before. You may… You know, be one of us soon, even though you're like almost four years younger than us… Sorry that we've been treating you like that…"
She smiled a little. "It's alright. I know how you feel. At first, I didn't really like my sister's boyfriend, but eventually he grew on me. They've been dating for almost two years now. I just can't wait until they get married and she moves out."
She heard Chili laugh slightly behind the door. "Well, feel better soon, okay? I don't think Cress would like it if he found out that someone at the restaurant was sick, and neither Cilan or I would like the idea of family in need."
"M-kay." She grimaced at his poor grammar, reminding her of the old idea of being an English teacher, and sighed as he walked off. Silence… finally…
She let herself swim in thoughts as her brain seemed to grow and shrink. Hm… Hope that I don't get snippy with the three… That'd be disaster in the hands of a delirious girl… Mm… dizziness… Now, how do I get rid of that when I'm already lying down…? Eh, I'll just wait for it to pass… Okay, so I've got Chili fine with me, but now I have to worry about Cress. His is the one I'm worrying about the most… Cilan seems really concerned about his opinion. Maybe if I focus on getting him to like me… Wait, Cress is really hard to sway… How the heck would I…? Oh, calm down, Curfy, you're only making the headache worse… it's going to be a migraine soon…
"I think it already is."
Her eyes shot open and she sat up, the pillow falling off her face. Cilan must have slipped in without her noticing, and Chili was right behind him.
"W-When did you come in? How did you know what I was thinking?" She grabbed her head. "Holy crap, I sat up way too fast…"
Cilan came over and kneeled next to the couch. "Relax for now, okay? For whatever reason, Cress got some pills to ease period symptoms. Take one."
She smiled at him and took the glass of water and red and pink pill. "Thanks." After quickly downing them, she watched Chili come over and copy his triplet's position.
"And to answer your questions… We came in here about five minutes ago."
She crossed her legs and leaned against the back of the couch. "But… Cilan, how did you-?"
"You're my girlfriend. Of course I can tell what you're thinking, even if I couldn't see your face."
She smiled again. "Aw." She quickly kissed him on the lips again and started to think. "Wonder why Cress got those pills…"
Chili laughed. "Maybe he has his period going on."
The two lovebirds laughed along with the redhead.
"Perhaps he's also a female," Cilan added. They laughed for a minute longer.
"A-hem."
The three froze and slowly turned to look at the door. The blunette boy was standing there, arms crossed, frowning.
"O-Oh… Cress… We didn't see you there… Aha ha…"
"Obviously, Chili." He raised an eyebrow at Cilan and Curfy. "And, for your information, I bought those pills for you, Curfy. I had the feeling that you'd be here for a while, and you seem old enough to be on your period. I haven't met a girl that liked the symptoms yet."
She smiled. "O-Oh… Thanks…"
He nodded, smiling back. "Cilan, Chili, we need to lock up. It's almost six. Curfy, you stay here. It takes about ten minutes for them to kick in."
"Okay."
"Gotcha."
"I'll meet you two down there."
Two of the three quickly ran down, and when they heard the one shouting the other's name, the third chuckled and turned to Curfy.
"Um…" Cress rubbed his neck nervously. "I'm sorry about all of this. I've been sort of a jerk to you… I guess that I'm just not ready to realize how close we are to being adults… I don't think any of us are ready to let go of one so he can be with some girl we barely know… Chili and I are lucky that we're at least going to know you a little. I mean, Cilan may not get to know whoever Chili or I marry…"
Her face turned bright red. "You need to remember that I'm still only thirteen! Even if we are going to get married, it won't be until I'm at least eighteen. That's over four years away. A lot can happen in that time. Besides, I'm sure you and Chili would both bring your girl home for a while to get to know the other two."
He smiled. "You are being truthful…"
"YELLOW ONE!"
"CILAN, STOP DOING THAT!"
Cress chuckled and turned to leave. "Come down for dinner when you're feeling better, okay?"
Curfy stood up and pushed her braid behind her shoulder. "I'm feeling fine now. Come on!" She ran past the blunette and ran down, spotting Chili sitting in a chair, rubbing his shoulder, and Cilan standing in front of him, his back to her. Grinning, she snuck over, motioning for Chili to be quiet.
"It's so annoying how you do that, Cilan! I mean, really! It's just a Punch Bug!"
The green haired boy shrugged. "I just have to. It's force of habit."
"Sneak attack!" She threw her arms around him, and he jumped.
"Geez, you startled me," he laughed, rubbing her head. She took a deep breath, ignoring her slight headache, and let Cilan kiss her forehead. "Feeling better?"
"Yeah! I'm feeling great!" She pulled away and let Cilan turn around.
"Did you three settle things out?" He asked. They all nodded.
"Curfy and I just had a very nice talk about that."
"Yeah, she and I had a chat earlier today about that."
"That's great. Now we don't have to worry," he sighed, grinning at Curfy, who giggled. The four walked into the kitchen, where they sat down and started to eat dinner. As they joked, she couldn't help but grin, as this reminded her of the days with Ash in Pallet Town when Amber was still around. The triplets even flicked some food at each other, which turned into an all-out food fight between them all. They knew that they would have to clean it all up soon, but she didn't mind. The two things that kept her upbeat were Cilan and his brothers' approval.