The Things We Do for Love

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oneshot.

WALGREENS PHARMACY

UPPER EAST SIDE

7:15 a.m

January 14

DERRICK Harrington didn't know what to do. There he was, calmly walking towards the feminine care section, unknowingly about to enter the aisle of doom. His girlfriend had given him seemingly simple instructions: find the aisle, and buy the tampons and ibuprofen. She didn't tell him that there'd be thousands of boxes, all labeled with the word, 'tampons', on them. After reading the words on some of the boxes in front of him, he was still confused.

He ran a calloused hand through his sandy blonde hair and contemplated calling her girlfriend for help, even though he knew that right about now, she'd be in their rooftop apartment, getting all mood-swingy while discussing the seating arrangements for their engagement party with Alicia. He'd proposed three weeks ago, right after they graduated from Columbia together, and the pair promptly moved into one of the hotels that his father owned on the Upper East Side. They both weren't ready to go back to Westchester- the place that was swarming with nosy family members and zero to no nightlife.

Store workers that passed by gave him weird looks, girls came and left quickly, grabbing things off the shelves around him and disappearing, while guys, as few as there were, sent him sympathy glances, as if to say, 'Dude, we're all suffering together'. Sucking up the courage, Derrick speed dialed 3 and waited for his girlfriend to pick up.

"Derr?" Massie Block's voice floated through the speaker, warming him to the core. He instantly felt at home, even in the aisle of doom. "Did you get the stuff?"

"Uh, about that," Derrick paused, not wanting to sound like a complete idiot to the girl he spent years convincing they were perfect together. Once she'd managed to get him to start wearing long pants, she'd also somehow managed to daintily wiggle her way into his heart.

"Hold on a sec." There was some shuffling in the background, and what sounded like The XX playing. "Leesh, you know we can't put Allie Rose next to Skye! I promised Skye we'd put her on the table with Ariana."

He wondered where the rest of the girls were. Claire was probably with Cam at that art exposition in L.A he talked about a few days ago. Dylan might've been meeting with caterers to discuss entrée options. And there was no doubt Kristen was hanging around Dempsey Solomon- it'd been driving Kemp crazy.

Alicia chimed, "Sorry, Mass. It's really early, I haven't had enough green juice yet."

"It's fine. Aren't you glad I triple check everything?" Derrick felt a surge of emotions flow through him. His girlfriend was awesome, all responsible that way.

He tentatively spoke, "You listening, babe?"

"Yeah", She replied.

"I know you told me to get tampons and shit," Derrick stared at the rows and rows of packaged boxes in front of him. "But, there's so many tampons here. How the hell do I know which ones are the ones you want?

Massie giggled. He smiled at the sound. "It doesn't really matter. Just make sure it says 'Regular' on the box."

"Okay, wait for a few." He grabbed the nearest one, praying to God that it was the right one.

A moment passed before he realized that the words, 'extra thin', were in bold letters on the bottom left hand corner of the box.

He looked around, eyeing boxes carefully and rested his phone more comfortably on his shoulder. "So, baby, how's your day going?" He really wanted to distract himself from getting frustrated, and, as pussy whipped as it sounded, he liked hearing her voice.

"Well," She emitted a sigh. "As soon as you left, the cramps got worse." He imagined her sitting on their bed, bronze hair pulled up into a loose ponytail, eyes still red and puffy from when she woke him up, crying because she got her period and she ran out of tampons and pain medicine. Derrick felt like shit.

"Don't worry. I'm looking for your things right now."

"Fuck, yeah!" He exclaimed. He had found the right box and hightailed it out of the aisle, hastily snatching a container of ibuprofen on his way to the checkout line.

Massie paused for a few minutes and he seriously thought she'd passed out from the pain. "Stop freaking out, Derr. I can hear your breathing through the phone."

He swallowed, Adam's apple bobbing in his throat. "Block, you know how I feel about when you're sad."

"I do." She answered. "But really, I'm having fun. Alicia's showing me fabric textures and shades of white we could use for the tables."

Derrick's brows furrowed. "We're going with white? Won't it get dirty?" He had decided to leave all the coordinating to the girls, while he, Cam, Josh, Chris, and Kemp, handled the guest list. He knew he would just get in the way of the planning- they knew more about decorating then he did.

"We're literally inviting twenty-something year olds to an engagement party where the messiest food we'll eat is escargot." Massie deadpanned.

"Right." He handed his black Visa to the cashier, giving her a friendly grin. "Just a precautionary measure."

"So, when are you coming home?"

Shaking his head when he was offered a paper bag for his items, Derrick scooped him up and headed out. He was surprising unembarrassed to be seen carrying things that he assumed would be a blow to his ego.

"Derrick?"

"Yes, baby?"

She laughed. "I asked when you're coming home. Guess you're so preoccupied you can't pay attention to what I'm saying."

"Comes with the task of buying your lady things." He retorted. "Anyway, I'm getting the chocolate now. It'll take a little longer since I told Arthur he could wait for me at that café on Madison." His limo driver, Arthur, had been driving him around since he learned how to tie his shoes.

Her voice was quieter when she spoke again. "Thank you for going out for me."

Oh god, he thought. His girl was so sweet, and even sweeter to him than anyone else. He knew she didn't like to show vulnerability, even when she was with her closest friends. But he wanted her to be vulnerable with him, to let him take care of her the way he wanted to.

"No problem, Mass." Derrick said softly, before turning a corner and spotting the French chocolatier store, she was so fond of, a few blocks down.

He heard her moving around on the other line, heard the rustle of blankets and the shuffling of papers.

"I think I gotta go. Dyl's in the lobby- she wants to show me some catalogs before she gets more with Kristen."

"Don't strain yourself." He warned. "I'll be home as soon as I can."

"Okay," She murmured. "I love you."

A grin stretched across his face, so wide it almost hurt. "Love you too, baby."

"See you." He heard a click, prompting him to lock his phone's screen and tuck it into his pocket.

Noticing the white signal, Derrick walked across the street, his height allowing his head to poke out from the crowd of people husting over to make the light.

He bumped into the back of someone wearing a Mets baseball cap flipped backwards, who turned around. "Harrington?"

"S'up Hurley," He replied in greeting to Kemp Hurley, one of his closest friends since middle school.

He almost forgot he was carrying tampons and ibuprofen before Kemp raised his eyebrows.

"You on your period again, man?" Kemp smirked. "I thought that shit ended in high school."

Derrick scowled. "Stuff's for Massie, dumbass."

"I know, I just like messing with you." His dark haired friend said before opening the door to the chocolatier shop.

"I thought you were staying in Santa Monica for a couple more days?"

Kemp took of his cap, he was superstitious like that, and leaned against a display, the two guys ignoring the stares from the women in the shop. "Nah, liquor license was taking a little too long, might need to find a new supplier or something."

After requesting for a dozen assorted small, individually wrapped chocolates, Derrick turned back to look at his friend. "I'm going into the office later today; I can ask one of my assistants to set up a conference call for you."

"I'm good, bro." Kemp ruffled his hair. "I'm gonna be a little busy with Kristen for a while."

"Whaddya mean?" Derrick wondered, while picking up the bag of chocolates and signaling Kemp that he was leaving.

"I'm taking her to Greece. Try to get her away from Solomon."

Derrick sputtered. "Aren't you closing that deal with Swarovski on Thursday? You've been talking about it for months!"

"I postponed it." Kemp shrugged. "Can't let that dude interfere with my love life."

"I guess if I was in your place, I'd do the same thing." They nodded in agreement.

Derrick waved at the doorman when he opened the entrance to The Harrington Hotel. "Look at us. You buying tickets for Greece to keep your girlfriend from hanging out with another guy. Me buying tampons and chocolate for my fiancée at 7 in the morning."

"If I knew in high school that this would be my life, I would've busted my left nut sack." Kemp said, making a face.

"But would you change any of it?" Derrick inquired. "Now, I mean."

Kemp mumbled. "Everything's too damn good for me to want something else."

"We're gonna be doing this for the rest of our lives."

"Yep." Kemp looked devastated, but Derrick knew how happy his friend was with Kristen.

"The things we do for love, bro."

a/n: just a lil oneshot I wrote on a whim. might not be super great considering I didn't double check it for any grammar/misspelling errors. hope you liked a little massington-ish drabble!