A/N: SHORT STORY just had a hankerin.

CHAPTER ONE- To Wish Upon…

Odd had been awake for almost an hour, but lay still in his bed watching the clock tick closer to 8. He still had his arms wrapped around Yumi, and had thought several times since 7 about calling in sick. But he had to go, too many bills on the table to be skippin out on hours, he smiled at the thought.

Our bills.

It had been almost 3 months since Yumi and Odd had decided to move in together. It was amazing at first, that whole 'living on love' feeling had warmed the air. But it had gotten rocky the past few weeks, and last night Odd thought everything was going to fall apart.

He shifted a little under the sheets and felt Yumi's bare skin softly graze his. He smiled again and nuzzled his face to the back of her neck.

They had fought the night before, their first big fight, and just when Odd thought Yumi was ready to walk out, things somehow turned around.

/*/

Odd flipped the grilled cheese he was making and took another drink of his beer. He looked at Yumi, hunched over a notebook at the table. He smiled. She had one leg pulled up, one hand pushing her hair back, her head resting on it, the other speeding across the paper. He frowned. Fucking Journal. He knew she wrote in it every night before bed religiously. They practically lived with each other before they even started renting together, so there's no way he miscalculated her obsession. She had definitely become much more…involved with the book after they moved in here, than she had been before. He turned off the stove and put the sandwich on a napkin, and sat down next to her.

He leaned over her shoulder, "what ya' doin''".

"Writing."

There was a little squeeze on his heart at her short and biting response.

He tried again, "So I was thinking, we haven't broken in the new mattress yet. What say you and I test it out tonight, see if we got our money's worth?" He nudged her.

She snapped the journal shut and stood up, grabbed a white envelope from her purse sitting on the table and flung it at Odd. "We shouldn't have bought the fucking mattress."

Odd picked up the envelope without taking his eyes off of her, "What's this?"

She rolled her eyes, "The fucking cut off notice for our electricity Odd!" She pulled a small group of envelopes from her purse this time, "And here is the water bill, and the reminder that our car payment was due last week, and the payment on the bed." She flung them at him one by one.

"Maybe we wouldn't be so broke if you didn't have a six pack of beer on every grocery list, or if we cut off the cable or internet, or if you stopped buying a new movie every other day of the week just like I suggested from the fucking beginning; or maybe if you hadn't insisted on buying that fucking mattress. So no, no Odd we will not be 'breaking it in' tonight, or tomorrow night or the next. I'm sick of all the late bills, I'm sick of being broke, and I am sick of you." She was breathing heavily and something behind her eyes, behind the money speech glinted. Odd saw it. He didn't know what it was but it was bigger than money problems.

"What's your problem? You're stressed out on bills fine I get it. I get that, you think I like all the late notices? Yumi, babe, I get that. But what I don't get is why the hell you would say that to me, say you're 'sick' of me. What the fuck, what did I do? If I recall right that bottle of wine on the counter is yours. And I had the cable cut off last week, remember? We talked about it. And I don't buy a movie every other day, even when I do get one you're right there, deciding which one with me. So what the fuck is the real problem? You've been acting weird for awhile now and I can't help but think you're thinking moving in together was a mistake. And not because of the money." He stopped talking and realized his hands were shaking and he had stood up. He couldn't believe he had just yelled at her like that. He could see she wasn't too happy about it either. She shook her head and grabbed her purse, then turned and headed for the living room.

"Where are you going? Yumi!" Odd followed her to the door where she dug in her purse for her keys.

"I just need some space Odd, okay? Just…Just leave me alone."

"No." He grabbed her purse.

"Odd, what the fuck. I'm not playing give me my damn purse I want to leave."

"Leave me?" He felt his eyes burn, and saw Yumi glimpse it; something hung there between them…regret?...no, it's-

"Oh God, Baby I'm sorry. I'm sorry." She was still breathing heavily from the fight but there was a slight hitch to it that told Odd she was holding back tears.

"I'm just…I'm just stressed out Babe. All these bills, half of them are late!" She sighed and rubbed her eyes. Odd instinctively moved closer to put his arms around her. For a split second he thought he felt her ready to pull away, but she fell into him.

"We'll get caught up Yumi, it's not gonna be like this forever. We'll just be stretched a little these first couple of months." He kissed the top of her head, "I'll pick up extra shifts at work; I could even take next semester off from school, that-" this time she did pull away.

"You're not taking off time from school Odd! I'm sorry I made such a big deal out of this… I just…I'm sorry. I don't want to fight anymore. And I'm sorry I've been so…" She paused not sure what to call her recent behavior. That made Odd feel a little better; she didn't know what to call it which meant it wasn't a who. His heart fluttered with relief.

"…But it's not you." She paused and he thought he saw her face fall for just a second. She whispered in a cracking voice, "Please, don't ever think it's your fault, Odd." He felt bad standing there watching her shift back and forth trying to maintain control. He had started this. Sure she had been acting distant the past few weeks but instead of asking what was wrong he just waited until it all blew up.

He closed in the space between them and lifted up her chin, "Baby, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to yell. I know you're stressed…I am too. We just…we just have to stay strong…stay together. We'll get through it." She started crying. What the hell! What'd I say!

"Babe, wha-"

"Shut up." She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him in.

/*/

The sound of his phone vibrating on the night stand pulled him from his memory of the happy ending. He picked it up, the alarm going off flashed 8:10 a.m. at him. Less than an hour to get ready for work and drive the 15 minutes to get there; he hurried out of bed as carefully and quietly as he could.

/

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