Leann Nickerson: Thank you for continuing to read and leave reviews!
I am officially taking requests and/or suggestions for this story! I do have some ideas but I could use the help. So if you like this story and you want it keep going, give me some topics and ideas I can work with. :)
Follow me on tumblr at jackandclairearesiblings
On with the show!
A/N: Yes, I wrote this on my period. It was very therapeutic. Mentions of blood (duh) but not graphic.
2003? 2004?
Jess knew exactly what was going on when she woke up. She gently removed Sam's arm around her and slide out from under the covers. She felt for the wall as she tiptoed around the corner to the bathroom. Leaving the door open to use the light from the hall instead of flipping on the switch, Jess pulled her pants down and sat on the toilet.
Well, that explains why I screamed at Sam earlier...
She pulled her pants back up and tiptoed back into the bedroom. Sam was still asleep gently snoring as she slowly and quietly pulled out her dresser drawer and grabbed another pair of panties and a new pair of pajama shorts.
Back in the dark bathroom, Jess took off her current shorts and soiled underwear. She unwrapped the pad, stuck it on the new underwear, and got dressed again. She cleaned herself up and rinsed the clothes off in the sink. When she was sure she got out as much as could, she hung the wet clothes on a towel rack.
Sam started to wake up hearing Jess shuffling around the apartment. He moaned and rolled over on his side, propping himself up on his elbow. "Are you okay?" he asked as Jess' silhouette appeared in the doorway.
"Got my period," Jess answered matter-of-factly.
Sam paused for a minute. "Least we know you're not pregnant."
Jess smacked him in the arm. Sam chuckled and laid back down on his back, allowing Jess to lie next to him and use his chest as a pillow.
"Can I, uh..." Sam cleared his throat. "Can I get you anything?"
"I'm okay. Go back to sleep, Sam."
Sam stared at the top of her head. Her hair smelled like apples. Obviously, Jess had gotten her period around him before, but now they lived together. Now it was serious. There was no more shrugging it off when Jess was in a mood or trying to be sweet with goodies when it had been a particularly bad one. Now, Sam was mentally preparing for late-night tampons runs and taking the blame for the smallest of things.
Sam's thoughts were interrupted by Jess mumbling in her sleep into his chest. He allowed himself to relax before falling back asleep himself.
Sam woke up around eight. Jess was now curled in a ball spooning a pillow and Sam could see on her face she was in pain. The cramps must have started.
Sam quietly got out of bed and went to the bathroom, finding Jess' clothes hanging on the towel rack, still damp. Without thinking about it, he threw them in the sink and filled it up slightly with cold water. Grabbing the hydrogen peroxide from the bathroom cabinet, he poured it on the clothes and let it all sit in the sink. Blood is blood and god knows this wasn't the first time he had to wash it out of a piece of clothing. God also knows he has seen worse.
He let the hydrogen peroxide bubble up and sit on the clothes while he took a shower. After his shower, Sam made himself coffee and breakfast and started sorting laundry. He knew fresh bloodstains were more likely to come out if you washed them as soon as possible. He grabbed some jeans and some of their teeshirts and threw them in a basket with the clothes from the sink.
Jess woke up finding Sam throwing random clothes in a laundry basket. "What are you doing?"
"Laundry," he answered simply. He pointed to the underwear sitting on top of the pile. "I, uh, found these."
Jess blushed from embarrassment and hid her face behind her pillow. "You don't need to do that," she protested.
"I don't mind." Sam grabbed the laundry soap from the closet and his keys. "Be back in a few."
Jess felt like crying. She hated starting her period around Sam. He always acted like he didn't care but it was still humiliating for her.
Jess watched Sam walk out the apartment door with the basket of clothes. She waited an extra minute before throwing the blankets off and inspecting the sheets.
Thank god none of it got on the bed.
Jess went back into the bathroom and changed herself. She knew she would feel better taking a shower but did not have the energy to deal with that right now. Feeling nausous from the pain, she took her mydol on an empty stomach. Another thing she knew was stupid, but that sounded like an issue for Future Jess. And right now Present Jess needed the mydol before everything else.
Sam returned from the laundry room to find Jess curled on the couch with a hot water bottle and one of her teenage girl drama shows she enjoyed. Without hesitating, he sat on the other end of the couch and watched the show with her. Sam didn't know anything happening in the episode storyline, nor did he care. He just wanted to be near her just in case. The hour was up and Sam went back to the laundry room to move the clothes into the dryer.
Still feeling shitty, Jess decided to try to make something to eat. Her stupid mydol did not feel like it was working and Jess felt like she was in more pain standing and stumbling over to the kitchen. She angrily threw some bread in the toaster and leaned on the counter while it warmed up. The toaster dinged. Jess removed the toast and put it on a plate and started to spread butter. At some point, the connection from Jess' brain to her hand went wrong because next thing she knew, she had dropped the knife on the floor. Bending down to pick it back it up, she then dropped it a second time. Getting frustrated, she picked it up a second time and set it on the counter, only for it to slide off into the sink.
Sam returned from the laundry room to find a distressed Jess standing at the kitchen counter. "What's wrong?"
"I can't stop dropping the fucking knife!" Jess sobbed. Sam's hand immediately flew to his face to stifle the laugh he was fighting. "It's not funny Sam!"
"Okay, okay!" Sam said, throwing his hands up in surrender. He walked over to the kitchen counter and put his hand on Jess' arm. "Can I help?"
Jess wiped her face with the back of her hand and went back over to the couch, mumbling something about needing to be treated like a child. Sam ignored her and got a new knife from the drawer and finished putting butter on Jess' toast. He carried the plate over to her on the couch and traded her for the hot water bottle. He warmed up fresh water for her to refill it and handed it back to her.
"You okay?" he asked gently.
"God, will you stop asking me that?!" Jess snapped. Here she is folks. Bitchy Jess live and in person. And Sam was not ready for it.
Without saying another word, Sam went into the bedroom and closed the door, giving the illusion of giving Jess her space. He plopped down on the bed and decided to try to do some homework.
Jess almost started crying again from feeling guilty for snapping at Sam. She picked at her toast and curled into a ball with the hot water bottle.
Sam snuck out of the bedroom to go get the clothes from the laundry room. He found Jess asleep on the couch. He quietly cleaned up her mess and shut the tv off.
Jess heard Sam shut the tv off and leave the apartment for the third time. She somehow got herself up off the couch and went into the bathroom. She went to change her pad again when she felt it. The cramp to end all cramps. The cramp that could land someone in the hospital. The cramp that could kill a person.
If this is what birth felt like, Jess was never doing it.
Balancing on the toilet seat, she pulled her knees up to her chest. Something about this position felt comfortable, even if it wasn't necessarily helping. Jess began to cry again.
Sam returned from the laundry room for the final time that day. Noticing that Jess was no longer on the couch and the bathroom door was now closed, Sam carried the basket into the bedroom and started folding and putting clothes away. He paused when he thought he heard something.
"Jess?" he called out. He listened for a response.
Jess must have cried out a little too loud at the next cramp. She could hear Sam's footsteps coming to the bathroom door.
"Jess?" he asked, knocking on the door. "Can I come in?"
Jess almost said yes, then remembered the compromising position she was in. She was not ready for Sam to see her like that.
"Just a sec," she answered with a shaky voice. She finished cleaning herself up, flushed, and opened the door, finding Sam standing on the other side looking terrified.
"What can I do?" he asked.
"It hurts," Jess whimpered.
"I know. What can I do? Do you need a doctor?" Sam was trying not to panic, but he didn't know what to do. He didn't know if this was normal! He was scared for her and hated seeing Jess like this without being able to do anything to help.
Jess slowly went back over to her place on the couch. Sam sat on the floor in front of her. He held her hand and ran his thumb across her knuckles and she cried into one of the couch throw pillows, just waiting for the cramps to pass.
The mydol finally kicked in. Jess began to calm down. Sam didn't leave her side.
"I know something that might help?"
"Fuck, Sam, I'm not doing that!" Jess said, her voice cracking.
Sam realized how bad that sounded. "No! No, no, no!" Sam scrambled to stand back up. "Just... wait here."
"Where am I gonna go?" Jess asked, sounding sarcastic and annoyed. She watched Sam go into the bedroom and come back out a second later holding her pajama shorts and underwear.
"Ta da!" Sam said, tossing her the clothes. "Blood free."
"Shut up!" Jess said. She inspected the clothes. "How did you do that? These were ruined!"
"Magic," Sam teased, obviously proud of his work. "And some hydrogen peroxide."
"What?"
"I used the hydrogen peroxide from the first aid kit."
"WHAT?"
"Yeah, it works on blood."
Jess stared at him in amazement. She had never heard of that before in her life. "How do you know that?"
Sam's mind drew a blank as he struggled to think of an answer.
"My brother is accident-prone," Sam said, half-joking, half lying.
someones-big-sister