February 21, 2012

It was just a little after midnight. Stu hadn't fallen asleep yet. Instead, he sat on his hotel bed, the small lamp on, reading a book. The TV was on, but it was just background noise. He didn't actually know what was going on in the rerun of The Office.

There was a quick, frantic knock at the door. The expression on Stu's face turned to one of nervousness and suspicion. He sat the book down on the table and answered the door, shocked at what he seen on the other side. Penny was leaning against the wall, her stilettos in her hand. One of the heels was broken. Her make up was smeared, and her hair had fallen from the updo it had been twisted into when she left the arena. Her dress was wrinkled and disheveled. Somehow, Brie and Nikki had talked her into going out with them, looks like it had been a bad idea.

"Penny! What happened? Are you okay?" Stu asked, ushering her into his room. She fell on his bed, dropping her shoes on the floor. Tears started to form in her eyes.

"I messed up," her words were barely a whisper. "I let it get to me, I let it all get to me."

Stu knelt down in front of her, "What are you talking about?"

"Everything that happened, it was too much. Phil will be so disappointed."

Stu put his hands on her upper arms, "It's okay," he told her. "Why don't you tell me what happened."

Penny took a deep breath and explained about the break down she'd had at the club Brie and Nikki took her to. How seeing them happy, dancing with their boyfriends, she broke down. It was supposed to have been a girl's night, but Daniel and Nick had surprised them, not knowing that they weren't supposed to be there. So Penny drank, and drank, and drank, until she couldn't see straight. Brie had offered to take her back to the hotel, but she told her to stay and have fun. She called a cab, and went outside. Some other drunk was out there, started hitting on her. She told him to leave her alone, but he got all grabby. She kicked him in the nuts right as the cab pulled up, and she went straight to Stu's room upon arriving at the hotel.

She started to cry, so held her. She sobbed into his shoulder while he rubbed her back and smoothed her hair. "You can stay here tonight." He wrinkled his nose at the smell of alcohol. "Why don't you go take a shower, do you need anything?"

She pulled away and thought for a minute, "Will you go get me some Gatorade?"

"Lemon-Lime?" he asked, remembering it was her favorite flavor.

She nodded.

"Of course."

He helped her to her feet and she walked into the bathroom. He grabbed a pair of basketball shorts and one of his 'Wade Barrett' t-shirts for her to wear. He knocked on the bathroom door right as the shower turned on. "You can come in," she called.

He opened the door and sat the clothes down on the counter, "You can wear these," he told her, before opening a little bag that was on the counter. He pulled out a hairbrush and a toothbrush. "And you can use these. I haven't used the toothbrush yet. I'll just get another one."

She smiled weakly, "Thank you."

He returned the smile, "I'll be right back with your Gatorade."

Stu left, shutting the door behind him, so Penny stripped down, and stepped into the shower.

Stu took the elevator down to the lobby where he'd seen the different vending machines. He walked over to them and was disappointed to see that they didn't have any Gatorade.

He walked outside to his rental car, and drove a couple of blocks to the little gas station down the road. As he drove, he thought back to the last time Penny had been sick, or at least, the last time she had been sick while they were married.

She had gotten food poisoning, and he was up all night taking care of her. She'd asked for lemon-lime Gatorade, but he brought back Poweraid instead. They spent 30 minutes arguing about it. She didn't Poweraid, claimed it gave her cotton mouth and made her extremely thirsty. He told her they were out of the Gatorade. She was in the middle of her sentence when she clamped her hand over her mouth and ran to the bathroom to vomit again. So he had to drive 30 minutes out of the way to a Wal-Mart and bought a case of lemon-lime Gatorade. When he got home, she thanked him for it, and kissed his cheek.

Stu supressed the memory. This time there'd be no kiss on the cheek. He was just helping a friend.

When Stu returned to his hotel room, the shower had been turned off, but Penny wasn't in the room. He noticed the bathroom light shining under the door, so he knocked, "Penny, I got the Gatorade for you." He paused, waiting for a reply that didn't come. "Penny, is everything okay in there?" Still no reply.

He pushed the door open to see her sitting on the floor in front of the toilet. She was using her arm as a pillow on the side of the tub. He sat the Gatorade down and scooped her up off the floor. She stirred a little bit as he carried her to the bed. Her eyelids fluttered, "Stu?" she whispered.

"Shhhh, it's okay." He gently laid her on the bed, and turned the TV off.

He put the bottle of Gatorade on the bedside table next to her, and turned off the light before sitting down in the armchair. He attempted to get comfortable.

Penny was awake now, and after the light went out, she had been expecting to feel the mattress sink behind her as Stu climbed into bed, but it didn't sink. He wasn't sleeping next to her. She rolled over in the bed, facing him in the dark. "Stu?"

"Yes, Penny?"

"Where are you?"

"In the chair."

There was a pause, "Won't you sleep with me tonight? I don't want to be alone."

"You're not alone, I'm here with you."

"Please, Stu?" there was a hint of desperation in her plea. He couldn't refuse her. He had never been able to refuse her.

Wordlessly, he rose from the chair, and felt his way in the dark, careful not to bang his leg on the bedframe. He laid down on the bed, pulling the comforter over him. Penny found him in the dark, curling up against him.

Keep your cool, Stu, he told himself. This doesn't mean anything. One small tear managed to escape, and he mentally berated himself for it. He still loved Penny, so much. And this only brought everything back. All the memories he tried to forget, their late nights together, the cuddling, the jokes, the kisses and hand-holding, it all flooded back, breaking the mental dam he had built the day she walked out the door.

When Penny woke up in the morning, she was wrapped tight in Stu's arms. Her arms were around him as well, her head had been tucked into the crook of his arm, and their legs were intertwined. She closed her eyes, pretending she was still asleep. For the first time in a long time, she felt safe again. She didn't want to lose that feeling.

Stu stirred, starting to wake up. His hand drifted across Penny's stomach for a second. He realized he and Penny were cuddling, and he opened his eyes. She was still asleep. He quickly closed his eyes, not wanting to let go of that feeling, not yet.

Penny moved her arm around him, trying to be as close as possible. Stu tightened his grip on her, holding her. Both of them awake, but neither of them knew the other one was too.