NOVEMBER

Seth listened to Thora's slow and heavy breathing. She was asleep but he couldn't fall asleep. He got out of bed and walked over to look out of the window. He looked up at the stars and thought back to that day in January outside of the bar when he had first kissed her. How this year would have looked so much different if he had never crossed that line.

He felt the sharp pain in his stomach again. At least he now knew what was causing it. After having gone through different examinations, they came up with one word. Stress. His doctor advised him to take some time off work but he hadn't listened. He knew what was causing it and it wasn't his job. When he was pretending to be someone else inside that ring, he never had any stomach pain. It only happened when he looked at Thora and started thinking about her leaving. Losing her was causing him stress.

"Are you coming back to bed?" She asked.

He blinked to try and keep the tears from falling. Of course she had woken up. She always seemed to know exactly when to come near him when he needed her the most. He didn't want her to see him cry so he kept looking at the stars.

"Just my stomach acting up again," he said.
"You need to take some time off. You gotta listen to your doctor," she said.
"I know," he said. "And I will."
"When?" She asked.
"I don't know. Soon," he said.

She let out a loud sigh. She knew he was lying. He was never going to take any time off work unless he was injured. He was going to power through without thinking about his mental health. She got out of bed, walked over to him, and wrapped her arms around him from behind. Feeling her care for him this way broke him. He let out a sob, spun around, and cried down into her hair.

"Seth? What's wrong?" She asked.
"I don't know," he cried. "I just can't deal with anything right now."
"It's okay," she said. "Come here."

She moved him over to the bed and they sat down on it. He kept holding on to her and cried his heart out. It felt good to finally let it all out even though he wasn't telling her what was really bothering him.

"I love you," he whispered.
"I love you too," she said.

He wanted to scream at her not to leave but he knew that wouldn't be fair so he kept quiet and continued to cry until his tears ran dry. He felt exhausted. She moved around and made sure he got to lie down. He just went with the flow and allowed her to snuggle up against him and keep him safe tonight.