The smell of breakfast cooking pulled me out of sleep the next morning. The space in bed next to me was empty when I stretched my fingers out in search of Carlisle, but he'd left the curtains closed for me, the heater across the room humming quietly as it pumped out warm air. I didn't want to know what time it was; I was going to have to get up too soon no matter whether I knew or not, so I just stayed under the covers. The sound of my boyfriend moving about the apartment disturbed me a little though - I really should get up.

"It's only 7, you don't need to get out of bed just yet," he told me as he wandered into the room, watching me sit up. I held my hand out to him and he wrapped his fingers around mine, sitting next to me. "Do you want something to eat? I don't want you to feel awful like yesterday if you get stuck again."

I nodded, propping myself up on my elbows to look at him. Somehow, he was already dressed, tidy and ready for work. "Did you get everything finished?" I asked softly, running my hand up his arm.

"Yeah, I'm done. I got up at 5, but it didn't take that long." He was rubbing my fingers, trying to soothe me before I worked myself up. "Do you want breakfast in bed?"

"I want you in bed," I teased. He fell forward as I pulled him, collapsing into me and not providing any resistance past laughter as I squeezed him. "But I'll have breakfast with you, yeah."

"You slept in; I've already eaten," he teased. The quick kiss he gave me left me desperately wanting more, but he was already halfway across the room. "It's ready when you are, though."

"You just said I didn't have to get up yet," I laughed. I dragged myself upright, stumbling around the room to find something to wear before wandering into the kitchen. There was no way I was showering this morning. No way in hell. "Why'd you get up so early, if you finished so soon?" The chair creaked as I dropped into it, my eyes trained on Carlisle's back as he dried the dishes. "And I could have done that if you'd waited until…"

He set a plate in front of me. "I don't want you to do them, Gar, I want you to have something to eat so that you don't feel horrible all day. And I stayed out of bed so you'd actually get something decent in you - I didn't want you to have to cook."

I couldn't force back a smile. "Remind me where I found you again?"

He grinned at me. "I scammed you into buying newspapers from me for months, remember?"

"That does sound familiar," I chuckled. The thought of the oncoming day still made me a bit nauseous, and I fought the urge to grab my boyfriend again as he passed me. "I wish we could go away again, just you and me, like we did when we stayed at the beach," I groaned, dragging my fingers through my hair.

Standing behind me, he rubbed my shoulders, leaning down to kiss my cheek. "Do you want to go this weekend, then? We could see if we could stay at the same place as last time - it was cheap enough and the lady who owned it was lovely."

"We're both busy, Carlisle; you've got your projects, and no doubt my boss will land me with something over the weekend." A sigh hissed between my teeth at the thought of it; I would have killed to be able to pack up and leave for a few days. "And who would look after Fox? But God, that would be so good." I shoved my breakfast down my throat before I could make myself late, and I was kissing Carlisle goodbye all too soon. This morning had been lovely, but today was still going to suck.

.

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Poor Riley was off sick with the same bug Carlisle and I had just recovered from. As much as I felt sorry for him, it also made work a whole lot less tolerable for me; my boss's harsh words dug a little deeper when I couldn't go crying to him. It hurt a lot more when I didn't have support in the building - I was starting to understand how awful my boyfriend felt with all he went through with his job when I couldn't be there.

My anxiety was going through the roof. Every time I got yelled at, it got harder and harder for me to breathe, and it wasn't long until I was shaking so badly I wasn't sure I could stand. A few of my coworkers were throwing glances in my direction, but no one said anything.

"Get it together, Parker," my boss grumbled. "You're an adult; now isn't the time for tears. Just do your damn job, are you completely useless?"

'Tears' hadn't been an option until he said anything, but suddenly my eyes were burning. Stupidly, I'd left my phone in my locker, and I really, really wanted Carlisle. He was on the other side of the city without a vehicle, and we didn't have a way to contact each other, so all of this was stupid.

He dumped more work onto my desk and stalked off. I just ducked my head. My lungs were too tight and the lump in my throat made me want to puke. I couldn't breathe and I couldn't think and I wanted Carlisle so, so bad but no one was helping me and he wasn't here and I couldn't go home and-

"Garrett…" The woman who sat across from me was now standing, awkwardly hovering from five feet away. We didn't speak normally, so her interest in me was purely to make herself more comfortable. My heart was going to hammer out of my chest though - I was going to have a heart attack. My chest kept cramping, the pain radiating through my ribs as I panted for breath.

I pressed my fingertips into my desk, the burning what I needed to concentrate. I wasn't sure how long I sat there, unable to breathe and unable to think and sure I was going to fucking die but unable to tell anyone to do anything. Suddenly, warm hands closed over my shoulders, pausing there before gently wrapping around me. I fought the urge to slam my elbow into their ribs for touching me.

But then they were pressing gentle kisses against my cheek, pulling my chair out from desk when I sat up and turning me to face them. "Carlisle…" His name came out as a plea for him to get me out of here, as much as I was relieved to see him.

He crouched in front of me, letting me pull him closer and rubbing the back of my neck as I leaned my head on my shoulder. "Hey, Riley said you weren't feeling so good."

"Riley isn't here," I told him, dumbfounded. The pain was easing now, as was the shaking, and I was starting to be able to think enough to be embarrassed about the scene I was making.

"No, but someone told him, and he called me. What's going on?" he corrected gently.

"How did you get here?" I still couldn't get past him actually being there in the first place.

"Does it matter, Gar? What's happening?"

"I don't know- I don't know what's wrong with me, Carlisle, I feel sick and I can't breathe and I wanted to call you but-"

"I'm here now," he soothed, kissing my forehead. His hand cupped the side of my face, brushing his thumb over my cheek as I buried my face in his shirt. "Let's get you home. Can you walk to the car? I can drive." His fingers found my waist, squeezing me as I fidgeted with the fabric of his shirt.

"Yeah- yeah, I can walk, I'm okay, just-" I rambled on and on, but he was already starting to pack my things back into my bag and getting me to my feet.

"Let's go home, Garrett." He took my hand, gently lacing our fingers together. "Do you want me to talk to your boss?" The elevator dinged as the doors shut, and Carlisle hugged me again.

"I'm sorry," I groaned, rubbing my hands over my face. "I'm sorry you had to come all the way over here to get me-"

"Garrett," he interrupted. "You looked after me for months. Jesus, you're still looking after me; that's probably the cause of all this. You need a break."

"I can't ask for one; I have no more paid leave left, and he's going to yell at me if I ask for another day off."

"Then I'll ask him."

"Then he'll yell at you; I don't want that."

"He can yell at me all he wants; I don't care." The doors opened again and he led me out into the car park, letting me put him between the receptionist and me as we left the building. "He can't fire me."

"I care; I love you..."

"He can't hurt me, Gar." Physically, probably not, but if he screamed at him, I had no doubt that Carlisle wasn't going to be in a good way either. I really needed him to be stable for me right now.

"I-I'll email him; I just want to go home. Please, Carlisle, I've embarrassed myself enough today," I pleaded.

"Okay, I'll get you home," he murmured to me, hugging me as we leaned against the car door. "It'll be okay. Are you going to be sick?"

"No, I don't think so, just need to get out of here…" The car beeped as he unlocked it, and he helped me sit back in the passenger's seat. "How'd you get here so fast?" I asked again.

"Riley called me, and I caught a taxi over here," he told me softly, rubbing the tops of my arms.

"God, that must have cost a fortune," I groaned.

"It was going to take too long for me to get here on a bus, Gar, I wasn't about to leave you that long by yourself when you weren't feeling good." This time he brought our lips together, a small smile on his face as our eyes met.

.

.

Carlisle had to spend the rest of the afternoon taking care of a blithering idiot. We ate icecream for lunch, and he stayed cuddled up with me on the couch while I whined about my job - just like we used to before we lived together, really. I also finally understood why he found the cat so comforting; he'd set her in my arms as soon as we had gotten in the door, and I hadn't put her down since, loving her purring and the feeling of her little paws weaving in and out of my clothing. She was a lot bigger now, chubbier and longer and all around bossier. She was perfect. So was he. My perfect little family.

"You doing okay?" he asked softly, rubbing the back of my hand.

"Yeah, I'm okay," I mumbled. I didn't feel as horrible now that I was home, and now that I had him. "Sorry that you had to come, I really don't know what happened there."

"Don't apologise; you always tell me not to. We're both as bad as each other."

"We're a mess together," I grinned. Sliding my hands under Fox, I dumped her on Carlisle knee, wrapping my arms around him and dragging him into my lap. "I hate it as much as I love it."

He leaned his head on my shoulder, his fingers shifting through my hair. "I love you too."

"I feel like I'm going crazy." The kisses he was pressing against my jaw were a little distracting, and I didn't feel quite so crazy while he wanted to be with me like this.

"You're not, Gar, you're stressed. Are you taking the day off work tomorrow?" Fox jumped off of him annoyed with me moving her, and he shifted onto his knees to push me back against the couch.

My hands landed on his waist. In my peripheral vision, I was aware of the cat licking our empty bowls which still sat on the coffee table, but I was having problems focusing on anything other than my boyfriend. "There's no way I'll be allowed, and it's a friday anyway, I'll cope. Just, maybe...keep your phone on you?" I tried not to sound too pleading, but it didn't work, and he caught on immediately.

"I will, just don't leave yours in your locker." The teasing hit a little too close to home. I groaned and pulled him hard enough that he collapsed into me, burying my face in his shirt and refusing to let him back off. The weight of his body on mine was comforting, as was the smell of him and the warmth that radiated through his clothing. "I love you so much."

"I love you too. Everything will be okay, Garrett."

.

.

The next morning rushed up far too quickly. As soon as I'd reached the office, I'd been told that my boss wanted to see me. I felt like a little kid, sitting in one of the chairs outside of his office while I waited for him to call me in. My heart was beating too fast in my ears, and it was very reminiscent of visiting the principal's office in primary school for being naughty in class.

"Come in, Mr Parker," he murmured as he opened the door, letting another one of my colleagues out as he let me in.

I took a deep breath to steady myself, and tried to stay collected as I sat in front of his massive desk. It was hard not to fidget; I didn't want to show him how nervous I was, but I was pretty sure he was going to yell at me for something.

"Garrett, you're being let go." His tone was stern and final, and I was sure that was the first time he'd ever said my first name without screaming in my face.

"…let go…?"

"The company can't support its current amount of employees; a quarter of you are no longer needed. You're one of those people; we're making you redundant." He let it sink in for a second before continuing. "Go and pack your desk; I want you out of here before lunch time. The company will be sending out your final paycheck before the end of the week."

Out of words, I just nodded dumbly, stumbling blindly back into the hallway when he told me I could leave. I glanced down at the person in the waiting room, knowing they had the same fate – and it was the guy who worked two cubicles down from mine, looking as nervous as I felt.

As I shoved what little shit I kept there into a box, I couldn't stop my hands from shaking. My stomach hurt and I felt sick. I wasn't sure what was making me more nervous; having had to face my boss, or having to tell my boyfriend tonight. We'd just moved house, for god's sake, I couldn't uproot him again. Not after everything that had happened. Not after we'd just found our footing again after what seemed like the shittiest six months we'd spent together. I couldn't put him through that.

I couldn't not tell him, either, though the prospect was appealing. I didn't know how I was going to. Thankfully, I had quite a few hours to stew over it before he came home, but it also left too much time to think.

Within two hours of leaving for work, I was home again. Fox chirped and ran to me, and I picked her up to hug her as I glanced around at the boxes in our kitchen. Carlisle had finished unpacking everything a few days ago. And now I had to tell him that we had to put all that stuff back again.

I was kind of glad he wasn't home. I needed to sort my shit about before I had to face him. Not knowing what his reaction was going to be was making it all the worse; I didn't want him to have a panic attack, of all things, but mostly I just couldn't stand the thought of him being disappointed in me.

Sitting in our half-furnished kitchen, I kept the cat on my knee. It's been hard enough to find a home where we could keep her once, and now we'd have to do it again on a smaller budget. If Carlisle would stay with me, that was. Otherwise I'd be 27 and moving back to my parent's place.

It made my head hurt, and I felt like I needed to vomit; it would kill him if he couldn't keep the cat. Fuck, I was sure he would keep the cat over keeping me; at least she didn't fuck up. Like I used to when things went wrong, I contemplated calling Eleazar, but I didn't want to tell him either.

Too dizzy and nauseous to move, I stayed sitting there, just watching the clock and counting the hours until my boyfriend came home and all hell broke loose. Fox eventually got sick of sitting with me and left, but I couldn't force my limbs to cooperate to get up, so I stayed put.

I almost threw up when I heard his key in the lock, suddenly fixated on the door instead of the clock. Our door always jammed a little, needing to be jiggled in just the right way, and it was hard to do when your hands were full.

"You didn't answer your phone, so now you have to put up with what I picked for dinner," he teased me as he shut the door behind him. There would be no complaint from me; I was sure he'd purposefully picked my favourite, judging by the bag he was holding. Putting the food on the bench, he scooped up the kitten as she cried at his feet. "You're back early, was it quiet at work today? And you still can't answer my texts." He was mock-scolding me, but I couldn't smile. It was taking everything I had not to fucking cry.

I glanced down at the screen of my phone, managing a sad grimace at his attempts to get my attention a few hours earlier; four texts and a couple of missed calls, slightly impatient but still sweet. I hadn't even felt the damn thing vibrate. "…Carlisle…"

He was still oblivious. "She's getting bigger; feel how heavy she is now." Without warning, he put Fox in my lap, but instead of automatically grabbing her like normal, I found myself reaching for him.

"…Carlisle…" I repeated, nauseous with nerves as I slid my arms around his waist.

Glancing down at me, his smile faded. "What's wrong? Are you okay?" He sat next to me, interlocking our fingers and kissing the back of my hand.

"…I lost my job…" I told him as steadily as I could muster. I couldn't look at him, though; I didn't want to see his expression. The cat meowed at us, and I bit back tears as I watched her. "I-I'm so sorry…I know we just moved here and now I have to put you through that again and you have to find another landlord who will allow pets a-and-"

He cut me off with a gentle kiss, shifting a little closer to hug me. "We'll deal with, Garrett; don't panic."

"But we'll lose the house and I don't want to do that to you, and I don't want this to be the reason that we…" I couldn't get the rest of the words out without having a breakdown, so I shut my mouth instead.

"Hey, whatever happens, you won't be losing me," he reassured me softly, running his fingers through my hair to get it off my face and force me to look at him. "It'll be okay. I can pick up a couple of extra jobs, and we can deal with it."

"I don't want you to have to do that…"

"It won't be forever; I can manage."

"Carlisle," I argued, unable to place why he was being so calm about this. I would have lost my shit by now, had this been the other way around.

"You've done far more for me than I ever have for you; you've put up with so much of my shit over the last few months, this is nothing. We can get through this."

"God, I love you." I wrapped my arms around him, pulling him into me.

"I love you too, Gar. We'll be okay."

.

.

That night, I waited for him to push me away, or at least hold me at arms length. He didn't, wrapping his body around mine in bed and cuddling into me like normal. I was wired and unable to sleep, yet he was relaxed and his breathing was even as he leaned his head on my chest. "Breathe, Garrett," he murmured softly, briefly tightening his hold on me.

"I can't," I whispered back. My stomach hurt and I didn't feel good.

Propping himself up on his elbows, he sat up to look at me. "What are you worrying about?" he asked softly.

"Us, I guess…" I wrapped my arm around his shoulders, needing him close again. Thankfully, he let me pull him into me, pressing a kiss against my neck.

"We'll be fine." More kisses, this time against my jaw, continuing until our lips met. "We can find a way to manage. We can make this work." He hugged me tightly, seeming hyper aware of all the tension in my body. "Do you want to watch TV for a bit?" He waited until I forced myself to nod, and then helped me sit up.

I didn't care what we watched, I just wanted him to stay awake with me. Being left alone with my own thoughts seemed horrifying, and I needed Carlisle to stay with me. He made us both warm drinks and sat next to me on the couch, switching on something mindless for us to watch. Wanting him to cuddle me again, I shifted to lie with my head on his thigh, relaxing a little as his hand landed on my shoulder, rubbing my arm. "I don't want this to be the end of us," I mumbled to him.

"I don't want it to either. I love you; it's not going to be."

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