“Shit.” I hear Charlotte’s voice that breaks me out of a dead sleep.
“Charlotte?” Rubbing the fuzziness from my eyes, I search the room for her but she’s nowhere to be found. The light in the bathroom catches my eyes, but then they’re drawn to the sight on the sheets next to me and that’s when I see it—blood, and quite a bit of it.
“Fuck.” I launch out of bed, staring down at the crimson puddle on my white sheets as my heart begins to race. And then it hits me. “Charlotte?” I shout, rushing toward the bathroom. “Are you okay?”
“Yes. I’m okay. Oh my God, Damien…I’m so sorry about your sheets!”
“You’re bleeding? What happened? Do I need to take you to the hospital?”
“What? No. I just—” she pauses as I hear the toilet flush and then she emerges from the bathroom, her face flushed with embarrassment and tears in her eyes. “I started my period.” Covering her face, she rushes past me, pulling my shirt down her legs and out to my living room, reaching for her purse.
“Charlotte…”
“God, this is so embarrassing. And I knew it was coming.” She shakes her head as her wild hair moves with her. “I should have been prepared, worn a pad to bed or something.” She rummages through her purse and pulls out a tampon—something I’m familiar with now after Jeffrey bought the whole damn aisle from the store—and runs past me again back to the bathroom, locking herself inside.
“Charlotte!” I call after her but remain frozen in the same spot, in nothing but my boxer briefs. Running a hand through my hair, I debate what the hell I’m supposed to do right now. I mean, I rarely let a woman stay the night to begin with, but I’ve never encountered this situation before, that’s for sure.
I look down at my underwear and notice a small spot of blood on the side. I figure while Charlotte is handling her business, I might as well start cleaning up.
I return to my room and strip my bed of the sheets and change my underwear while I hear Charlotte call out to me from inside the bathroom. “Damien? Do you mind if I take a shower?”
“Of course not. Go ahead.” I stare down at the sheets in my hands before deciding to ask Charlotte what I should do. “Hey, Char?”
“Yeah?” she says through the door before the water turns on.
“Are you okay? Can I get you anything?”
She’s silent for a beat before finally saying, “No. I’m good. I’m just sorry I ruined your sheets.”
“They’re just sheets, Char.”
She doesn’t say anything in return, and then I hear the shower door open and close, so I take the sheets to my laundry basket, getting ready to place them inside before finally just deciding to throw them away. Blood and white fabric don’t exactly mix.
Feeling restless and anxious, I wait for Charlotte to finish in the shower, sitting on the edge of my bed while I try to decide what to do for her. I know she’s embarrassed, and I’m not going to lie, this entire situation is making me uneasy too. But the bottom line is, I just want to make sure she’s okay and she knows I’m not mad.
When she finally emerges from the bathroom wrapped in a towel with her wet hair down around her face, she takes my breath away—not just because she’s so fucking beautiful, but because she looks so vulnerable right now.
“Can you grab my bag for me, please? I’m just going to put on my clothes from last night.”
“Okay.” I do as she asks, returning to my room in record time.
“Thank you.” She shuts herself back in the bathroom to dress, and then when she comes out, she walks right past me without saying another word.
I follow her back out into the living room, reaching for her hand to stop her from leaving without talking to me. “Where are you going?”
“Home.”
“Why?”
She spins toward me. “Because I need to lie in my own bed, Damien. The first day of my cycle is rough and I’ve already ruined your sheets. I don’t want to ruin anything else.”
Gripping her chin, I stare down into her eyes. “They’re just sheets, Charlotte. It’s not that big of a deal, okay? You didn’t ruin anything.”
“Well, I’m still sorry. I’ll buy you new ones.”
“Don’t you dare.” She looks away from me. “Are you sure I can’t get you anything?”
She shakes her head. “No, I just want to be alone. I already have cramps, and if I don’t get home soon to take some painkillers and put my heating pad on, I’m going to be miserable for the rest of the day. Luckily it’s Saturday so I can relax.” She places a small kiss on my lips. “Thank you for last night, but I’m sorry I ruined this morning.”
“You didn’t. Please don’t freak out about this. It’s…it’s not that big of a deal. It’s natural.”
She huffs out a laugh. “Yeah, I guess.” And then she reaches for the door and shuts it behind her, never glancing back once.
Standing there in confusion, an overwhelming need to care for her comes over me. I know she’s used to handling everything on her own, and honestly, I don’t know how much I can help with this aspect of her life.
But I sure as fuck want to try.
* * *