Fuck.

That was the only thing on my mind.

But unlike when I was with Alex, this fuck was not a good thing.

I cracked my eyes open and saw it was already eleven. Shit. I grabbed my phone and saw I had slept through my alarm and I had several missed calls and texts from my dad, Alex, and a few others at Coral Brews. But I couldn't even be worried about that right now.

I drew my knees up to my chest as a wave of pain swept through my abdomen, tensing up until the worst of it subsided. I fucking hated when this happened.

First things first, I picked up my phone and called my dad. He answered on the first ring. "Ana?"

"Hi, Dad." My tone wavered at another twinge of pain. "Sorry, I just woke up. But I don't think I'm going to be able to make it today."

I knew my dad, and I knew he knew the sound of pain in my voice. "Bad period?" he asked.

"Yeah." My voice cracked. "I'm sorry, Dad."

"Don't apologize," he said sharply. "You can't control it, and we can survive one Sunday without you. I'll let the staff know you're sick. I'm just glad you're okay. I was worried about you getting home last night."

"Did you talk to Alex?" I figured if my dad was worried then Alex would be, too. He was the one who saw me last, after all.

"Yes, he told me that you walked with him to his car last night and that was the last time he saw you. I think we were both worried that something had happened to you between his car and your apartment."

"Well, you can tell him I'm fine. Nothing to worry about."

"We both know that's not exactly true."

I sighed and closed my eyes. "But it's not anything you or Alex, or me, can fix. So no point in worrying. I'll be fine in a day or so, you know that."

"I know." I could still hear the concern in my dad's voice. "Need anything, sweetheart?"

I shook my head before remembering he couldn't see me. "No. I'm just going to ride it out."

"I love you."

"Love you, too."

With a groan, I slapped my phone back down onto my bedside table. Well, I tried to. I missed and it ended up on the floor, but I couldn't bring myself to pick it up. I couldn't bring myself to do anything.

After almost half an hour of lying there in pain, I finally forced myself to move. My sheets were a mess but I wouldn't bother cleaning them until sometime tomorrow.

I dragged myself to the bathroom, cleaned myself up, stuck the biggest pad I had to my underwear, and then dragged myself out of the bathroom to dig through my stuff and pull out my heating pad. Armed with that, a pillow, and a blanket, I took up residency on the couch.

And I stayed there. For hours.

My phone rang around four. My eyes had been closed although I wasn't asleep, and they protested the invasion of light as I opened them and squinted at the screen.

"Hey, Alex." Even I could tell how tired I sounded.

"Hey, are you okay?" He sounded worried.

"Yeah, I, I'm fine." My words caught with a stab of pain, and I readjusted my heating pad. "Didn't my dad tell you?"

"He just said you were sick. But, Ana, you really don't sound great."

"I'll be fine." My words trailed off and my eyes closed again.

"I guess, just try and get some rest."

I let out a short laugh. "Unlikely, but thanks." Restful rest didn't come easily with the stabbing pain.

Five minutes past four. Damn, this was going to be a long night.

The next time my phone rang it was literally the middle of the night. I had forced down some toast, but now I just felt nauseous and was sweating like crazy.

"Hello?" I said into my phone. I hadn't even checked to see who was calling.

"You're still awake?" Alex's voice came from the other end. He must have just gotten off.

"Clearly."

The line went dead and there was a knock on my door.

God damn it.

With considerable effort, I rolled off the couch and pushed myself to my feet. My body immediately screamed at the loss of the heating pad and the cramps came back in full force as I hobbled down the hall. And they had only gotten worse throughout the day.

"What?" I didn't mean to sound so rude, but hey, pain will do that to you.

Alex's mouth pressed together in a fine line as he looked me up and down. "Jesus, are you okay?"

"You coming in or leaving?" I didn't bother answering his question, I think he could figure it out on his own.

Alex quickly stepped inside and closed the door behind him. I turned around to head back to the couch but then had to stop, a wave of pain overtaking me and I hunch over, my hand on the wall to steady myself.

I felt Alex's arms gently move around me, steadying me and keeping me from ending up on the floor.

"What do you need?" he asked softly once my body relaxed slightly.

"Couch."

Alex kept his arms around me as he helped me back to the couch. My eyes closed as my head hit the cushion and my hands pulled my heating pad back to my stomach.

When I opened my eyes, I saw Alex sitting on the ground next to me so we faced each other. He still looked worried.

"Wipe that look off your face." The pain receded slightly with the heating pad, so I could string together actual sentences. "I'm fine."

"You don't look fine."

"Okay, fine. I'm not fine. But I will be."

Alex just stared at me, his expression not wavering.

I let out a resigned sigh. "You really don't need to worry. If you really want the spark notes, this happens on occasion. Usually, my periods are just normal ick, but a few times a year they come with a vengeance. Doctors don't know why but there's nothing wrong with me and it always goes away in 18 to 24 hours so I just deal with it."

"Have you taken anything for it?"

I shook my head. "Nothing over the counter works," I said, my voice almost at a whisper. "And I'm not about to get hooked on opioids over something that happens just a couple of times a year."

Alex's eyes flashed at my final words, and I could see tension in his jaw. But it was over in a moment and he frowned. "So you've just been miserable all day?"

I nodded. My eyes screwed up in pain with another wave. It was getting worse. Which in one way was good; when it got worse that meant it would subside in another few hours. So the end was in sight.

I felt Alex's hand slip into mine, and on instinct, I squeezed it. As the wave subsided, I opened my eyes back up to see him in front of me much calmer. I didn't let go of his hand.

We stayed like that for a while. Maybe ten minutes, maybe 45, I couldn't tell. At some point, his thumb started tracing circles on the back of my hand, and his other had moved to my hairline, brushing my hair off of my forehead.

It didn't help a lot. But it did help.

"I'm sorry," I eventually whispered. "You must be exhausted." The waves of sharp pain had subsided a bit, and I was left with a constant throbbing. It wasn't much of an improvement, but it was better than nothing.

"Hey." Alex ran his thumb across my cheek. "I imagine you're also exhausted. And you don't have anything to be sorry for. You can't control this, and I want to be here."

I gave him a weak smile. "It's usually Emilia who has to deal with me when this happens."

"When does she get back?"

"Tomorrow morning."

Alex nodded.

"You don't have to stay."

"Ana." His fingers stilled on my skin. "I just told you I wanted to be here. And I've spent all day worried about you, so I'm not about to go now."

"What do you mean? I thought my dad told you that I had gotten home fine and I was just sick."

The frown returned. "Ana, you didn't show up to work, no one could contact you, and I was the last one who saw you. I was worried something had happened after you left, after you left my car. And then, well, your dad said you were sick, and I'm allowed to worry about my sick friends, right?"

God, why was this man so perfect?

"Technically, I'm not even sick," I grumble, pushing the thought out of my head. "Just not feeling well."

"Oh yes, because coming here and seeing you in severe pain is so much better than if you had the flu," Alex said dryly.

I let out a yawn. I was so tired, I couldn't even fire something back at him.

"Do you want to try and sleep?" he asked me.

"Yeah. But I feel disgusting."

"What do you need right now, Ana?" His voice was so gentle it made me want to cry.

"A shower." It didn't take me long to come up with the answer.

Alex gently took his hand out of my grip and then kissed my forehead. "I'll be right back."

He got up off the floor and disappeared into my bathroom. A moment later, I heard the water turn on. I watched Alex come back out and crouch down next to me.

"I know you can walk, but I'm going to pick you up, right now."

I could only nod. Usually, I probably would have tried to argue, but I didn't have the energy to do much of anything at the moment.

I felt Alex's hands go under my knees and around my shoulders, and all of a sudden, I was off the ground, my head against his chest. I flinched at first with the movement, but then I relaxed into his arms, his warmth seeping into my body and relaxing my tense muscles. I let out a breath, and my eyelids fell half closed.

It felt really nice to have someone take care of me.

Alex put me down on the floor of the bathroom and then sat down facing me. I looked at him but didn't move.

He gave me a small smile. "This would be a lot more awkward, but, well, I've already seen you naked."

But he stayed where he was.

"Are you asking for permission to take my clothes off so I can get in the shower?"

He let out a light chuckle. "There's that straightforwardness I've grown so fond of."

I lifted up my arms. "If it were up to me, I would get in fully clothed, so..."

Alex gently got me out of my shirt and then slid my shorts down my legs.

"You might want to let me handle this next part," I told him as I sat in front of him in nothing but my old, stained panties and feeling about as unsexy as I ever had. "There's a lot going on down there."

Alex just shook his head and quickly got my panties off, not even flinching at the blood. A moment later I was back in his arms and then sitting down in the shower, the hot water flowing over me.

"My sister was very direct when it came to her health," Alex said, half a smile on his face. "I'm used to it."

I couldn't even process the information that he had a sister before he gave me another forehead kiss and then disappeared out of the bathroom, leaving me with the hot water that was doing miracles in muscle relaxation.

"What time is it?" I asked Alex when he came back in.

He glanced at his phone. "Just after five."

I groaned and put my head down on my knees. "I'm sorry."

"Ana," he said severely. "What did I say?"

I almost laughed at his tone. Alex just shook his head, turned off the water, and helped me up to sit on the edge of the bathtub. He carefully dried me off and helped me into a clean t-shirt and underwear.

"Thank you," I whispered. I was feeling the exhaustion and even though I was still in pain, it was subsiding and giving me a hint of relief. But that just meant it was harder and harder to keep my eyes open, and sleep was pressing in on my brain, making my thoughts fuzzy.

"I'm going to pick you up again," was all Alex said in reply.

Alex carried me to my bed, and I could just barely register the fact that he had changed the sheets on my bed and put a towel down before he sat down on my bed with his arms still wrapped around me and leaned back against the wall.

"Get some rest, Ana," he whispered.

And as I lay against him, curled into his chest and his hand slowly rubbing my arm, it didn't take me long to do just that.