Over the last couple of weeks, Talon did everything he could to convince Vanessa that she needed to listen to the doctor and do the sleep study. Everything always came back to the same excuse. She didn't want to become a lab experiment like the one in her nightmares. Talon could understand that, and felt like there was no getting around feeling like that; but if she could get rid of the nightmares forever, why wouldn't she? This could open up a whole new world for her, one where Vanessa was well-rested and felt safe. While Talon pushed the shopping cart around the grocery store, he watched Vanessa closely, especially as she examined every item before putting it in the cart.

He knew if she didn't take so long with every minor item they would have been done by now, but Talon didn't mind the extra time with her. He'd drop her off at her apartment tonight, since she said she needed to ‌get some sleep before work tomorrow with no distractions. He understood her reasoning, but he wanted to beg her to come stay with him. He hated the nights that she wasn't sleeping beside him, well in this case, laying beside him.

Talon wanted to fix everything for Vanessa. To help her figure out whatever was haunting her. She says she can't remember when it all started, but Talon felt like there must have been a time in her life where she didn't have nightmares.

He thought about the infants in the hospitals. They weren't having nightmares, even in the very rare cases. He couldn't picture her as a tiny little baby shaking in her sleep from fear of whatever creature was coming after her. Talon really didn't know what her nightmares were about. Whenever he asked, she seemed to forget. He found this terribly confusing and was frustrated whenever the conversation would go in that direction. She complained about how vivid they were, and that she felt like they were still happening even when she was awake, and yet she couldn't remember a single detail that she could share with him.

Maybe she just didn't want to share them with him, and that would be fine. He'd manage to get over that, if she would just tell him she didn't want to share.

"I don't want to get too much fruit, since we spend most of our time at your place anyway." Vanessa said, pulling Talon out of his thoughts. He shook his head, trying to focus on her words, but when he looked at her lips, his mind was pulled to other places.

"Yeah, that makes sense." He muttered, not really thinking about what she had said.

"Are you feeling okay?" Vanessa questioned, as she grabbed a few produce items before she placed them in the cart.

"Yeah, I'm doing fine." Talon mumbled.

"Okay, Liar." Vanessa shook her finger at him like she was scolding a toddler. This both angered Talon and made him smile. How could she make him feel so many emotions at once?

"I'm not lying."

"Yes you are, your nose flared."

"My what?"

"Your nose always flares when you lie to me. You don't do it very often, usually just when I pick a restaurant that you don't really want to go to." Vanessa shrugged, holding a bag of potatoes in her hand. "It's kind of cute actually, you should lean into it more. You know, learn how to do it when you're not being a liar."

"I'm not lying." Talon nearly grumbled.

"Okay, then what's on your mind?" Talon pushed the cart to the edge of the aisle to get out of the way of an older woman.

"I don't enjoy taking you back to your apartment..." When Talon paused, Vanessa took that as an opportunity to cut in.

"Why? What's wrong with taking me back to my apartment?" Vanessa rapped her fingers on the edge of the shopping cart while she stood in the middle of the aisle. Talon tried to move the best he could to help get out of everyone's way. He hated blocking people, especially at the grocery store or in traffic.

"I can't protect you there." Talon's words were almost a whisper, and the thoughts of what he could say rushed through his head like a blinding blizzard. There were so many that he couldn't even tell what was there.

"I don't need you to protect me." Vanessa folded her arms over her chest. The entire mood had shifted from your standard run-of-the-mill errands to a deep conversation that Talon didn't want to have in the middle of the aisle.

"I didn't mean it like that... I just, you know, enjoy spending time with you and I worry about you when you are by yourself in your apartment." Talon ran his fingers through his hair, feeling the knots that had formed from his lack of care. He needed a shower, something to relax all the tension in his muscles. Between everything going on, he wasn't able to get a break. His mother always needed him, and when she had a caretaker, he felt like all of his energy went to making sure Vanessa was taken care of. When he couldn't do either, he panicked and let the emotions boil over inside him in fear that he was failing everything he set out to do. He just wanted to protect those that meant the most to him.

"What could be so dangerous about me living in my apartment? I've been doing it for years?" Vanessa finally moved, allowing Talon to take a deep breath since they were no longer in the way. It was like a tremendous weight was lifted off his shoulders and he could think more clearly now, but that didn't stop him from messing things up in his conversation with the woman he loved.

"You know what? I don't know. So please, can we just drop it?" Talon begged as he searched the tables for anything he could use to distract her. "Let's go look at these bananas. Those look super weird."

"They are just overripe." Vanessa clicked her tongue. "They are there for people who are looking to make banana bread."

"Wait, are you being serious?" Talon knew what an overripe banana looked like, what he didn't know was why the grocery store would care enough to leave them out for people specifically looking for them.

"Anywhere they can make money on these people, they will." Vanessa groaned, picking up the banana. She turned it over in her hand, inspecting the skin before she placed it back down on the table. Talon couldn't help but watch. Her fingers were so gentle against the fruit, like when she hugged him. Maybe that was the biggest difference between Vanessa and the other girls Talon had dated. Vanessa did nothing she didn't want to do, she was tough as nails and stubborn as hell, but when she wanted to touch you, she did it with such grace that you knew she meant it.

Talon loved the feeling of her against him, and maybe that was what he was most angry about when she stayed at her apartment. Talon reached for her, attempting contact with her hand but missed. Vanessa turned to look at him, her brown eyes glazed over from sleep deprivation.

Talon couldn't remember the last time she got a solid four hours of rest and it killed him. He couldn't help but push her towards the sleep study. He didn't understand why she wasn't gnawing at the bit, trying to get into the doctor faster. If he had to see half of the things he thought she did, he would beg for someone to help him.

Vanessa was tougher than that.

He loved her because of it.

"Just in case I put my foot in my mouth again, I want to say, I'm really glad you let me come shopping with you. Every second I get to spend with you, I appreciate it." Talon felt nervous as the words dropped from his lips. Would she freak out when he mentioned the sleep study again? This had become a touchy subject for the two over the last few weeks.

"Talon, I don't know if you realize how much I love spending time with you. I don't go back to my apartment because I hate you. I hate living in two different places, but it's easier for my job sometimes."

"No, I'm not talking about that." Talon shook his head. He pushed the cart to the side and walked around the edge. He was sick of it separating the two of them. Talon wrapped his arms around Vanessa and pulled her close to him. He could feel the eyes of other customers staring at the back of his neck, but he just simply didn't care. Vanessa was the only thing that mattered.

"Then what?" Vanessa muttered, her breath seemed to be sucked from her body, leaving her breathless in his arms.

"Please do the sleep study for me. I understand all the reasons you gave me. I really do, but I can't watch you struggle with these images in your head any longer. If you need me to get down on the ground and start begging you, I will, but please Vanessa, just at least get the sleep study done."

Vanessa looked up at Talon as she bit her lower lip, drawing it into her mouth for a moment. Talon felt his knees shake and even though they hadn't been intimate yet, he felt like a volcano erupting with pleasure. The way she looked at him, the stress from the situation, it was all becoming too much and if something didn't falter; he didn't know if he could finish this grocery trip.

"Talon..." Vanessa's voice was hushed, like she was protecting the words she was about to speak.

Talon perked up at the sound of her voice, allowing the whisper to wash over him.

"Please Vanessa." He begged again, his arms still wrapped around her waist. Talon could feel her chest heave and draw away with every single breath she took, so he knew they were short and shallow.

"I just can't do it. I know you want me to do it so badly, but I can't. You need to understand that." Vanessa tried to pull away, but Talon's grip on her was too strong. He felt his heart drop in his chest as soon as the words were in the air.

He begged. He wasn't sure what else he could do. He knew Vanessa needed the treatment, and the only way to get it was to verify the issue she was having.

"But... you need-"

"What I need is for you to let me figure things out on my own. I will work through it. I will get things situated and make sure I'm taking care of myself. Promise me you will give me a chance to show you I can make things better." Vanessa wiggled one of her hands free, holding her pinky out for Talon to take. The smell of her perfume wafted between the two of them, and Talon took a deep breath and held the smell in his nostrils before finally letting it release slowly. He wanted to remember the way she smelled for the rest of his life. When they were old and sitting on the front porch with rocking chairs, he wanted that smell to remind him of where he is now. Where they are now. How far they have come and where they began. Talon would do anything to be with Vanessa for the rest of his life.

Talon pressed his forehead against hers, feeling like he was going to collapse in the middle of the aisle, but his worry about what the other people thought of him had washed away with his hope for Vanessa getting better any time soon.

"I promise." He whispered and wrapped his pinky around hers, giving it a firm shake.