By the time Everest returned home, Pearl had gotten her emotions together and locked both her crying episode and the phone call in a box at the back of her mind.
She waited for him in his room, still feeling too shaken to be moving around and tried to smile when he walked.
"Hey," she greeted, growing concerned by how tired and dull he looked.
"Hey," he responded with a kiss placed on thw crown of her head then crawled into bed and lay down.
"Is everything alright?" Pearl questioned as she settled beside him on the bed.
"No," he admitted, his eyes closed shut, "but I have it under control so there's nothing to worry about."
"On the scale of one to ten, how bad is it?"
"A hundred and ten."
She winced and began rubbing circles into his back. "You would feel better if you talk about it
