Today was not a good day. At least, for you it wasn’t. For two weeks now you haven’t had a lick of energy. why? not a clue.

You slept wherever you sat when you ended something, and when it came time to get up you couldn’t move your body. your eyes had lost any life they held in them and you looked dead. Luckily, you were good at slapping on a smile and laughing along with your friends outside the house.

Don’g think this went unnoticed by Shadow. his ever observant eye pinpointed the morning this all started. you had snoozed every alarm until you had about 20 minutes left, then stood in the shower forever until it was almost time to go. he didn’t say anything, thinking maybe you had hit your cycle early.

Even though his alarm bells were ringing off everywhere.

Today, you’d gotten up late, sweaty from the previous nights workout. You had done your list and gone running, come back in and fallen asleep in your bed with no energy for a shower. But here’s the kicker- even sleeping took too much energy.

Your job seemed to go slow today. By the end of the day, your will to live was drained and it took everything in you to make it home. Checking your calendar, you noticed nothing was planned for that afternoon. heaving a sigh of relief, you went and changed into workout clothes. the least you could do was take a quick nap and go running, right?

you started later than you had planned. Shadow had come home and decided to workout with you to maybe, hopefully, give you motivation. It did a little bit but it seemed as if everything was trying to go against you.

Midway through your ab routine, you paused, just sitting there on the floor. Shadow continued working, thinking you were only catching a breather. then you never went back down.

Shadow sat up, wiping some sweat from underneath his messy hair on his forehead “you okay baby?” when you didn’t answer, be placed a hand on your back and spoke again. “hey, princesa, talk to me.”

you turned your head and looked at him, eyes dull and expression one of those that had had their life force sucked from their soul. “i don’t have any energy, and nothing is working.”

Shadow rubbed your back softly, listening and trying to figure out a solution. “do you want to stop and go shower? go to bed early?” you shook your head and he nodded his head and looked away at the radio that was playing.

“these workouts and running and everything…they’re not working.” you crossed your legs, picking at the mat below you. Shadow raised a brow in confusion, looking back over at you. “what do you mean?”

you sighed, rubbing the back of your neck. “i don’t see any progress. i feel like i’m gaining weight even though i’m trying everything. i’ve fixed my diet, i do more exercise…i don’t understand. i’m only growing bigger.” placing your head in your hands, you sighed in frustration.

Shadow chuckled softly, moving his hand to rest on your thigh. he stood, taking your hand and pulling you up with him. “flex your leg for me.” confused, you did as he said. he hit your thigh with the side of his fist, giving you a look. “pure muscle.” he started lifting the hem of your shirt, looking into your eyes for consent. when you gave it, he held it up. “flex.” you didn’t until he went to give you a soft punch, and instead of landing against a soft surface, he hit something as hard as rock, or close to it. his eyes met yours smugly. “see? you’ve made progress.”

he let your shirt drop back down and he took your hands, turning you around. resting his hands on your hips, he slid them over your stomach and lower abdomen, chin propped atop your head as he looked in the mirror. “you’re a woman, my love. you have organs that i don’t. your body is meant to be like this. besides, i like my women with a little meat on their bones.” that made you laugh, which made him smile.

he raised your arms up, his fingers tracing the muscles. “you are perfect. God says you are. your body is healthy, and that’s all i can ask for.”