Every single word builds up to this moment

"She hates me."

There, Tyra said it. It needed to be said. Didn't Naoki get it? Of course, he was still with her in her room. He blew out a breath and fell back onto her bed, taking her with him. He hugged her tightly and looked at her sleepily. They didn't have much on and possibly wouldn't in a few minutes.

"Now see, it's not something to worry about." He told her he wasn't worrying about his mother, and neither should she.

"You'd think differently if it were my mother," Tyra pouted back.

"Possibly." Naoki shrugged back, "But your mother loves me, so you know, why go there?" He acted as if he could do no wrong with that silly smile of his.

Tyra sighed. She thought this would have been over with now. Except, she kept forgetting about it, too. This was a whole new happiness she'd never had before. Was it supposed to be this easy? No, there was his mother to worry about. She needed to be tense about that, but the more they were in this dance of tenderness, the braver she felt about the future.

Before she knew it, she lingered in his touch and the clothes shed to the floor. It was only three in the afternoon, but it was full of delight, rocking each other's worlds. About twenty minutes later, they sank under the covers, resting as if the day was just ending. 

It was about six when Naoki got a text. He pushed the covers back as if it was too early to go on an exhibition, but he looked at the TEXT.

"What the fuck!" he gasped.

"What is it?" Tyra set up, thinking this might be a good time to find her clothes on the floor.

"It's Boone," he sighed.

"Boone?" She covered her breasts as if maybe she had gone to Catholic school, after all. 

"Ma fell or something," Naoki fretted as his wild hair fell in his face, but he pushed it back and reached for his glasses. "He's at the ER with her."

Now she could see he was angry with himself. He knew he wasn't supposed to be here. He was supposed to be helping his mother move.

"She kept saying I was no help at all, and she didn't need my help," he told Tyra, reaching for his briefs on the floor to put on, then sliding on his cutoffs. She'd found his tee on the other side of the bed, but he already had on hers. He didn't notice it was snug. 

"What am I gonna do with her?" He sat on the edge of the bed, turned from her. His elbows propped his hands under his jaw as he sat in thought. 

Tyra pulled on his tee and patted him on the back. 

"Maybe, it's not that bad," Tyra said, hugging him from behind.

"I don't think she'd break anything. If it's anything, it's her blood sugar."

Naoki needed to get to the hospital. He reached for her and gave her a longing kiss as if he couldn't wait to get back to her.

He got up and shuffled off in his summer sandals.

"But-"

"You need to get ready for work." 

Naoki looked back at her.

Tyra nodded and turned back to the red numbers on the old digital clock. It was only a little after six in the evening.

"It's not morning," Tyra reminded him, but he was already gone.