Reassuring Words - Tumblr Posts

:)

It's gonna be fine mate!! If times are tough for you right now this is your sign--keep pushing through!! You'll get to success and your efforts will be rewarded! For now, though: take a breath, drink some water, stretch, and carry on

:)

A sick Lee maybe on a road trip to a vacation spot and he starts feeling unwell during the drive and he worries about ruining all the fun they are supposed to have but Reader reassures him and they still end up having a good time even though Lee is ill

Thanks 😊 love you 😘

Love you, too!

Anywhere

You were walking along the corn field's edge, stretching your legs after the long hours in the truck, when suddenly you felt strong arms grab you from the side and pull you into a near crushing hug. Your shriek was cut short by a hand over your mouth.

"Gotcha!" the source of your favorite voice in the world teased. Lee pecked you on the cheek, then let you free. You playfully scowled at him and punched him in the arm as you caught your breath.

"You really ought to pay more attention to your surroundings. I could have been a predator, you know," Lee continued. He let out a cute growl and crouched like he was about to pounce. But instead, he grabbed your hand and pulled you down to lay in the tall stalks and stare at the clouds. The two of you spent several minutes in companionable silence, hidden from the world, just holding hands, before he rolled over on his side to look at you.

"If you could go absolutely anywhere in the Lower 48, where would you go?" he asked, twirling a finger into a strand of your loose hair.

You bit your lip and looked up at the clear blue sky in thought. A wave of excitement flashed across your face and disappeared just as quickly.

"You made your idea face. Where is it?" he prodded.

You sat up and hugged your knees. "It's too far," you lamented.

"Just tell me." He looked up at you with an irresistible pout.

"Well...I've always wanted to see Niagara Falls since I was a little girl and saw it on a postcard."

Lee flashed a big grin and ran to the passenger side of the truck, all but ripping the glove box open to retrieve his map. He buried his face in it on his walk back and nearly tripped over an uneven patch of ground. You giggled, and he glared. Once Lee settled back into his spot next to you, his long, thin index finger set to work tracing the lines of the interstate highways from your current spot in the Midwest.

"We could be there tomorrow if we leave now, just in time for your birthday!" Lee exclaimed.

"Really?!" you replied in disbelief.

"Anything for my girl." He leaned in and planted a soft kiss on your lips.

You blushed and dropped your head onto Lee's shoulder. You felt him rest his cheek on your hair as he let out a quiet, contented sigh.

<><><><><>

Soon, the two of you were back on the road. Lee was singing along with George Strait's "Amarillo by Morning" when he was interrupted by a cough. You pulled out your bottle of water to let him have a drink.

"Thanks. Just got a tickle in my throat." He cleared his throat several more times over the next hour or two. When the coughing flared again, you took over driving.

"Are you feeling okay?" you asked worriedly when he got back into the truck.

"I'm fine. Just tired." You thought you detected some congestion in his tone.

"Here. Drink more water," you instructed as you handed him the bottle once more.

"Yes, ma'am," he quipped sarcastically. He sank down in his seat, though, when you pursed your lips and raised an eyebrow at him. He then proceeded to take a swig.

As you drove, Lee's coughing worsened and his nose began to run. The poor thing shivered in his sleep as he leaned against the passenger door despite the summer heat. He didn't wake until he felt the truck come to a stop three hours later.

"Why are we at a motel?" he asked groggily and rubbed his eyes.

"I need to stop and you need to rest," you replied.

"We should keep driving."

"No, you can't get good, recuperative rest while sitting up in the truck, even if I drive. And I am dangerously close to dozing off. Give me the stash of money so I can go get us a room."

Lee just stared at you. He was used to making the plans and calling the shots.

"Give. Me. The. Stash," you repeated in a stilted tone.

His deep huff sent him into another coughing fit. He wordlessly caved and handed you the wad of cash from his boot as he caught his breath. You left him in the truck to walk into the office to retrieve keys.

One bright side of your lifestyle was traveling light, so you could focus on helping Lee inside without making multiple trips to the truck. He collapsed on the bed, fully clothed. You worked the boots off his feet and pulled the covers over his body. Your hand instantly recoiled at the heat radiating from his forehead when you checked for fever. You quickly grabbed a washcloth from the bathroom, wet it down, and gently wiped his forehead and neck to provide him with some cooling relief.

Lee's eyes fluttered open, and he greeted you with a strained half smile. "We need to get back on the road early in the morning to stick to our timeline," he rasped.

"Let's worry about that in the morning," you whispered. You sat beside him on the bed and ran pushed the damp hair from his forehead. "We're not going anywhere as long as you are feverish."

"But-" he started to argue.

"But nothing. And if you are about to bring up my birthday, it's just another day."

"You only turn 20 once. No longer a teenager." He grinned and gently tapped your nose with his finger before letting his arm flop back to the bed.

"Only you are worried about that, old man," you teased. It had been a personal point of moral contention for Lee that he, a man in his 20s, was dating a quote-unquote teenaged girl. But he was enchanted by you ever since he met you at the county fair last year, right before your 19th birthday.

Lee feigned offense by narrowing his eyes at you, but his playfulness was overriden by another round of coughing.

"I'm going to walk over to the grocery store to get you some cough drops and cold medicine," you said in response, tucking him in tightly under the blanket. "Just lay here and try to rest more while I'm out."

The trip to the store was quick, but Lee was already sound asleep when you returned. You let him rest and snuggled up beside him in bed. Every now and then, you felt him shiver as his fever flared, and another round of chills shook his body. You were grateful, though, that his coughing subsided for a while, allowing him a few hours of solid rest until he woke you from deep slumber with his violent hacking around 2am.

You dosed him with cold medicine and turned on a hot shower in hopes that the steam would ease his breathing. He sat in the bathtub floor as you lathered shampoo and rinsed his hair and did your best to wash the sweat off his body. He weakly toweled himself off with your help.

"How are you feeling?" you asked from your perch on the bathroom counter as he sat on the edge of the tub. You scanned his face and observed the dark purple circles under his eyes and shakiness of the hand that ran through his hair.

"A little more human than earlier," he replied quietly. His voice was a little less gravelly thanks to the humidity in the bathroom.

You smirked. "That's good. I got us some snacks at the store. You should at least nibble on something before you go back to bed to keep up your strength."

"I feel wide awake. We can get back on the road and drive for a while."

"You should really get more rest, Lee. Otherwise, it may catch up with you while we're out in the middle of nowhere."

"I can't rest knowing that we have somewhere to be. Besides, I can either be miserable in bed, or miserable and at least making progress toward our destination."

You just blinked at him and sighed deeply. "Are you sure you feel up to it?" You felt his forehead. At least he wasn't running a fever. He simply nodded in return and leaned into your touch.

You narrowed your eyes at him skeptically. "Okay. Fine. But if we have to stop in the middle of the forest because you get worse, I swear you are never going to hear the end of it."

Lee chuckled and stood from his seat. "I would expect nothing less." He placed a hand on your cheek and kissed your forehead as he scooted by you to open the door. You crossed your arms and shook your head, though you temporarily distracted from your ire when Lee's towel dropped, revealing those perfect buns of his.

He walked out of the bathroom and noted the time on the alarm clock by the bed. He turned back to you and grinned. "Happy birthday, love."

<><><><><>

Thanks to your lack of luggage, the two of you were back on the road quickly as soon as Lee was dressed again. He opted to drive so you could get some more sleep since you had stayed up caring for him. You didn't argue because you could barely keep your eyes open.

A few hours later, you woke to the sound of Lee coughing again. You squirmed in your seat and blinked the sleep from your eyes. "Where are we?" you asked groggily.

"Ohio. We just crossed the state line a few minutes ago," Lee replied. The hoarseness had returned.

"How are you feeling?"

"I'll be fine for a little while longer, then we can just switch out driving."

"If you want to pull over, I can drive now after a short bathroom break."

"No offense, but you drive too slow. That's fine most of the time, but right now we are on a deadline."

"Wha- my driving is just fine!" You crossed your arms and pouted. He looked over at you and pulled a face, which broke your ire and made you laugh. You could never stay mad at him for long. He laughed, but the exertion instigated a coughing fit.

"Pull over," you demanded.

"Not yet," he replied once he recovered his breath.

"You need to rest. Otherwise, you won't be able to enjoy the falls with me. That matters more to me than seeing them alone." Ha. You knew that would play on his feelings.

Lee paused and released a deep sigh. "Fine. But we keep going. I can rest just fine in the passenger seat."

"Deal," you replied, flashing him a grin.

He pulled over into a wooded alcove so you could both get out and stretch. You tossed the cold medicine toward him. He winced.

"This stuff tastes disgusting, you know," Lee complained.

"Anything for your girl, right?" You winked, and he grumbled - but he complied.

You took over driving for the next stretch of the trip. Lee quickly fell asleep, hugging his legs and using his knees as a pillow. Before getting back into the truck, he had shown you the upcoming turns on the map, but you wouldn't need to turn for at least 100 miles - long enough to forget the specifics. You unknowingly took a wrong turn and followed the highway south, when you should have been traveling northeast. Lee came to a few hours later and asked how far you had gone.

"I'm not sure. The last town I saw was Fremont."

He frowned and snatched the map, frantically searching for the grid coordinates for the town. His face dropped. "[Y/N], we are heading away from New York now."

"B- but I took the road you said."

"We needed to turn off this highway about an hour ago."

You felt the blood drain from your face. "Oh," was all you could muster. You pulled over at the next driveway, jumped out of the truck, and slammed the door. Lee met you at the tailgate.

"Please don't yell at me." You cringed as you saw the disappointment in his face.

"Yell? Oh, babe, I'm not mad at you. I'm mad at myself. If we hadn't stopped at the motel last night, we would be making great time. And if I hadn't been asleep, you wouldn't have missed your turn. I have single-handedly ruined your birthday." He kicked the tire to release some frustration.

You laid one hand on his arm and the other on the opposite cheek to encourage him to look at you. "Shouldn't I be the judge of that? Anywhere you are is exactly where I should be. We may not be where I hoped to be, but that doesn't matter as long as I'm with you. It's okay if we don't make it by midnight. I'd rather get there late than get there stressed. I'd like to enjoy all the places along the way that I've never been."

The two of you continued on at a much more leisurely pace, stopping when one or both of you needed to rest. You hit the New York state line right at midnight, marking the end of your birthday - but seeing Niagara Falls at sunrise more than made up for the delay. You stared out over the chasm and took it all in. The oranges and pinks of the skies were like a painting that belonged in a museum. The falls roared, and the mist tickled your face like thousands of tiny carresses.

"It's surreal. So beautiful," you whispered.

"Yes, it is."

You felt him take your left hand, but when you turned to look at his face, it wasn't where you expected.

He was down on one knee.

You gasped and covered your mouth with your free hand. You started nodding fervently.

Lee laughed. "I haven't even asked the question yet, love."

"Well, hurry up!"

"Oh, so *now* you are in a hurry," he teased, then cleared his throat. "I don't have a ring yet, but I can't wait another day to ask if you will be my travel companion for the rest of our lives."

You sniffled, and the tears overflowed from your eyes. You continued to nod. "Yes, Lee. Yes! Wherever you go, I go." He picked you up, spun you around, and planted a yearning kiss on your lips...

...and then started coughing. You laughed and guided him to the nearest bench.

"We got an early start on putting 'in sickness and in health' to the test," you teased.

<><><><><>

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@pmak2002

i think the worst part about sexual assault is the hatred that comes after. "was it my fault? was it the clothes i wore? the way i looked them in the eye? did i smile too much? did i not smile enough? did i laugh too boisterously and in doing so.. did i tempt them? is it my fault?"

it's not your fault. you can't change the outcome, you couldn't even if you knew. it's not your clothes, your smile, your hair, or your voice. it's them. you didn't ask for it, you didn't do anything to deserve it and you could never do anything to deserve sexual assault. you didn't want it and that's enough to say you didn't deserve it.

so forgive yourself. forgive yourself for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. forgive yourself for what you think you did to deserve it. forgive yourself. because it is no one's fault but theirs.

you didn't deserve it, so forgive yourself.

Here you go. Some of my favorite photos I've downloaded from pinterest and I found quite calming 🤍.

Take a deep breath. Relax your tongue, shoulders, be conscious of your posture and fix it. Take care of yourself. Drink water. Eat healthy. Take your meds if you need. You got this. I'm proud of you. Mwah 💋.

FRIENDLY REMINDER ‼️

DRINK WATER.

Sometimes, don't you feel like eating but you have eaten recently and you want to keep eating? Drink water. If you feel satisfied after 10 minutes, then that's perfect. If you aren't satisfied, go eat!!!! But please, remember to drink WATER!!!

✨️💙🫂