I leaned my head against the warmth of the steering wheel, willing the red light to turn green; willing the world around me to disappear; willing my car to go ahead and drive itself the rest of the way home... or just right off the side of a cliff, that sounded about right at the moment. I reached over and turned off the radio but the silence did nothing for the throbbing in my head. I adjusted my sunglasses trying to block out as much of the glare off my windshield as possible and sat back up in my seat thinking the light had to change soon, and finally it did. The car in front of me didn't move though and my first instinct was to get out of my car and punch the driver in the face, but assault charges didn't sound good, so instead I lightly tapped my horn and waved to let her know that no matter how interesting her cell phone conversation may be, it was interrupting the flow of traffic for all the rest of us. She glanced at me in her rearview mirror and shot me the finger... on today of all days I was just not surprised.

After several more agonizing red lights and twenty more painful minutes in the car I finally pulled up in front of my house. Or at least I thought this was my house? I was pretty certain this was where I'd left it. I took in the sight of the trucks and vans parked on the street and in my driveway and sighed, laying my head against the steering wheel once more as the realization sank in. It was Thursday, the day I had hired the painters to come finish the basement. Here I was after quite possibly the worst day of my entire life, with the most horrible migraine I'd ever experienced, and a house was full of old men bedecked in coveralls... certainly not a fantasy I'd ever hoped to fullfill.

I closed my eyes, took a deep breath and willed my headache to go away. Maybe if the headache would just go away I could make it through the rest of this awful day.

But alas I knew it wouldn't happen. I'd suffered from migraines for years and years and simply knew better. But a girl could dream. I opened my eyes again and shook my head vigorously. I couldn't sit in the car another minute. The heat and the sunlight were making me more ill than I already was. I glanced towards the front door at the exact moment my fiance, Aj, stepped out onto the porch. He smiled at me and waved as he sat down on the steps, a cigarette hanging loosely from his lips. His smoking was a habit I hated, but I had to admit he looked sexy. I slowly climbed out of the car and squinted my eyes against the sunlight.

"Hey sweetheart," He said flashing me a cheerful grin as I walked over and sat down beside him on the step. I leaned my head against his shoulder and he wrapped his arm gently around me. I closed my eyes and without even thinking about it, began to cry softly.

"Babe?" He questioned lifting my head up with his hand, his eyes searching mine with concern as he flicked his cigarette away onto the sidewalk, "Katie honey... what is it?"

"I just... this has been... I just... I don't knnnnooow." I sobbed as he wrapped his arms around me tighter.

And that was the truth. I didn't know exactly why I was crying, I was just crying. I tried to calm myself down, but I was having trouble breathing. He sat there beside me for several long minutes and just held me and rocked me, assuring me that everything would be okay. He asked if I had a migraine and I nodded as he curled me tighter into his arms. Afterall, he'd been in this position before. He knew that my worst, most emotional days were migraine days. It was a fact understood and accepted in our relationship.

I sniffled as the pain grew worse, and I sobbed into his neck, "But it's more than that."

When I'd finally settled down a bit he asked, "Do you want to talk about it babe?"

I shook my head no because truthfully I didn't.

I didn't want to tell him that I'd backed my car into another car at the Starbucks that morning. Even though the only damage done was to my own car, and that was just a tiny scratch on the fender - It left a far bigger dent in my ego. And then, when I'd finally arrived at work late and sweaty from standing out in the sun waiting for the police to come take down information for that nearly non-existent scratch on my car, I found out that my biggest client, whom I'd worked with for five long, dedicated years had called to inform my secretary that they were switching designers. And THEN, as if that hadn't been bad enough, I'd broken my heel at lunch, the heel on my favorite shoes, and in the process had fallen up the stairs and spilled mybowl of chicken noodle soup.

Of course, to top it all off I'd gotten quite possibly the worst migraine of my life. No I did not want to talk about it at all. In fact, what I wanted to do was go to bed. Actually I wanted a nice hot bath and then I wanted to go to bed.

I leaned on AJ again and closed my eyes, moaning slightly. The sunlight was making my migraine worse and now the smell of cigarettes was making me sick. "Aj, can we go inside?"

I felt him move slightly and start to get up, pulling me up with him. "Yeah babe, let's get you in and into a nice hot bath... that should help."

I sighed and nodded. At least he was an excellent mind reader.

We'd been inside the house less than five minutes when the smell of the paint hit me full force. We were in the kitchen together, Aj stood at the sink fixing me a glass of water while I searched frantically through the cabinets for my medicine. It hit at once, my head throbbed, my body shook, my stomach jolted.

"Oh god..." I murmered, my hand flying to my mouth as Aj's head shot up from the kitchen counter.

"Oh shit Kate!" Aj's eyes were wide as he looked towards the sink, then me, and grabbed for the trash can, but I wanted out of the kitchen.

I sprinted up the stairs for the master bathroom and he followed quickly on my heels. I arrived not a moment too soon as my breakfast, lunch and possibly even last night's dinner made their re-appearance into the toilet bowl. Aj stood behind me, offering soothing words and holding my hair back as I sobbed and heaved several more times before I finally collapsed into the floor. The force of the expulsion had been more than I, or my head could handle.

"AJ please just kill me!" I finally cried out as I laid on the floor beside the toilet. He grabbed a washcloth off the sink and ran it under cool water. He was dabbing it on my head when the phone in our bedroom rang. I groaned.

"Tell whoever it is to gooooooo away." I cried as I once again leapt up to vomit.

He sighed as he stood with his hand on my back clearly debating whether he should leave me to get the phone.

"Go," I said between heaves, shoving him away from me, "make the damn thing stop ringing."

I stopped momentarily again and laid on the floor staring up at the bathroom ceiling. The aura was back. Just a tiny spot of wavyiness right in the center of my vision. I hated this. I closed my eyes but it wouldn't disappear. I blinked furiously... nope, still there. I don't know why I always did that when I knew it wouldn't go away. I decided to keep my eyes closed and just watch... enjoy the show. It sucked, but maybe it would at least be better than trying to keep my eyes open. I heard Aj come back into the room a few minutes later and I felt him sit down on the floor beside me.

"Who was it and what did they want?" I asked, even though I truly didn't give a damn at that moment. The aura was growing bigger now and the nausea was returning.

"It was Nick," he answered as I jumped, heaving once more into the toilet. He stood behind me rubbing my back gently, "he's supposed to be coming over to work on a song with me."

"A wha?" I gasped when I finally finshed and had the chance to catch a breath. Oh I knew what he'd said, I just hoped maybe now I was hearing things along with seeing things. But I knew he'd said 'work on a song' and that meant the two of them would be in the studio - the not quite so sound-proof studio, right down the hall from my bedroom, blaring their music and singing at the top of their lungs on the very day that I was to die from the worst migraine in the history of migraines.

"Don't worry baby," Aj spoke up, clearly sensing my unrest, "I told him he could come over, but that we couldn't record. We'll just write out the lyrics."

I sighed. That wasn't much better... Nick and Aj were loud no matter what they were doing.

"Let's get you into a bath Kat." I heard him whisper as he turned on the water, but I stayed glued to my cool spot on the bathroom floor. I didn't want to move a muscle. I was actually comfortable there and the pain seemed to be at it's height now, which meant if I didn't move for an hour or two I might actually live.

I suddenly felt a hand on my shoulder.

What had happened? Where was I.

"Katie? Baby?"

I looked up into Aj's concerned eyes. He was standing over top of me in the bathroom, a concerned look plastered on his face. "I think you passed out on me babe."

I nodded, "Uh, yeah. And I thought my day couldn't get any worse. Since getting home I'd added barfing AND passing out to my portfolio of shitty dayness.

It wasn't all that unusual for me to do that at the height of a migraine, but it still sucked and it always scared the hell out of both of us. I started to sit up and he pushed me back down. "Give yourself a minute sweetheart."

He handed me something and I reached for it. My imitrex injection. "Where'd you find it?" I asked and he motioned towards the medicine cabinet. I sighed... well that made sense. Apparently I'd lost a little more than my biggest client today -- so long common sense!! I stabbed my arm quickly with the injection and I exhaled a deep sigh... now hopefully relief would be on the way.

He took my hand and helped into a sitting position. "The bath's ready babe... you think you're up to getting in?"

I nodded.

He carefully unbuttoned my shirt and and slid it down my arms, kissing my neck gently as he tossed it onto the hamper in the corner. "Just relax," I heard him whisper in my ear as he unhooked my bra and moved his lips up towards my temples. His lips were cool and they felt good on against my warm skin. I stood and slipped my pants off and he helped me into our large whirlpool tub. I eased down into the water as he slid a towel behind my head for a pillow. I leaned back and closed my eyes.

There was a loud crash from somewhere downstairs. I jumped. Pain shot through my head.

"What the frickin' fuck was that?!?" I asked, rubbing my temples furiously as Aj jumped up from his spot beside the tub and shook his head.

"I have no idea! Must have been the painters. I'll go check." As he stood to leave I grabbed his hand tightly. He looked down at me with concern etched on his face, "What is it sweetheart?"

"First, they'd better not have broken anything. Second, just tell them to leave. We'll pay them extra, I don't care, whatever it takes if they'll just go the hell home and come back some other day."

He nodded looking a bit taken aback. "If that's what you want, I'll ask them to do that."

I nodded vigorously, tears filling my eyes again.

He left the room, dimming the lights as he went.

I laid there in the tub and let my aching body soak into the warmth of the water. It felt good. I would have turned the jets on but I knew I wouldn't be able to tolerate the noise. I closed my eyes and tried doing my breathing exercises. I knew relaxing was one of the quickest ways to get rid of a migraine, but I was so tense... so stressed. The dog's loud barking from downstairs certainly did not help! "Please make the dog shutUP!" I thought to myself annoyed and at that exact moment I heard Aj yell, "shut it dog! mama's sick!" I laughed. He certainly was trying his best.

I heard the door open and I squinted my eyes and looked up. He was standing there in the doorway, leaning against the frame, watching me.

"Hi." I said smiling weakly.

"Hi." He winked at me. He looked so sexy standing there.

"Did they leave?"

"Yeah. They were pretty much finished for the day anyway. They'll be back next week."

"Did you kill the dog?"

He laughed... "No, just tossed her out the back door."

I nodded my head and closed my eyes again. The longer I kept them open the more the pain seemed to return. "Thank you Aje."

"You're welcome Katie, I just want you to feel better."

I felt him lift me gently and climb into the tub behind me. He slid his legs up past mine and pulled me back gently onto his chest. I leaned back there and relaxed into him, breathing steady even breaths. He smelled so good. I could tell my migraine was disappearing now because the smell of his cologne wasn't turning my stomach. He gently massaged my temples with his fingertips and kissed the top of my head with his lips. It felt wonderful.

We'd been sitting there together for about five minutes when the ringing of the doorbell jarred us from our peace.

"You have GOT to be shitting me!" I whined as Aj slid out from behind me and toweled off in record time.

"I forgot about Nick!" He said as he slipped on his boxers and shorts. The doorbell rang a second time as I flinched from the noise and he hurried out of the bathroom.

Why did everyone have to ruin my perfect moments? I guess today of all days I shouldn't be surprised.

I pulled the covers up tight around me. Laying in the darkness, the sound of the soft music playing on the radio beside the bed. The house was quiet now except for the sound of the crickets outside my window. Any other night I loved those crickets... tonight I loathed them. My head still ached, but now the pain was dull. My mind was a jumble, my thoughts not focused... I called this the 'migraine hangover.'

I heard the bedroom door open and the light from the hallway shone into the room. I squinted my eyes as the tried to adjust.

"You awake?" I heard him ask as he came closer to me. He was carrying a tray in his arms.

"Mmmhmm."

I sat up in the bed and flipped the lamp on. I covered my eyes momentarily and then uncovered them again and blinked repeatedly. It always took a few minutes to get used to light again. He set the tray on the bed in front of me. A peanut butter and jelly sandwhich with sprite. He knew me well.

"I thought maybe you could handle this... no smell." I smiled up at him as he leaned down and kissed my forehead. He looked over towards the radio. "Music huh? Little better already?" I nodded.

"Is Nick gone?"

"Yeah, he just left about 10 minutes ago... I hope we weren't too loud for you."

I shook my head. I'd been asleep most of the time. I hadn't honestly heard them at all.

"Good." He climbed into bed beside me and watched as I took a small bite of my sandwhich. I couldn't help but laugh as I felt his eyes penetrating the side of my head.

"Is there something wrong?" I asked turning towards where he'd been staring at my ear... or so I guessed my ear.

"Nothing's wrong Kat... it's just... you said you'd had a bad day. I thought you might want to talk about it now."

I sighed. Aj liked to talk things through. It was something he'd learned in treatment. A good thing really... unless, like me, you really didn't want to talk about whatever was bothering you.

I nodded my head, deciding to bite the bullet this time. "I just had a really bad day babe... just starting this morning all the way up until I came home and you made it better."

"You want to tell me why it was a bad day?" He prodded.

'Not really', I thought, but forced myself to continue. "Well, first of all... I scratched the front of the car in a wreck this morning."

He raised his eyebrow at me.

"Don't worry... it's just a tiny scratch and there was no damage to the other car."

He sighed, relieved.

"Then I broke my heel on my favorite shoe and busted my knee falling UP the freaking stairs. Who falls up the stairs?"

He shook his head and laughed slightly... "You know baby, none of this would seem a big deal if you hadn't had a migraine."

I knew what he was thinking, my migraines made me extra emotional. I was well aware of that.

"I know... but that's not all either Aje." I bit my tongue and wiped a tear from my cheek. I didn't want to talk about losing my client. It was hard enough just to think about it.

He looked at me seriously now and reached over to wipe my cheek with the back of his hand. "What's wrong baby... what happened?"

"It's nothing Aj... I just lost a really big client and it just ruined my day." I knew he would't understand anyway. I never talked to him about my clients or how important my top clients were.

He pulled me into a hug. "I'm sorry baby."

I don't know why, but that was all it took to make me feel better... just those three small words and his arms wrapped around me. I pushed my dinner tray away and he set it on the nightstand beside the bed.

"You tired?" He asked and I nodded my head.

"You?"

He nodded back.

We climbed under the covers together and I rested my head on his chest. He rubbed his hands up and down my arms gently and I found that the steady rhythm of his breath against the top of my head calmed all of the nerves and anxieties from the entire day. I relaxed and just enjoyed the moment. In his arms I knew that I was safe and loved. That no matter how bad my day had been, my life was good.

"I love you Katie." He said as he kissed the top of my head.

"I love you too Aje."