All characters are at least 18 years old. Some parts of this story qualify for the NonConsent/Reluctance category, in case it bothers you.
***
Eros, again now, the loosener of limbs troubles me,
Bittersweet, sly, uncontrollable creature...
Sappho
***
I winced in pain. For ages my cramps hadn't been that bad. I was sick and tired of them before it even got started. With difficulty I straightened up again.
Then it hit me that I'd forgotten to get tampons. There were neither super sized nor even regular ones in the bathroom cabinet, just two juniors that a friend had left behind after sleeping over with me. I knew they wouldn't do.
What a bummer! I'd always been a diligent person. This had never happened before to me. I heard a drop of blood splash in the toilet bowl.
To top it all, the strong smell reached my nostrils that had always made me feel unclean. Frantically I slid one of those tiny tampons in.
My period pains added to the stress of the last weeks. My womb seemed to have it in for me.
I felt tired. I'd have to call off my date with Dave once again. He'd probably be none too pleased. I'd already held out on him twice because of my exam.
I stuffed two sheets of bathroom tissue into my panties and took a painkiller. Sullenly I changed into some sweat pants and a tee shirt.
The phone call turned out to be worse than expected. Dave flew into a rage and started questioning our relationship. He was insanely jealous. I had trouble calming him down and promised to call him the next day.
Somehow the both of us seemed to have grown apart. I took a peek at the framed photo on my desk. A slender blonde in her freshman year was wiping her long hair off her face while nestling up to a handsome guy with a winner's smile. That was only last year but seemed long ago to me.
In my stocking feet I walked over to Beckie's apartment who lived next door.
'I'm sorry,' I apologized, 'do you happen to have a tampon for me, super size or regular?'
My neighbor was a petite woman in her thirties with a friendly face and short brown hair.
'Sure,' she answered warmly, 'come in.'
That was the moment when I felt a blood drop running down my leg. I wasn't able to restrain myself any longer and started crying.
'Hey darling,' Beckie hugged me, 'come in and rest for a moment!'
Her apartment was as tiny as mine. She led me into her room and had me stretched out on the bedspread. I tried to breathe evenly and listened to her opening the bathroom cabinet. After a moment she returned with a tampon in her hand.
'Oh dear,' she said looking down at me. My mishap seemed to have stained my pants. I only wanted to curl up and die.
'Don't worry, darling,' she said and smiled encouragingly, 'there's nothing to be ashamed of. It happened to all of us.'
Gloomily I closed my eyes. Back in her bathroom my neighbor filled a plastic bowl with water. She put it on the floor and sat down on the edge of the bed.
The woman slid her arm under my knees and lifted them up in order to bend my legs above me. As a matter of course she stripped my pants and panties from my bottom and pulled them up my legs. She slipped them off my feet and threw them in the direction of her laundry basket.
The junior tampon was so small that I didn't even notice it being pulled out. She looked at it and wrapped it up in the toilet paper.
I didn't know what was the most embarrassing thing right now, being that awkwardly exposed to her, being such a fool, or giving forth that disgusting stench again. She assured me kindly that everything was fine. I was drowsy from the pill and felt comfortable with the way she was handling the issue.
Beckie cleaned my thighs and my nether regions in a gentle but matter-of-factly manner with a cloth and warm water. I knew that she was lesbian but thought nothing of it. She'd told me once that she was in a relationship.
Casually her fingers checked my hamstrings and my calves.
'You're in great shape,' she stated approvingly, 'what sports do you do?'
I felt flattered and told her that I'd been on the high school cheerleading squad, as if it was the most natural thing in the world to talk about my hobbies to an unknown woman who was dabbing my lady bits with a towel.
Beckie unwrapped the new tampon with a flick of the wrist. As it didn't include an applicator she slid it in with her forefinger. She stayed a bit longer in my vagina than a proper handling would have called for but I was okay with it.
Eventually she gave me a gentle bottom smack, grabbed my ankles and stretched my legs out on her bed. Caringly she pulled a blanket over me.
'Try to relax and keep yourself warm,' she said, 'do you need a painkiller?'
I shook my head.
'Okay, I'm gonna make you a tea.'
When she returned she shoved a pillow under my head and my shoulders. She handed me a mug of tea that smelled of some herbal blend.
My neighbor sat down on the bed again and slid her hand under the blanket. For a moment I thought she'd touch my kitty again and almost spilled my tea. I was still half-naked underneath. My panties and sweat pants were already in her washing mashine, together with some laundry of her own.
Beckie placed her hand on my tummy, however. Her palm started circling gently around my belly button. It felt warm and eased my pain and I pulled my shirt a bit up.
She appreciated my tummy muscles and told me how beautiful I was. Her compliment made me laugh. I rubbed my eyes that were puffy from crying. I was under the weather and felt inadequate.
Beckie was calm and steady and kept me grounded. She was about half a head shorter than me and had a pretty face, friendly eyes, and a cute pixie cut. She wore beautiful green earrings.