Neither said anything at first. They just stared at each other, Michelle with total surprised and Joe with a look of sadness that border lined on crying. Joe’s head was still in throbbing pain, and his body ached after the long trek across the room, but he stood still, staring up into the giant and bewildered eyes of his now enormous girlfriend. Finally, he couldn’t stand the silence and spoke up.

“Um, hey,” he said sheepishly, finding it a little harder to hold the awkward stare. Michelle said nothing, just stared at Joe, her hand still up against the side of her head where her phone had been moments ago.

“Ah, Michelle?” said Joe, waving his hand to make sure she saw him. Finally, she broke out of her stunned silence and began to blink. She took off her glasses and rubbed her eye, even cleaned them off before putting them back on. They were not deceiving her, there he stood, her two-inch tall boyfriend.

“J-Joe?” she finally managed to say. Joe sighed. He had been afraid that she was going to pass out.

“Yeah… yeah it’s me,” he said. Michelle began to walk towards him, keeping her eyes on him the whole time, as if she thought that he would just disappear if she looked away. Joe’s every muscle told him to get the fuck out of there, to run in the opposite direction of this immanent threat. But he held his ground, his body shaking in anticipation for what would come.

Once she had reached the table, Michelle bent down to get a better look at Joe, her eyes studying him up and down. At first, she noticed that he was naked, other than the bandage that covered his head and the one that held some sort of metal tooth pick to his back. His hair was matted and soaked in dried blood and sweat, and his face looked none the better.

Joe peered up at Michelle, his legs shaking. He would never get used to this. He hoped he never HAD to. Every part of Michelle had been blown up in front of him, like he was staring at some sort of billboard, except instead of a car insurance ad, it held the face of his beautiful girlfriend. Finally, Michelle spoke, her warm breath washing over him like a summer breeze. He smelled a hint of alcohol, but for the most part, it didn’t smell too bad.

 “Ho-How did this happen?” she stuttered, not being able to get her head around just how small Joe now was. He flinched a little at the sound of her voice. It was so much louder now, and so much scarier. He swallowed hard, getting the feeling of cotton out of his mouth.

“It was the bump to my head,” he said, pointing to the bandage. He tapped it and winced, regretting the decision immediately. It still hurt a lot.

“But… how?” she asked, still not quite sure what he meant by that. She had bumped her heads loads of times, yet SHE never so much as shrank down an inch. What was different in his case?

“It’s… it’s a long story,” said Joe. His legs ached to the point where, as he spoke, he made his way over towards his phone and sat down on it, using it as a bench. It was hard and uncomfortable, but it was better than standing.

Michelle watched Joe’s every movements, amazed at the fluidity of it all. It was all perfectly proportional as far as she could tell. He sat down on the edge of his phone, adjusting himself until it seemed he was happy with his position, than turned his attention back on her.

“Well, are you… are you stuck like this?” she asked, and Joe looked down at his feet.

“For the time being. I haven’t sustained an injury of this degree for quite some time, especially without my pills. I should be fine though, just need to wait it out,” said Joe. The news hit Michelle like a ton of bricks, and the guilt she felt made her feel smaller than Joe looked.

That’s why he had been so secretive about his medication! That’s why he took it all the time! He was doing it so he wouldn’t become… well, what he now was. Michelle saw that sadness in Joe’s eyes, and she felt tears well up in her own. It was her fault, she had done this too him. It was all her fault, and the guilt she felt began to grow and grow until it felt like a dam near ready to burst.

“This is all my fault. Joe, I had no idea, I’m so sorry,” said Michelle, on the verge of tears. Joe looked up from his feet, and saw Michelle’s face. Her glasses were beginning to fog up from the tears behind them, and she pulled them away to wipe her eyes. Joe quickly stood up, ignoring his aching muscles, not wanting to see Michelle like this.

“Hey, hey, no, Michelle, relax, it’s not your fault,” he said. She had one hand on the edge of the desk near him, the other wiping tears out of her eyes. Joe quickly made his way over towards her hand. If he had been normal sized, he would have been able to wrap his arms around her shoulders to comfort her. He would have rocked her back and forth until she had settled down, probably planting a kiss or two on her cheek.

But his current situation would not allow any such movements. For the time being, shoulder hugging and rocking would be out of the question. So he did the next best thing he could think of. Walking over towards her hand, he took her ring finger in both his hands, and using all his remaining strength, lifted the finger into the air as best he could. Thankfully, she didn’t have a grip on the table, so he didn’t have to work all that hard to lift her finger. Taking it into his hands, he kissed it as best he could, at least trying to take her mind off of her emotions.

Michelle felt Joe’s tiny lips on the tip of her finger and she looked down at him through her tears. There he stood, having injured his head to the point of bleeding and possibly receiving a serious concussion, shrunken down to the size of a mouse, yet he was comforting HER. She mentally slapped herself. Joe looked up towards her face, tears beginning to form in his eyes. How useless he must feel to not be able to properly comfort her. Michelle sniffed and laughed. She took her other hand and scooped Joe up with it, catching him by surprise.

He fell backwards into Michelle’s right hand, almost hitting his head for a second time. Thankfully, he managed to catch himself. He felt himself rise in the air, and soon found himself looking into the face of his beautiful goddess. She smiled down at him, her eyes red and puffy from her fit.

“Look at me, being all emotional,” she laughed, and Joe couldn’t help but smile.

“It’s ok, Michelle. This is a lot to take in,” he said. He shifted into a sitting posting in the palm of her hand, thankful to have a soft place to sit.

“Yeah but still, you’re the one who has every right to be an emotional wreck,” she said, and Joe felt a lump form in his throat. He wiped a few tears from his eyes. While kissing her finger, he had let a few get past him, but now, he had to stay strong. He couldn’t cry, no matter how much he wanted to. His chin was trembling, but he took a deep breath. Then Michelle spoke, whispering so as not to cause him to flinch.

“Why didn’t you just tell me, Joe? This all could have been avoided if you had just told me,” she said. It felt so weird to have him literally in the palm of her hands. It was surreal to say the least, and she could only imagine what it felt like on Joe’s end. Joe didn’t speak right away, but Michelle kept staring, waiting for an answer. Finally, he gave in.

“I-I didn’t think you’d believe me,” he said finally. He was half telling the truth. But Michelle could tell there was something else eating at him.

“Is that the only reason, Joe?” she said, raising an eyebrow. Joe averted his eyes.

“Uh, yeah,” he said. She could see right through him, and he knew it. The only secret he had ever managed to keep from her was his condition, and that was because he had years of practice keeping that lie. And she had eventually found out. With his mix of emotions and his terrible poker face, he knew he would have to tell her eventually.

“Come on, Joe,” she said, and her eyes softening. Joe’s eyes met hers, and he couldn’t hold them back anymore. Maybe it was exhaustion, of the pressure from holding back the secret for so long. Whatever the reason, Joe could feel the tears streaming down his face.

“I-I thought I’d lose you if you found out,” said Joe, turning his back on Michelle to try and hide his tears. He knew perfectly well that she could hear him crying, but he turned anyways. Michelle looked at Joe’s quivering figure and her heart melted. That explained it. Joe continued.

“I’m a freak, Michelle, a straight up road-side attraction. I thought… I thought if you ever found out, you wouldn’t love me anymore,” he said, his voice shaking. Michelle could feel the tears forming in her eyes now too. All this time, she thought he had been some crazy drug addict college kid. But in reality, he was just some poor soul with a secret that tore at him day and night. She turned Joe around and brought him further into the air. Joe looked into her eyes as best he could. At this point, everything was blurry, either from the tears or the head wound or both.

“You’re a fool, you know that, Joe? A straight up fool,” she said, and Joe wiped his face. Did she just call him a fool?

“Michelle, what-,” he started, but she cut him off.

“Joe, you really thing something like this would make me leave you?” she said, and Joe sat up, his tears having stopped. Michelle continued.

“This doesn’t change anything, Joe. Ok, well maybe it does a little, but it sure as hell doesn’t change the way I feel about you. I don’t care if you come travel sized, you’re still the Joe I fell for all those months ago, and whether you like it or not, you’re stuck with me, mister. Through thick and thin,” she said, smiling broadly.

The lump in Joe’s throat had gone away, and the pain he had felt at keeping his secret from Michelle for so long was finally fading away. Michelle brought her other hand up and gently stroked Joe’s back, like someone would a small mouse or hamster. Joe was about to protest, but it felt so good, and he sighed, feeling the tension melt away. Michelle allowed herself a slight chuckle and sniffed, he tears finally having stopped.

“I-I don’t know what to say,” Joe finally said, and Michelle smiled even more.

“We’ll talk more in a bit. You look a little dirty, so why don’t we get you cleaned up,” she said, standing up slowly. Joe felt himself being lifted into the air, but he didn’t care. Michelle had accepted him, and he felt at peace.

“Michelle?” said Joe, leaning up against her slightly curled hands. He felt like he was sitting in the world’s comfiest armchair.

“Hmm?” said Michelle, and Joe smiled up at her.

“I love you,” he said, and Michelle felt like squealing. On top of the fact she loved it when he said that, the fact he was now a teeny tiny cutie just made her all giddy. She giggled happily and held herself back, but not after planting a big kiss on him, engulfing the entire front of his body.

“I love you too,” she said. Joe felt Michelle’s warm, pink lips completely cover the upper part of his body. Now this part of being tiny, this part he COULD get used to.

“I should smash my head in more often,” he laughed, and Michelle laughed too.

“Please don’t,” she said, turning around to head towards the bathroom, and right into the shocked figure of her roommate, Stacy.