Finding acceptance

Your day begins abruptly as Rachel appears at your door. "Nick, time to get up." You can tell she's showered, but has yet to get dressed for work. As she exits the room you see her eyes look suspiciously toward the computer.

You quickly rouse yourself, not wanting to keep your girlfriend waiting. You find her in the kitchen, slicing an apple. "Look, last night was a bit... stressful, to say the least. Do you understand now, why I think we should take things slow?" She nibbles at an apple slice before continuing. "It's just disappointing to put effort into a physical relationship, only to catch you an hour later jerking off." You nod, your eyes staring at the floor. She continues, "I want us to be ready to move forward, but I'm afraid that you might be too stuck on your... bad habits." You glance up at her, meeting her eyes. You quickly look down again in shame. "Luckily, bad habits can change. And I want to help."

Now you look up and meet her eyes fully. Her look is stern but endearing, and most of all appears genuine. You make a crude attempt to explain yourself to no avail. Rachel merely cuts you off, "It's fine. Like, I said, I'm working with Deshawn tonight. But tomorrow I'm confident we'll find a solution." She pauses and produces the computer's power cord, "Here, you can have this until then."

She abruptly heads back to her room, eager to get dressed for work. You stand there and contemplate her words and decide that you too should get ready for the day. You solemnly head back to your room, taking the power cord with you.