Understudy [ABO] [MxF] [18+]

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*NOTE* I started writing this in first person but decided to change to third person after writing a bunch of chapters. If you find any random words or sentences still in first person, please let me know so I can change them!

~

It was a disgustingly hot day for late summer.

Ever since Allegra woke up, she had been sweating, and it had only gotten worse as the day went on. She'd tried attending her early morning classes, but no matter how she tried to focus, all she heard the lecturer saying was a drone of noise without clear words. Even after getting an iced tea before her mid-morning lectures, which had briefly helped, she was back to being a sweaty mess.

"Do you have a fever or something, Ally?" Morgan asked, looking at her with concern as they walked to their next class together. "You've been looking really flushed all morning."

"Maybe," Ally mumbled, putting a hand to her forehead. She certainly felt warm, but it didn't seem like a fever or anything like that.

"I guess even Alphas have weak days," Morgan chuckled, putting her hand on her head as well with a frown of concern. "You should take the rest of the day off. I'll send you a copy of my notes, okay? I'm sure if you go home and sleep it off, you'll be back on your feet tomorrow."

Ally gave Morgan her most convincing grin, but even that felt off. "I think that's a good idea. Make sure you send me a photo of your notes right after class, okay?"

"Nope! You won't be getting any photos until tomorrow. Don't even think of studying when you get home, missy. You go straight home and get into bed. I'll tell Gabe to buy you some cold and flu drugs on the way home, just in case. It's times like these you really need to get yourself a boyfriend to look after you so your little brother doesn't have to fill that role."

"Gabe can deal with it," she chuckled, but it was more of a broken sigh than a laugh. "Thank you."

As soon as Ally got home, she cranked the AC as cold as she could make it and stripped down to just a singlet and underwear. She stood as close to the AC as she could get and fanned herself with a workbook, but somehow she felt even hotter than she had earlier.

"What the hell," she grumbled, going to the fridge to find anything cold to eat. All that was there was some of Gabe's leftover pizza and a random assortment of spreads and vegetables. It had been a while since she bought groceries and had just been eating a big lunch while she was out at uni most days. The freezer was equally disappointing, but she decided that at least sucking on some ice cubes might help. After putting a handful into a cup, she heard her phone ping and picked it up to see a text from Gabe.

[m said ur sick? omw home now w meds x]

Ally frowned as she replied.

[don't skip class, idiot. ill live until later, so dont worry]

The room had finally cooled down enough that she didn't feel like she was about to melt anymore, and she made her way over to the couch to put on a movie. Morgan had been true to her word and hadn't sent any notes through, so she had nothing she could study anyway. She threw another ice cube into her mouth as she settled on some cheesy romcom and slouched down into the couch.

It was only about ten minutes into the movie when she began sweating again. Had the AC broken or something? She'd remembered to bring the remote over with her and picked it up, turning the temperature down more and the fan up, blasting the cold air into the apartment. She could feel the air on her skin, but the clamminess didn't go away at all. This is one hell of a fever, she thought with a bit of worry. She would hate to pass it on to Gabe with his law finals around the corner. She tried moving around to get comfortable again but there was an irritating tingle in her lower body that wouldn't go away. She could feel hot flushes coming and going even as she pressed the cold cup of ice against her cheek in an attempt to cool down.

Ally finished the last of her ice cubes and tried to wait and see if she cooled down, but her skin only felt hotter than ever. Her legs felt too weak to move, but she knew that if she just stayed where she was, she wouldn't cool down. She had to do something to cool off, a cold shower or something, until Gabe got home with medicine. Even breathing felt hard to do, like sucking in the air was burning her lungs to a point that her head was spinning.

When she tried to stand, her head throbbed and stars filled her vision, and she crashed to the floor. She didn't even hear the front door open as her head began pounding. The only thing that changed was the sudden scent of... something dangerous. Something tempting.

"You home Ally?" It was Gabe's voice, even through the fogginess and the ringing in her ears she could recognise him. "Atti brought some meds from his brother's clinic for you."

Atti? Atticus? Vaguely, she could recall one of Gabe's university friends as she tried to sit up, but her arms felt like jelly. Somehow despite the heat, despite the shivering, she felt a need to go to them.

"What's that smell..." Another male voice said, the sound like honey to her ears but she still couldn't move. The ringing in her ears only grew louder and she could barely make out what he was saying. "It smells... heat..."

"What do... out... call... brother... clinic... Ally!" She could feel Gabe's hand on her arm and looked up, vaguely able to make him out through her blurry vision. "You're okay... take you... my clothes..."

She didn't catch the last of what Gabe said before everything went black.