There's a Story Behind the Story || Newsies

Chapter 81 - Sickly Cuddles and Concerns

- Chapter 81 - Brotherly Bonding -
Warnings: sickness (mentions of throwing up and fevers), worry, slight crying kinda
Third Person POV

Jesse pushed open the door to the house. "Emilio?" He frowned when he didn't get an answer.

Quentin Miller frowned. He looked at Jesse. "I'll go make sure he's okay. You all stay here for a moment," he told them.

Jesse nodded, biting his lip out of nerves.

Quentin walked into the living room.

Emilio wasn't in there.

Quentin walked up to Emilio's room.

Emilio wasn't in there.

This concerned him.

Emilio also wasn't in the bathroom that was in the middle of Jesse and Emilio's rooms.

There was one last place Emilio could be and if he wasn't there, they had a huge problem.

Quentin opened the door to Jesse's room. "Emilio?"

"C- ciao, Papi..." came a week voice from inside of the room.

Quentin frowned. He walked into the room. "Are you okay, Emilio?" he asked. His frown deepened when he saw him.

Emilio's cheeks were pale - a sickly pale color, not the pale color his cheeks were usually - and he was wrapped in a blanket, his eyes open as he zoned out a bit.

"My head feels like... it's spinning," Emilio mumbled, staring off at the wall, "and I..." he shivered and pulled the blanket closer to himself, "threw up a bit." His voice was a bit muffled by the blanket over his mouth.

Quentin frowned, walking over to him and bending down next to the bed. "I told you to call me if it got any worse," he said softly.

"Yeah..." Emilio closed his eyes as his foster father rubbed his back gently, "but I felt bad... I wanted you to- enjoy rehearsal," he whispered.

Quentin smiled slightly, a soft sigh escaping his lips. "What will we ever do with you?" he mumbled to himself. He put his hand on Emilio's forehead. "Good news is that you don't have a fever," he informed him.

"Evvai," Emilio mumbled, not sounding enthusiastic at all.

Quentin chuckled weakly. "Jesse's downstairs," he informed Emilio softly, gently running his hands through his hair. "He's been pretty worried about you today."

"I missed him..." Emilio mumbled tiredly, slowly lifting his blue eyes to look into his foster father's brown eyes.

Quentin chuckled quietly.

Emilio had a habit of cuddling in Jesse's blankets when Jesse was gone or when he was sick. It was because it reminded him of good memories and that Jesse loved him.

"Some of your other cast mates are downstairs," Quentin added softly, pressing a soft kiss to Emilio's forehead. "If you aren't up to seeing them, that's perfectly okay," he assured him.

Emilio tried to weakly push the covers off of him. "I need to- to make... bake..." he whispered, sounding slightly worried.

Quentin shook his head and pulled the covers back to Emilio's neck. "Not right now," he told him softly. "They understand you're sick."

Emilio cuddled close to the blankets again. "Can- can I see- them?" he whispered, his eyes closed.

Quentin nodded. "Of course," he answered. "I'll go get them, okay?"

Emilio didn't respond.

Quentin walked back downstairs.

Jesse looked at him, looking worried. "Where is he?" he asked almost immediately. "Is he okay?"