Sparks

3

Gavin sighed and put up the footrest on the leather couch. Avery had the only car and she was sleeping at his side. Crashing at Sam's and going to school the next day from here was probably their option. Brooklyn returned from checking on Sam again.

"Is he okay?" Gavin asked, reading the concern on her face.

"A good nights sleep should fix him up. Honestly I don't know how anyone can function on four hours of sleep every night." She replied as she put the last Lord of the Ring's movie in the DVD player. Gavin's heart softened as he thought about how Brooklyn really cared about Sam.

"Hey, you really care about him don't you?" Gavin questioned softly.

"Don't tell him. Best friend code okay?" Brooklyn gave him a look.

"Come here Brook." Gavin said as he wrapped his arms around Brooklyn in a hug.

"Seriously. Don't tell him. I will kill you." 

"Okay, okay!"

Brooklyn smirked and punched his arm. As the opening credits to the last film started Gavin and Brooklyn exchanged worried glances as they heard Sam's shaky breathing from the next room.

 ~

"Gavin!" Gavin's head shifted as Brooklyn flicked him.

"What do you want?" Gavin looked at her groggily, tufts of his brown hair were sticking up. He rubbed his brown eyes and looked at Brooklyn more quizzically this time.

"He can't go to school like that even if he does have an exam." Brooklyn hissed. Gavin heard faint moaning from Sam to prove her point.

"So... what? You skipping tomorrow to look after him?" Brooklyn shrugged and spoke.

"I don't want to take away any of your class time. I do all my stuff online anyway. I'm sure Sam has a computer I can use." She turned and focused on the next part of the movie as Gavin thought of Brooklyn's plan. 

"Sounds fine but don't blame me when you end up falling for him."

"What do you mean?"

"I heard he's quite the womanizer." Gavin winked at her. Brooklyn scoffed at his comment.

 ~

Near the end of the movie, Brooklyn got up and quickly returned from the other room and shook Gavin awake.

"Gavin, he's burning up!" Brooklyn spoke quickly and with a nervous tone, obviously without a clue what to do. Gavin carefully shifted the sleeping Avery so he could get up and walk to where Sam's shuddering figure lay.

"Get him up, I'll find some cold water or something." Brooklyn sat on the edge of Sam's bed was. Quietly shaking Sam, he awoke coughing. Gavin clattered around in the bathroom, opening cupboards loudly. Sam leaned on one elbow, a pained expression on his face. Gavin returned from the bathroom with a glass of cold water, Tylenol and a thermometer. Sam quickly took the capsule and drained the glass of water. Gavin put a hand to Sam's forehead then gave the thermometer to Brooklyn. She slid it beneath his tongue and waited a minute for the electronic thermometer to beep. 101.3 Brooklyn quietly gasped and showed the number to Gavin. The two glanced anxiously at the once again sleeping Sam, his dark brown hair slick with sweat.

"Who do we even have to call? We're in university for crying out loud it's not like his parents would drive out here for him." Brooklyn sat cross-legged on the rug next to Sam's bed. Gavin shook his head then pulled his out his phone. The bright light shone the time almost blinding him.

"Great it's one am. Wait, isn't Avery's mom a nurse?" Gavin clicked on his phone again and started to dial but Brooklyn reached over and grabbed it.

"No! Not at this time of night! Besides I don't think Sam would want to have somebody's mom over at his house. Let's just Google it or something. Haven't you ever taken care of Avery when she was sick?" Sam stirred slightly in his sleep as they argued.

"I'm not staying up the whole night then looking after him all day tomorrow!" Brooklyn crossed her arms defiantly.

"Fine! We'll take shifts. I can go first." Gavin shrugged and went to refill Sam's water glass. Brooklyn sluggishly collapsed on the couch next to Avery and fell asleep worried about Sam. 

  As Brooklyn slept in the next room Gavin shifted every which way on a chair in Sam's room trying to get comfortable. He finally gave up and grabbed a sweater from the floor. He balled it up and tried to get at least three hours of sleep.

~

  At 4 am, Brooklyn awoke as hot, sweaty fingers shook her awake. Brooklyn opened her eyes and peered into the pale face of Sam. He had dark circles under his eyes and his lips were dry and cracked. Brooklyn got up and Sam led her to his bed. He sat on the edge; his body shuddered as he coughed weakly. Brooklyn sat down beside him and rubbed his back. She pulled her hand away quickly before she could realize what she was doing. She made herself forget the feel of his the hard muscles of his back under his jacket. Sam grabbed his water glass and groaned.

"It's totally your fault you got sick." Brooklyn said matter of fact as she refilled the glass and returned to him. After taking a long drink, almost draining the glass, Sam spoke quietly.

"How is this my fault? I did honestly have tests to study for. What are you going to do tomorrow?" Brooklyn could see it pained him to talk.

"I'll stay with you. Just to make sure you don't die, or something." Brooklyn said, an edge to her voice.

'Great. I hate it when she does that. It makes her so... cute.' Sam smiled, his eyes laughing.

"What?" Brooklyn said as she pulled the covers over him.

"Nothing." Sam closed his eyes and shivered under the covers. She went to the couch and curled up next to Avery, dreaming about her own bed and hot showers.