Home for the Summer (BOYXBOY)

14 | Vitamin Supplements

Three things hit me as soon as I woke up. My head hurt worse than it had ever hurt in my life, I was kneeling on a horrible hangover, and Nicolas Young was laying directly behind me with his arm wrapped over my chest.

I couldn't quite remember when we all stumbled down the road to Benji's house, but we somehow made our way there and now, we were scattered around a bedroom. I was the only one awake out of us three. Nico's breath met the base of my neck in soft exhales. Even though my head was absolutely killing me and I probably should've gotten water, I didn't dare leave the bed and risk waking him.

Instead, I very carefully twisted around to see where Benji was laying, but he was nowhere in sight. I found myself pressed against Nicolas's chest as he slept. His lashes pointed down, his body expanded and deflated with every labored breath, his lips curled into a small smile, like he was having a particularly funny dream. And, seeing as though he was asleep and Benji wasn't here, I reached forward to touch his hair.

I'm not sure why exactly I did this. Maybe the way it was all ruffled up bothered me. Maybe I wanted to be sure he was really here and that I wasn't still asleep. The reasoning really didn't matter. I just touched him because I could and because I wanted to. His hair coiled like the ocean. Dark waves. Hypnotic. Free. Nico stirred slightly and I pulled my hand back, but he didn't wake. He mumbled something sleepily and tugged me in closer.

Under the steady whir of Benji's AC, in the dim light of morning, I breathed in Nico. He still smelt like salt water from last night. It was familiar, but new in some strange way. I wanted to pull him in closer until the scent wrapped me up in itself. That's when I remembered that I was in fact alive and I was a real human being. My eyes shifted to the alarm clock on Benji's side table. 9:45 AM.

"Shit," I whispered. "Shit, shit, shit, shit-"

"Some of us are trying to sleep, Ollie," Nico said, his words hoarse and laced with tiredness. The sound of his voice calmed me momentarily before I shot right up and pushed his arm off of me.

"We have work in an hour," I said. He groaned and turned over. "It's your first day!"

"I'm still asleep," he replied.

I huffed out a breath and pulled myself out of bed only to tug the covers over me again. "Where are my jeans?" I asked, horrified, and Nicolas turned to face me again with a cheeky grin.

"Relax. You passed out last night so Benji insisted he take your pants off for you. They should be on the dresser."

"Jesus Christ," I whispered as I tugged them on.

"Are you not showering before work?"

"Do we even have time?"

Nicolas shrugged. "I think so. Just, you know, make it quick."

I paused for a moment in front of the bathroom door. "Where's Benji?"

"Oh, I don't know. He was sleeping on the floor. Maybe he already got up."

I nodded and escaped into the bathroom, holding onto the kitchen sink like I would float away if I let go. Then, I dug through Benji's cabinets for ibuprofen, threw up twice, and sat on the shower floor as water poured over me. I was a corpse. I had lived a full life, died a brutal death, and somehow made my way into my best friend's bathroom. My mind could barely even think past the curtains of the shower, let alone make its way to my job. After what felt like 24 years, but could easily be 15 minutes, there was a soft tap on the door.

"Ollie? Everything okay?"

I hunched over my knees and let out a very strained, "Yes."

After a pause, Nico's voice came again. "You know, we have to be there in half an hour."

"Yes," I repeated.

"Okay," he said. "I made you breakfast."

I couldn't even think about eating without wanting to throw up. Actually, I couldn't do anything without wanting to throw up. I thought I might've been dying.

"Thanks, Nico," I said and stood up slowly so I wouldn't immediately pass out. The world spun for a moment, then came to a halt as I stepped out from under the water and got dressed. My legs were weak underneath me, my head was incredibly cloudy, my body felt like it would disintegrate at any moment. Why the fuck did I have to go to work today?

"Oh, hey," Nicolas called as I stepped downstairs. He was smiling and looked absolutely fine.

"How are you not dying?" I groaned, deflating into a chair and burying my head in my arms.

"I've never been hungover," he said with a shrug. "I think it's because I take so many vitamin supplements."

"You take vitamin supplements?"

"Mhm," he said. "Vitamin D, magnesium, zinc, vitamin b-12, folate, iron, and calcium. Every morning."

I blinked back at him. "Why?"

"I'm an athlete," he paused, turning away a bit, "And I was prescribed them."

"Alright, then."

"And right now, so are you. Chia seed oatmeal and scrambled eggs; Super nutrient-packed."

This literally sounded like the worst thing in the entire world. "Nico, I feel sick."

"Eating will help," he replied, shoveling eggs from a pan onto my plate. "You've got ten minutes before we need to get going."

I stared at the plate in front of me and Nicolas filled a glass with water. I couldn't even bring myself to lift my fork. My stomach ached almost as much as my head and the earth beneath me felt unstable. After a while, Benji lifted his head up from the couch.

"Why are you guys up?" he groaned.

"Work," I replied, handing off my untouched plate to him.

"Jesus, my head is fucking killing me," Benji mumbled as he took a bite of eggs. He stared at me for a long time while he chewed. "Are you okay, Apollo? You look sort of sick."

"Fine," I huffed out. "I'm fine."

Nicolas frowned and leaned over on his chair, pressing the back of his hand on my forehead. "You're really hot, Ollie."

"I'm fine," I mumbled as he removed his hand.

"I don't know," Nico said, his eyes flicking to Benji.

"Don't look at me," he shrugged. "I don't know how the first thing about taking care of sick people."

I rolled my eyes. "I'm not sick. It's just a hangover."

"Do you think your boss will be okay with you taking a sick day?" Nicolas asked as he stood up. "I'm just worried, you know? I don't want you to have to move around an ice cream shop and not be able to sit down for 7 hours straight. That could just make it worse. Do they serve tea at your work? Cause, maybe that'll help. Right now you just need to drink as much water as you can so you can basically rinse out all the sickness and-"

"Nico, relax," I said, putting a hand on his forearm so he'd shut up. "I'm going to be fine. Besides, I have to train you today. There's no way I'm staying home."

Nicolas gave me a long look before sighing and handing over his glass of water. "Still so stubborn," he mumbled. "But, fine. Just drink water, okay?"

I reluctantly took the glass and gave him a nod. "Okay."