𝙎𝙄𝙏𝙏𝙄𝙉𝙂 𝙊𝙉 𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝙎𝙃𝙀𝙇𝙁 | Marcus White

Health Fund

In the 15 minutes you'd so far been in the break room waiting for your shift to start, Mateo had been whining and groaning non stop, his hand pressed tightly against his ear.

Garrett scoffed, letting go of the page he'd been reading over his breakfast. "Mateo, we get it."

Mateo turned to Garrett with a scowl settled on his face, deepened by his supposed friends lack of sympathy. "Okay, I can't help it. I have an ear infection."

The mention of an ear infection seemed to be the thing that captured Glenn's attention, swapping the sip he'd taken from his thermos as he leaned against the kitchen counter. "You know, whenever I get one of those, I put a little garlic oil in my ear. It takes away the sting, and you get to smell like the Pope."

Amy perked up from where she'd been filling on some paperwork next to you, eyes still on the paper as she spoke. "I'm telling you, a little VapoRub on a Q-tip and..."

Letting out a low laugh, you looked over your shoulder at her, back pressed agains the table top as you held your coffee in your lap. "Again with the VapoRub."

"It's a miracle drug!"

Your legs were outstretched and perched against the ledge of Marcus's seat. Though you made no move to move them into his lap, one of his hands helped to hold them in place, his thumb running over the frayed edges of your jeans. No one beside the two of you seemed to notice the closeness of your actions - something undone for months - and if they did they didn't comment on it. Not that you minded, you were quite happy to live in the peace of just you and Marcus for now.

"Oh, why don't you go to a doctor?" Kelly asked, a genuine suggestion coming from the blonde as though it wouldn't have been the first, most sensible port of call.

Mateo rolled his eyes, sulking as he sassed back at Kelly. "Our deductible is $4,000, so no."

"We don't have the best health insurance." Jonah explained, a tight lipped smile on his face as the reality of working at a cloud 9 settled on Kelly's face.

Mateo's frowned deepened, him wincing as yet another throb of pain struck him in the side of his head. "I get ear infections all the time, okay? It will go away."

Isaac, who Marcus had introduced you too when you sat at the table this morning, was new to the store - though it'd been explained to you he came in as one of the seasonal hires last Christmas - not that you'd have known, taking the day off to avoid Adam at all costs. "You got to rub breast milk on it. Breast milk helps anything. The problem is just finding breast milk."

Amy once again looked up from her paperwork in exasperation. "Why would you go looking for breast milk when we have VapoRub right here in the store?"

"Yeah, or root beer. A root beer fixes everything." The second time Marcus had come to your apartment, he tried to convince you to soak every surface in root beer to clean it if the old tenants. While you hadn't done so, it had worked to get some pretty bad stains out of the bathroom. "Gallstones, pinkeye, it'll clean your toilet. It's kind of the perfect food."

"I can back the clean your toilet claim; it looked like new didn't it Ames?" Amy silently nodded in response to your question, having been extremely surprised to see the difference in the state of your bathroom between the first and second time she'd come over.

Jonah brushed off you and Marcus's attempt as getting Mateo to use root beer, turning to him with a serious look. "You need antibiotics, not useless home remedies."

Garrett rolled his eyes at Jonah. "Says the guy who drinks apple cider vinegar every morning."

"That's so true!" You jeered, pulling the mug you held closer to your face as your tried to climb into its warmth. "I have a three gallon jug of it in my cupboard still. That stuff is nasty too J."