The Death That Follows

Michael

TW: Niki x Wilbur, Vomit, Coming Out (Gay), Mentions of Gore, Mentions of Death

Three weeks later

Niki

I was lying on the couch, watching the boys play a board game while Deek slept, head in Wilbur's lap. Michael was on Fundy's team, as he always was, but Techno was winning Monopoly by a landslide, and wouldn't let anyone forget it.

I, however, was watching Wil. We had officially started dating, and I was in heaven. He was the most adorable thing when he was flustered, and tried to flirt so hard that it was equal parts cheesy and the cutest thing I had ever seen.

Our friendship had started out so easy, just a little boy and a little girl against the world. And falling in love was just as simple. We were still best friends, but we had unlocked a new door in our relationship I had only imagined.

"Suck it, Wileyam!" Techno shouted, Wil having just landed on one of Techno's most populated tiles.

"-----." Wil said, and growled, taking my sock off and throwing it at his head.

"What was that for, love?" He asked me, hair falling into his eyes.

"Children, Wilbur. Children." I chided.

"Don't worry, daddy already taught me all of the swear words." Fundy said.

"Wilbur Soot!" I yelled, getting to my feet, but my stomach protested, and I clutched at it, bending over.

"Niki! Are you okay?" Wilbur asked, all playfulness gone from his tone as I felt his arm around me, holding me up.

"I don't know. . ." I trailed off, a spike of nausea making me scared to open my mouth.

"Niki?" Fundy asked, fear in his voice, and I heard Techno say something about playing outside.

"What hurts? Are you sick?" He asked, panicking, but I couldn't answer. As quickly as humanly possible, I ran from his arms and to the bathroom, just barely making it to the toilet before throwing up.

I felt Wilbur's cool fingers on my neck, pulling back my hair as I heaved out everything in my stomach.

Shaking, tears falling down my cheeks unbidden, I stood up, and Wilbur's

Arm immediately enfolded me, rubbing my back gently.

"Hey, it's okay, shh, it's okay." He murmured as I buried my face in his chest.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry." I sobbed.

"You didn't do anything wrong, love. You are probably just sick. It is going to be alright." He said calmly into my hair. Now that I thought about it, I was feeling off. My stomach hurt, though not in any way it had before. And all I wanted to do was sleep. To close my eyes and not wake up.

"Lets get you to bed, okay?" Wilbur asked, and I nodded. After our first day, we had decided we wanted to take a step back. To figure everything out before becoming too invested in our relationship. We still slept in different rooms, and hadn't told anyone we were dating except Fundy and Techno, though it was hard to keep it from them anyway.

"Okay." I mumbled, and he wrapped his arm around me, guiding me to my room.

He helped me onto my bed, pulling the covers around me lovingly, but when he turned to leave I grabbed at his wrist.

"Stay here?" I asked, and he took my hand, kissing it, before plopping right beside me on my bed.

"Always." He said. His sweetness warmed me, but it didn't hide the feeling that something was terribly wrong.