𝐍𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑 𝐄𝐍𝐃𝐈𝐍𝐆 ;; 𝒶𝓊𝒷𝓇𝑒𝓎 𝓍 𝓀𝑒𝓁 𝑜𝓃𝑒 𝓈𝒽𝑜𝓉𝓈

↳ 𝕒𝕗𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕣𝕒𝕚𝕟 ・❥・: ̗̀➛

𝒾𝓉'𝓈 𝑔𝑜𝒾𝓃𝑔 𝓉𝑜 𝒷𝑒 𝓌𝑜𝓇𝓉𝒽 𝒾𝓉!

┊ ┊ ┊ ┊

ᴋᴇʟ ʜᴀᴅ ꜱᴛᴀʀᴛᴇᴅ his day with an angry Aubrey. A few hours after he woke up, she had come over to his house, and he still hadn't got out of bed. He thought she was there to be all worried, but it turned out she wasn't—or, she was, but she was angry too.

"What made you think going to play basketball in the rain was a good idea?" Aubrey demanded while checking his temperature by pressing her hand against his forehead.

Kel moved her hand from his forehead to his cheek, leaning into it. He knew it would get her annoyed, which was exactly why he did it. "I have to make sure I play the best! Everyone knows I'm the star of the team, so I have to practice even in the rain!"

Aubrey, as expected, wasn't amused. "Or you're just a fucking idiot."

"You have no respect for future basketball stars..."

She sighed, her eyes softening. "You're okay though, right? It's just a cold?"

"Just a cold," he muttered against her hand. It was just as soft as the rest of her...

"Do you need anything?" she asked quietly.

"Since you're here, can you just stay?" As soft as her hand was, he preferred cuddling with her whole body...

Aubrey didn't argue as she let Kel lean onto her shoulder. She adjusted them so they were laying on his bed, her back on the bed with Kel resting on top of her.

Kel gave a tired laugh as he snuggled up closer to his girlfriend. "You're so soft... Just like a pillow..."

Aubrey smiled instead of saying anything, tucking a strand of her boyfriend's hair behind his ear.

"Do you think you can make it to my next game?" he asked, the hope obvious in his voice.

"Of course I can. I went to all your ones before, didn't I?"

Kel's parents usually didn't treat anything he liked with as much care and interest as anything Hero liked. That meant they might skip anything he was in, like work they would've found a way to get out of if it was Hero, or because Hero had something on the same day. By now, he should be used to that, but he wasn't.

When he started dating Aubrey, he wasn't prepared for when she took everything he was in so seriously. She hadn't missed anything he was even slightly a part of, and she definitely hadn't missed anything important to him. It always made him feel happy and more confident seeing her in the crowd just because of him, but he was always scared she wouldn't be there next time. He didn't really care if his parents cared about what he was into, but after she showed so much interest, he didn't want to lose it.

That was the real reason why he was playing basketball in the rain. His plan was to practice in every weather so he could play and win effortlessly no matter what. If he was going to have her cheer for him every time, then he was going to have to be the best out of everyone. Now that he was sick, he would either have to make up for it or practice while sick—he could decide which one worked better later—but it would still pay off if it meant Aubrey would be there!

Instead of telling her all of that, Kel just said, "Just checking. I gotta make sure you see my rain-practice was worth it!"

"Even though it got you sick?"

"Even though it got me sick! I'll be perfectly okay by the time the next game comes!"

Aubrey brushed his bangs away from his forehead. "You don't have to force yourself to be okay..."

"I won't have to force myself because I will be okay! Think positively, Aubs!"

He smiled as her face twisted to show her dislike in the nickname, but he kept calling her that because it was short and it got her like that. Recently, he started using it more as a regular nickname instead of something to annoy her when he found out he was the only person she allowed to call her "Aubs". He wore—or said—that achievement with pride.

"Just don't practice in the rain, okay?" Aubrey said, worry etched into her voice. "You want to get better, I know, but that doesn't mean you have to sacrifice your health."

"It's just a regular old cold."

"Yeah, but you still shouldn't sacrifice your health. If you're sick, then what's the point of all those practices?"

He hated to admit she had a point.

"Just be safe, okay? Take care of yourself." Aubrey kissed his forehead.

Kel gave into his urge and said, "Why should I do that when I have you to take care of me?"

The gentle tone from her voice disappeared. "I'm not your mom, Kel."

A smile spread across his face. "But my precious little girlfriend's still so worried about me..."

"You know what? Get off of me."

Kel laughed as she pushed him away. "Wait, Aubrey, I'm sorry!"

"You better be."

"Hey, I'm the one that's sick. You should be treating me with more love and care!"

Aubrey sighed but opened her arms, letting him crawl on top of her again. She held him in an embrace as his head pressed against the top of her shoulder. She relaxed soon, the annoyance leaving her body.

His smile faded, but not because he wasn't happy anymore. The position made him feel weirdly tired. His eyes wanted to close without his permission, and he fought hard to keep them awake. Even though he and Aubrey weren't saying anything, he still wanted to be awake while cuddling his girlfriend. He wanted to see how cute she was as they laid there in silence, their minds on nothing important.

Kel's tired eyes were giving in until he eventually decided that closing them for five seconds didn't hurt anyone. He would open them again and talk to Aubrey like nothing had happened! But that was after he closed them for five seconds—or maybe 10. 20 would be nice, but so would 30...

- - - -

𝚈𝚊𝚢, 𝙸 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝙸𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚗𝚎𝚝 𝚊𝚐𝚊𝚒𝚗! 𝙸𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚜𝚘 𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚍 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚐𝚞𝚢𝚜, 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚖𝚢 𝚙𝚑𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚌𝚑𝚘𝚘𝚕 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚒𝚛 𝚜𝚕𝚘𝚠 𝚆𝚒𝙵𝚒... 𝙱𝚞𝚝 𝚒𝚝'𝚜 𝚘𝚔𝚊𝚢! 𝙸'𝚖 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝙸 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚍𝚘 𝚒𝚜 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚛𝚢 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚜𝚌𝚑𝚘𝚘𝚕 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝙸 𝚍𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚢𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚎𝚡𝚌𝚎𝚙𝚝 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚊 𝚐𝚒𝚛𝚕 𝚗𝚊𝚖𝚎𝚍 𝙹𝚊𝚖𝚒𝚎.

𝚆𝚘𝚛𝚍 𝙲𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚝 (𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚒𝚗𝚌𝚕𝚞𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝙰/𝙽): 𝟿𝟿𝟼