Dear Reader...

Chapter Ten

~Juliette~

It's not fucking going anywhere! I've been fighting whatever the hell this is since Wednesday evening and I have felt horrendous since. I had plans for this week. I was supposed to go to the cafe. Finish the plot, start developing the character profiles for me to refer back to start researching all the topics. But no. Instead, it had been me curled up in bed under my duvet and 3 blankets and still being cold, taking painkillers that were doing nothing to ease my aching and crying because I hate being sick almost as much as I hate the thunderstorm we had last night.

I'm sleep deprived, I feel just all out gross, I'm making no improvement on the house or the book and I'm thousands of miles from home and everything I know and I'm so fucking home sick as well.

I let out a loud groan, pulling myself off the sofa at the knock on the front door. Please be the delivery driver with my painkillers I had to order online. That or the grim reaper. Either or would be the only possible answers right now and honestly, I don't know who I'd prefer to be here.

Not him though.

Not Noah.

Not when I look like I do. I haven't showered in 2 days, haven't even been able to do more than climb out of bed to come downstairs just so I could hear the delivery driver with my meds, or to make it to the bathroom.

"Noah." His eyes narrow as I cling to the door for support. "What are you-"

"Are you okay?"

"You didn't call-"

"Juliette, you don't look well."

"I've just got a cold or something. I'm fine." He shifts holding whatever is in his hands, reaches out and puts the back of his hand on my forehead.

"Jesus, you're burning up. Why didn't you tell me you were sick?" He gently pushed the door open, grabbing my hand for stability and pulling me back to the living room, setting the stuff in his hands down amongst the piles of used tissues.

"I didn- Noah, I'll be fi-"

"Have you taken any medication? Take your hoodie off Jules, you need to cool down."

"I just need to sweat it out. I'll be okay. You should go you'll get sick too."

"Oh, I am not going anywhere. Sit down." He tugged my giant hoodie off. "Okay. Meds. When did you last-"

"Yesterday."

"Juliette."

"I'm waiting on them coming. I ordered some but they got delayed." He sighed.

"Okay. Here. I brought you a coffee and some cookies I made. Eat this, drink that. I'm going to run out, I'll be back soon."

"Noa-"

"They're nut and dairy free." He kissed my forehead, pulling the blanket back up over me as he stood up. "Do you need anything else? Whilst I'm out?" I shook my head.

"No, I had a food order come Wednesday."

"Okay. I'll be like 20 minutes. Don't move from right there. Call me if you need me." As quickly as Noah had somehow made his way into my house he was gone again and I was left wondering what the fuck had just happened. I answered the door, dizzy and with slightly blurry vision and he just knew. Whisked me back to my spot.

Oh, shit he's coming back.

This place is an absolute state.

I climbed up from the sofa, grabbing for all the tissues as the rush from standing up hit me and made me sit back down. I really like this guy. And now the first time he's in my house I'm not even a cute kind of sick with a red nose and a croaky voice. I'm in full blown flu mode, with a nose so sore I could pull off a Rudolph costume no questions asked and a migraine so bad I'm seeing sounds. I know I'm seriously sick. But I can't have Noah seeing me like this.

I force myself to stand, squeezing my eyes shut tight through the haze and steadying myself before quickly tidying up the space and staggering through to the kitchen, clinging to the counter to keep myself from toppling over.

"What are you doing?" I gasped, trying to turn around and almost sending myself flying to the floor. Almost. Not quite. I clung to whatever the nearest surface was. "Oh god Jules. I told you not to move."

"You're back quick."

"I've been gone half an hour." Half an hour? How? It was 2 minutes ago. I stood up and moved the tissues. I still need to - god this is so embarrassing.

"Noah, I'm fine, really. You should go."

"Okay. If you're fine. Walk back to the sofa without falling." I rolled my eyes, taking a steadying breath before daring myself to move at a normal pace back to the sofa. Everything was spinning and I was so disorientated it wasn't even a surprise when Noah wrapped his arms under me, lifting me up and carrying me the rest of the way. I didn't even fight it. There was no point. "Fine my arse." He put me in the corner of the sofa, pulling a bag up and rattling around in it. "When did you last eat?"

"What time is it?"

"Now? It's 5."

"6."

"Am?" I shook my head and he grumbled something under his breath. I'm pissing him off.

"I'm fine."

"No, you're not Juliette. Stop saying you are. You're not. Please just let me look after you."

"You don't-"

"Hand out." I followed my instructions. "Paracetamol, Ibuprofen. I got them from the pharmacy and they said they should be fine." I raised an eyebrow. "No peanut oil, no soy."

"You checked the painkillers?"

"I asked the pharmacist yeah." He stated it like it was the obvious answer. Because of course he checked with the pharmacist that the painkillers he'd bought me were suitable. Who wouldn't check that? That's totally 100% normal. "Here." A bottle of water appeared and I took the pills without needing him to tell me. "Good okay, food. I'm going to cook you something that's not just snacks. Eat some of these in the meantime to get your sugar up. It'll stop you being so dizzy."

"Noah..." I sighed as he put a few paper bags in my lap.

"Tell me which ones you prefer. I'm putting them in stock at the café." I looked at him as he ran through the ingredients for each of the batches quickly. He'd gone so far out of his way for all of this. The cookies and he's going to cook? And he went to the pharmacy. The pharmacy isn't near the store. He- "Jules. Juliette, what's wrong?" His face hunted mine, quickly grabbing for the toilet roll on the table and wiping my eyes as I silently cried.

"Why are you doing this?"

"Doing what?" He pulled me closer, wrapping my legs around his waist and pulling my head down into his chest. "What am I doing Jules?"

"This. Everything. The cookies and the flowers and the- you're cooking and the house is a mess and I'm sick but you won't go and you called the restaurant. You don't- you don't even know me and you're - you're being too nice." I tried to sit up but he held me tighter, making me cry harder into him.

"I might not know you properly yet Juliette. But I know when someone needs help and right now that's what you need and you don't have anyone else here to give you it. The restaurant and the cookies and cooking for you is just common decency. You don't feel comfortable with takeout and I love cooking so I'll cook to make sure you eat something. You have an allergy; I'm not going to take you out to somewhere that's going to make you sick. Believe it or not, I asked you out because I have a crush on you." He let me sit up a little, wiping my cheeks with the pads of his thumb. "We'll get you better Juliette. Don't worry about anything else okay? Just focus on getting better right now. Can you do that?" I nod. "Good. Now sit back, keep cozy. I'll warm your coffee up, eat a damn cookie and tell me it's shite."

"I bet it's not."

"Try it and tellme then."