Getting Swept Away

The One Where Karlie Is Sick

AN: What's this? I wrote more than 500 words?! I'm shocked too. I was going to go for 2000 but I wanted to finish it tonight. I am only half to blame for this AU even existing but I offer no apologies.

Taylor frowned in sympathy as she watched her favourite professor grimace and lightly touch her throat again after speaking. She could tell Professor Kloss was sick, even without her sniffling and her voice sounding raspy. She lacked her usual energy and passion for her subject. Her hands stayed still as she spoke other than when they reached for her water bottle or a tissue. Her eyes lacked their usual spark and had bags beneath them. Taylor might have found her voice a bit sexy if Karlie didn't look outright miserable. Finally, the lecture ended and rather than stick around to ask Karlie questions like she usually would, she gave her a small smile and waved as she got out of her seat before heading out of the lecture hall.

As she walked out of the hall, Taylor pulled out her phone and began typing out a list. When she walked through the door of the apartment she shared with Ed she only set down her backpack before grabbing her jacket off the arm of the couch where she left it.

"Where are you going? I thought we were reviewing together?" Cara asked.

"We will. I just need to run to the store quickly."

"I remembered to go grocery shopping the other day." Ed called from the kitchen.

"Yeah, but we don't have anything for soup." Taylor said, changing from the heels she wore to class to sneakers.

"Why do you need to make soup? You aren't coming down with something are you?" Ed asked.

"Who makes homemade soup anymore?" Cara asked, mostly to herself.

"No, I'm fine Ed."

"But if you're not sick then who – oh. Oh, Tay." Cara realized, giving Taylor a look that was a mix of amusement, pity, and sympathy like she always did when her hopeless crush came up.

"Stop looking at me like that." Taylor said without looking up from her phone as she double checked the list.

"What?" Ed asked.

"Professor Kloss was sick today." Cara explained.

"Taylor," Ed began.

"Look, I know it's stupid." Taylor cut him off. "And I have as much chance with her as Cara has with Professor Clark."

"Hey, leave me out of this." Cara protested.

"But," Taylor continued, "she's sick. And soup is good when you're sick, especially homemade soup. And I know she'll never look at me that way but...I want to."

There was a brief pause before Ed sighed and said, "Go to the store and Cara and I will make flashcards until you're done making the soup."

Karlie sat in her chair watching her students. Normally she liked to walk the room and be hands on with her students during lab sessions, at least as much as possible in a computer class, but today she was letting herself rest in her chair hoping it would help her get better quicker. One or more of her students had clearly noticed she wasn't feeling well and made sure everyone realized because her entire class were emailing in their questions instead of asking them personally.

Right as class ended and everyone packed up, she got an email from one student saying they couldn't submit the day's assignment. By the time they worked out that Cara had accidentally submitted a draft earlier and fixed it, the rest of her class had packed up and left.

"Feel better soon, Professor." Cara waved as she left.

Karlie waved back and turned around, surprised to see a pair of thermoses on her desk. Opening the first one, she felt her stomach growl as the smell of the vegetable soup cut through her congestion. Opening the second thermos, she had to actually sniff it before she recognized the scent of her favourite tea.

'Who would do that?' Karlie thought before spotting the note.

Get well soon! Even if she didn't recognize the handwriting, Karlie could only think of one of her students in that lab session who would be responsible.

"You owe me, Tay." Cara said as she walked out of the lab. "I just made an idiot of myself in front of her."

"Thought you were interested in Clark." Taylor asked.

"Calm your tits, I'm not after your girl. Even if half the women on campus are. But I'm not blind Taylor. She's hot and I made a fool out of myself in front of her."

"Yeah well, I'm giving you my lecture notes for it. And letting you spend an hour teasing me for supposedly being another Kloss groupie."

"You made her soup and sent out an email to our lab telling them to email in their questions because Kloss is sick. I think we're beyond the typical Kloss Krush victim and into a hopeless case."

"Miss Swift, please stay after." Karlie said as the lecture hall began to pack up. Watching her student make her way to the front of the hall, Karlie waited until everyone else had left before pulling the thermoses out of her desk drawer. "I believe these belong to you?"

Karlie began smiling as she watched a blush spread across Taylor's cheeks before she caught herself. She's your student! You're not meant to find her cute!

"How did you know?" Taylor asked.

"There aren't many students who would sign a note with a cat smiling." Karlie pointed out. "I hope you at least bought Cara coffee for her help in distracting me."

"I had to let her copy my lecture notes for the week actually." Taylor confessed.

"As your teacher I should probably frown up Cara not taking her own notes. As a former student, I think she got a good deal." Karlie smiled. "How did you know my favourite tea? Or to make vegetable soup? Most people make chicken noodle when someone is sick."

"I recognized the tea from the tag. You drink that one a lot. And you mentioned being vegetarian as the odd fact about you when we all had to introduced ourselves the first day."

Karlie stared for a second, surprised Taylor remembered that, before smiling. "Thank you, Taylor. It was the first time I felt hungry in a couple of days and I felt a lot better with your soup in my system."

"You're welcome, Professor." Taylor bit back a grin.

Karlie dismissed her and tried and failed not to notice the blonde was wearing another tight skirt.

]VH,