Roommates | Kate & Ana

Chapter 9- I Got You

The sound of Kate's feet hitting the floor as she jumps out of bed wakes me up just in time to see her make a dash for the bathroom. I sit up and rub my eyes trying to gather up the strength to follow her as I see a light flick on in the bathroom. She starts coughing and spitting and I know she's throwing up. I stumble out of bed and sprint to the bathroom after her to help. "Fuck!" Kate mutters, before proceeding to vomit again into the toilet. I drop down on my knees next to her and pull her hair away from her face. "Hey, it's okay. I got you." I whisper, holding her hair back. "Go back to bed, Ana." She groans. "Nope. I'm staying right here with you." She rolls her eyes, but I know she'll thank me later. She always does. Besides it's nothing I haven't seen before. I have spent many hours in the bathroom with Kate rescuing her hair from her vomit. I gently stoke her hair and back, trying to soothe her, but I can't tell if it's working. When the wave of sickness has passed she sits up and wipes her mouth off. I release my grip on her hair and quickly get her a glass of water from the bathroom sink. Then I hand it to her and resume my kneeling position on the floor. "Thank you." She whispers, her voice rough from all the coughing, and rinses her mouth out with the water. When her mouth is rinsed she drinks the rest of the water in the cup in one gulp. "This is the toothbrush cup." I cringe internally. I was hoping she wouldn't notice. "Uh...yeah. Sorry about that it was the only cup we had in here." She giggles, then smiles weakly at me. "It's okay. It got the taste of vomit out of my mouth that's all that matters." I take the cup back from her and set it on the counter. "You ready to go back to bed yet?" She nods. "Okay, come on." I stand up and offer her my hand, helping her up. I tuck her into bed, then climb in with her, wrapping my arms around her. We fall back asleep within minutes, wrapped in each other's arms.

The next morning I wake up a couple extra hours early so I can make sure Kate is taken care of before I go to work. The first few hours of my morning go by in a blur as I rush around the apartment, trying to make Kate soup, get ready for work, and tidy up all at the same time. When I'm dressed and ready and the apartment is manageable, I tiptoe into Kate's room with her soup. "Kate?" I whisper, nudging the door open a few inches. "I'm up." She croaks, bringing on a round of coughing. I walk the rest of the way in and set her soup down on the nightstand next to her. "What's the verdict? Flu?" I ask, looking at the pile of tissues surrounding her and her red splotchy nose. "Yep." She coughs again, then grabs a tissue and blows her nose. She crumples up her soiled tissue and tosses it onto the pile on the floor by my feet and I step back, my nose scrunching up at the close proximity of her used tissues. She laughs at my reaction and reaches for another tissue. "Then I guess I did the right thing with the soup, huh? For a minute there I was scared you were knocked up." She shakes her head at me and laughs, burying her face in her hands. "I don't think snotty nose is a pregnancy symptom." She says. "I know. I've just never seen you throw up when you're sober." She rolls her eyes at me and smiles, picking up her bowl of soup. "I gotta go to work soon is there anything else you need? I think there's still some medicine left from when I was sick before in the medicine cabinet. Do you want that?" She nods. "Yes, please." I quickly go grab the bottle of flu medicine from the bathroom and bring it to her. "There's not a lot left. I'll have to stop and get some more after work. Other than that do you have everything you need?" I ask. "Yes, Ana. You can go to work now." She smiles at me. "Okay." I smile, bending down and kissing her soft vanilla scented hair, then her cheek.

I'm just getting ready to leave the hardware store when Paul stops me by the door, grabbing my shoulder. "Wait, Ana! Before you leave there's something I wanted to ask you." He smiles confidently at me, making me nervous. I know how this goes. He's gonna ask me to hang out and I'm gonna say no just like always. It happens at least once a month. "Uh...yeah?" I peek up at him, awkwardly. "Look, I know you're usually pretty busy with school and everything, but now that you've graduated you probably have some more free time on your hands, right?" His hand stays put on my shoulder, making me uncomfortable. "Yeah. I guess." I mumble, averting my gaze to the floor. "So, I was wondering, now that you're more available if you'd go to dinner with me this weekend?" He leans in towards me, his expression hopeful. "Uh...no. I don't think that's a good idea and besides I'm-" I start to use the going to Georgia excuse but he cuts me off. "Ana, come on. I know you're shy but-" I squirm out of his grip before he can finish. "Paul, I'm a lesbian!" I blurt out without thinking, then cover my mouth. I can't believe I just did that. Is it even true? I don't know, but it got him to shut up. He just stares at me his eyebrows scrunched up in confusion. "You're what?" I shake my head, covering my now tomato-red face with my hands. "I've gotta go." I mumble, running out to my car to get away from him and from our embarrassing and awkward encounter. As I drive back to the apartment, I thank god I don't have to work there much longer. When I get inside Kate is laying on the couch watching tv. "Hey, feeling any better?" She nods. "I've stopped throwing up but my cough just keeps getting worse." Shit, I forgot to stop somewhere and get her medicine. I'll have to go back out and get it later. "That's good that you're not throwing up at least. Have you been taking your medicine?" She nods. "Sorry you had to deal with that." She frowns at the memory. "It's fine. It's not like that was the first time I've had to hold your hair back." I throw my keys on the counter and sit down next to her. "I totally forgot to get more medicine. I'll go get some later." I apologize. "It's fine." She brushes me off, moving her legs to give me more room on the couch. "My mom called today. I'm gonna go visit her this weekend. I'm getting a flight out to Georgia tomorrow." I tell her. "That's great I know you've missed her. When are you leaving?" She smiles at me. "A little after noon. I'm getting off work early." She nods. "Anything interesting happen at work?" I blush, biting my lip. "I accidentally told Paul I was a lesbian." I say. "You what?" She stares at me, wide eyes. "I just blurted it out. It was really embarrassing actually." She throws her head back laughing, making me blush even more. "That's hilarious!" She bursts into another round of laughter. "He was really surprised." I mumble. "I bet! God, Ana....you're amazing. You know that?" I don't answer, instead I just fidget with her blanket underneath my fingertips. I decide to change the subject. "Are you hungry?" She shakes her head no. "Alright, I'm gonna go make myself a sandwich then I gotta start packing for Georgia." I kiss her forehead, then I go into the kitchen and make myself a sandwich. I throw my knife in the sink and go to take a bite of my sandwich when Kate appears in front of me and takes the sandwich out of my hands. "I changed my mind. I am hungry." She she takes a bite and smiles at me. "Sorry." She mouths, disappearing into the living room with my sandwich. I pout, looking at my empty hands, but I can't stay mad at Kate. She's too adorable. A smile forms on my lips as I make myself a new sandwich.

Authors Note; What's Kate and Ana's ship name? I have no idea.