From Bully to Boyfriend •|Lams|•

Chapter 9

John had ended up engulfed into the arms of Alexander, his burning face pressed into his chest.

He was sure he was catching a fever. He was shivering and breaking into a cold sweat, even with all of the warmth Alexander provided, along with the many layers of blankets he had given him.

Alexander had told John to rest, but John felt too sick to sleep. Alexander had eased his stress, but he couldn't take away the nausea.

Alexander had also offered John soup, but honestly, the thought of food just made him feel even more sick. He appreciated the offer though. Besides, since when could Alexander cook? He was sure he'd set the building on fire if he tried.

For the past few hours, Alexander just ran his fingers gently through John's curls, like he always had. John appreciated it so much. He loved having his hair played with.

Alexander also hummed to him, and even if John was too weak to say anything, he thought he had the most wonderful voice in the world. Partly because he was his boyfriend and he thought everything he did was precious, and partly because his voice sounded genuinely good.

John eventually clung onto Alexander's shirt to get his attention. "What if you get sick?" he managed to say.

Alexander laughed softly. "Oh, I've had my fair share of sicknesses. Why do you think I'm as scrawny as I am today?"

John thought about this. While Alexander was scrawny, he also had muscles. He could barely tell if he was scrawny or not. "Well, just because you've had it before doesn't mean it's not a pain in the ass."

Alexander simply shook his head. "I think you just have a stomach bug. It's worth getting sick if I can just lie here with you."

John whined, feeling his face flush even darker. "Why do you flirt so much?" He personally loved it. But he hated seeing Alexander's smirk when he knew what he had done.

"That's easy. You're my boyfriend. I want you to know how much I love you."

John smiled softly. "I already do.." he whispered.

"Is that so?" Alexander rose a brow at him.

John nodded. "If you have managed to stay with me for all of these hours without complaining, even if I'm horrendously sick, there must be something there."

Alexander rolled his eyes. "This doesn't even make up a single percent of how much I actually love you, John."

John's eyes widened in disbelief as he met Alexander's calm auburn ones. "But how?" Alexander used to hate him, as far as he was concerned.

Alexander smiled. "That's also an easy question. How could I not fall for you? You're so kind to those you care about, and you'd do anything for those people. Once your mind is set on something, there's no way to convince you otherwise. You're kind of reckless, but I consider that brave. I couldn't even bring myself to do half of what you can, Jacky. There are so many more reasons, and I don't know how I can even start. If I could tell you, I would. Maybe one day I'll help you figure it out."

John felt a loving smile shape onto his lips. Maybe a couple more impure thoughts crossed his mind from earlier, but that didn't matter. He felt his heart swelling, just noticing that Alexander was reflecting his own smile.

"I think I'm gonna try and rest, Alex." John was feeling more at ease at this point.

Alexander pressed a gentle kiss to his hair. "Okay. Goodnight, Jacky. I love you."

John took a deep breath, before saying, "I love you too, Alex." He felt his heart stutter. "Maybe we can, I don't know.. try and take things all the way? Again? When I'm feeling better?"

John smirked when he felt Alexander's own heart begin to panic underneath his chest.

"Yeah, that sounds neat," Alexander choked, then instantly regretted his words. "I meant 'yes', I didn't mean 'neat'." Great going, Alex.

John laughed softly, but felt his stomach lurch and more nausea.

Long story short, he made it to the bathroom just in time, and he was now crouching and craning his neck over the toilet bowl in case his breakfast wasn't out of his system yet. Alexander stayed and held his hair back, frowning worriedly.

"Got a little too excited, huh, Laurens?"

"Shut up."