Natalie was relieved that they had been able to work things out with Ilya, but at the same time their conversation had made her nervous. Ilya had basically said it was obvious that they had feelings for each other, which made her wonder if their other friends had noticed too.
She figured it would be best for the group if they lied low and denied having any feelings for each other, at least for the time being. Besides, nothing was official. They had kissed a few times- that didn't mean they were in a relationship.
Once they had returned to LA things became very busy very quickly. Natalie was happy to work for David, and she didn't feel weird about it whatsoever now that their situation had changed, but the work was draining. After a few long and hard days, her lack of sleep and high stress finally started to take a toll on her physical health.
She awoke one morning around four a.m. to find herself drenched with sweat, accompanied by a sore throat and a raging migraine. She felt weak as she pulled herself out of bed and into her bathroom. She hadn't been sleeping with David for about a week, since their friends were always around and she didn't want to give anything away. She hadn't been sleeping as well without him, which was weird, because she had never had a problem sleeping before.
She pulled her sticky hair off of her neck and slowly removed her sweaty clothing. The floor was cold under her feet and she considered laying on the ground to cool off, but decided against it. Instead, she turned the shower to cold and reluctantly stepped in. Her head was spinning as she felt the water run over her warm skin, but she was quickly cooling off. She felt so intensely weak that it was hard to stand up. Natalie sat on the floor of her shower, rested her head against the wall, and cried. The splitting pain in her head and throat along with the weakness of her muscles was quite literally the worst combination of physical ailments she had ever experienced.
Natalie stayed on the floor for a few minutes, then began to shiver. She was freezing, but knew that her body temperature was still warm because of her fever. It took entirely too much strength for her to reach over and turn the water off, then pull herself out of the tub. She moved as quickly as she could to wrap herself in a towel and grab a clean pair of sweatpants and a hoodie. Within a few minutes she was back in her bed, completely covered by her blankets, cursing her wet hair for being so cold. Her teeth chattered and a few hot tears slipped down her cheeks as she tried to force herself back to sleep.
Natalie laid there for a few minutes before she acknowledged that she needed water. She sighed, pulled her blanket around her shoulders, and quietly opened her door; she didn't want to wake David.
It took quite a while for her to make it to the fridge, and she was only a few steps past the fridge on her way back to her room when she became lightheaded and dizzy. Natalie pulled herself onto the couch and relaxed into the cushions. She took a couple sips of her water then laid on her side and pulled her knees into her chest. This was hell.
—
David turned over in his bed and heard the sound of the shower in Natalie's room. Hardly awake, he sunk deeper into his pillow and pulled the covers closer to his chest. A few minutes later, he heard the soft opening of her bedroom door, and he opened his eyes. It was still dark in his room. Why is she awake? He figured she just needed water or something and was about to go back to sleep, when he heard what he thought was the sound of her sitting on the couch. David rolled over and checked the time. It was 4:17 in the morning. He figured it wouldn't hurt to check on her.
Once he had pulled himself out of bed, he carefully opened his door and took a few steps down the hall. He saw Natalie laying on the couch with a water bottle in front of her, wrapped entirely in her blanket. He frowned.
"Natalie?" His voice was groggy.
She turned her head over her shoulder to look at him, then let it fall back onto the cushion.
