Unexpected Partnership | White Collar [DISCONTINUED]

Foreheads Touching

Helloooo! Thank you for giving this book a shot! I wanted my first short story to be cute so I looked up some prompts and saved a bunch of them and had to do this one immediately. Sometimes I'll use prompts when I don't have ideas or just for fun.

Title: Foreheads Touching
Started: 25/04/20, 11:34 am
Finished: 25/04/20, 1:39 pm
Posted: 09/02/21, 4:11 pm
Edited: 09/02/21, 5:06 pm
Type/Genre: fluff, friendship
Word count: 1500
Spoilers: none
Warnings: mild swearing (crap, damn,...), throwing up
Rating: K+
Prompt: Person B (Peter) pressing their forehead against person A (Neal) to check if they have a fever. -brought to you by: eliasz

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That day, the infamous Neal Caffrey was acting a bit...off... At least that was the opinion of his handler and partner-in-anti-crime, Peter Burke. Since the beginning of the morning when he picked him up from June's just like he normally does, he sensed the change in the air. His C.I. was more quite than usual, often looking out of the window and unintentionally or maybe intentionally (he didn't know) avoided his gaze.

There wasn't the usual talk or complain about the radio being too loud, just peaceful silence that Peter would've usually loved to hear, but he knew that something was wrong. He kept giving the ex-con occasional side-glances, checking if he was okay and examining him. Neal didn't really seem to notice, practically acting like Peter wasn't even there. The older man tried to strike up a few conversations during the awkward car ride, but the boy only replied when he needed to, not paying much attention to him.

"Neal?" the man's voice finally got his attention. "Huh?" he hummed in response, turning around to face him. "I asked if you were okay? You're a little more quite than usual... Got any plans?..." the agent asked carefully, each word laced with worry. Mustering a version of his normal charming smile, the ex-con man tried to assure his friend that he was fine, but the man didn't believe him. He knew better than to trust the bedazzling smile of Neal Caffrey, but he didn't push the subject any further... for now...

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When they arrived at the office, Neal took his usual seat at his desk and immediately started working and typing away at his computer. There wasn't the usual throwing the rubber-band ball in the air or going out and buying some real coffee, not even chatting with his co-workers. Nothing that Neal did today was 'Caffrey-like' in any way. Peter seemed to worry even more when he wasn't the only one to notice the young man's out-of-ordenary behaviour.

Jones and Diana pointed it out to him as well and when it took him more than a while to come back from the restroom, the fed decided to straight up go to him and talk to him about it. It was more than 10 or so minutes that Neal was still not back from the restroom and so Peter finally walked out of his office and made his way to him. The door was closed so he slowly pushed it open without a sound and cautiously walked in to be met with a horrid sound of someone throwing up in a toilet.

He made his way to the only closed stall and just stood in front of it for a moment. Looks like whoever was inside was currently unaware of his presence so he gently knocked on the stall door.

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Neal knew something was wrong with him from the moment he woke up. He didn't feel very well, but when has that ever stopped the ex-con man? Trying his best to act casual, he was off to work like every day, but it was hard to hide anything from Peter. The man knew him so goddamn well that he practically couldn't hide anything from him. The drive to work was silent, both knew there was something wrong, but Neal just hoped that he wouldn't get called our for it.

He tried to avoid him as much as possible so that the man wouldn't notice his unusual behaviour, but he was failing pretty miserably at it. Nothing he did that day wasn't even close to his normality. He knew damn well that it was only a matter of time before he got the big question from Peter so he tried his best to survive the day and not get caught in being slightly sick. Hmph, easier said than done.

The boy wasn't at his best game so it was hard to keep the façade on, but he had to, he just had to get through the day, then take some tablets when he gets home to ease his terrible aches. It was still early in the morning, not even close to lunch hours and Neal was already barely coping with his nausea. He tried his best not to go to the restroom, but his stomach got the best of him and he ran out to the toilet.

Luckily, the stalls were empty so he ran in the first one, locked it and vomited into the toilet. He leaned at the side of the stall to catch his breath a bit before his next session of emptying out the contents from his stomach. A good 10 minutes past when unfortunately someone walked inside and stopped just in front of the stall he was in. Neal took a deep breath, after what he assumed, was the last of it, but didn't notice that he wasn't alone anymore.

'Okay,' he tried to reassure himself 'I should be alright as long as-' "Neal?" A voice belonging to none other than Peter asked. There was dead silence. The boy didn't dare to move or breath, just swear in his mind for being foolish enough to think that the one person he trusts in his life wouldn't notice his weird behaviour. "I know it's you, Neal..." the man sounded a bit annoyed. 'Crap.' he immediately thought, but still didn't make any noise or movement.

There was no way he could get out of this. "Just come out." Peter said still waiting. The male sighed in defeat. He ran a hand through his hair and readjusted his suit a bit, trying to look tidier, then he put on the best Caffrey smile that he could manage, although half of him knew that there was no way he could possibly con the agent, a part of him silently prayed with hope.

When he flushed the toilet, Peter moved a step back seeing the door handle twisting open and out came his C.I. trying his best to hide the still nauseous feeling in his stomach. Their eyes met, and Neal smiled, but the fed didn't look so amused. "Cut the crap, Neal." he glared slightly. His head hung down for a moment and he pretended to chuckle moving away to wash his hands. "I was just in the toilet-"

"Vomiting?" he cut him off, now frowning. "Doing my business..." he corrected, with a quick glare. "Which is vomiting..." he said again, crossing his arms to show that he was not having it. "I wasn't vomiting, Peter." Neal rolled his eyes. "Oh sorry. Puking, barfing, throwing up, however you wanna call it." The ex-con rolled his eyes again, now, drying his hands, heading for the door. "You can't go." Peter said, but Neal only speared him a glance and a short chuckle.

"Watch me." he dared him, pushing the handle down and bumping into the door. He tried it multiple times, but it just wouldn't budge. Turning around, the fed showed him a key. "It's locked." he smirked in triumph, pocketing it. "Now be honest. You're sick, aren't you?" the older man asked. The boy crossed his arms and held his ground firmly. "No. I'm not." he answered. They just stared at each other in silence.

Suddenly, Peter took a few steps towards him, entering Neal's personal space. The boy raised his brow, but the agent didn't break eye contact. "What are you-?" He suddenly grabbed the back of the boy's head gently and pressed their foreheads together for a moment. The young man's eyes widened slightly and he tensed up immediately, his breath caught in his throat. Soon enough, his handler let go.

"You are sick. You have a fever." The older man concluded. Neal stepped back a little and rubbed a hand on his forehead. "Well couldn't you just put a hand instead of invading my personal space?!" he asked embarrassed. "Come on, let's get you home." the man completely ignored him and unlocked the door, pushing an angry C.I. in front of him who was still arguing over the fact of their foreheads touching each other.

Fin

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Author's note: Slightly longer because it's my first. Hope you enjoyed