Spring Forward, Fall Back (Alucard x Chubby! Reader)

Chapter 24 - Third Day's Grace

Trevor P.O.V.

Three days. Three fucking days since Y/N was laid low by this illness. This, of course, stopped the rest of us from having much of anything to do during the day other than make sure that we had food for the day and keep ourselves from going insane. Some did better than others in that last instance.

"You know, you could try not chewing with your mouth open for a change. That way, my fist doesn't crash into your face like a bolt of lightning into the ground," Sypha yelled.

"I don't know why you keep bringing this up, Sypha," I said around a piece of rabbit. "You've never seemed to have much problem with my eating habits before now, so I can't figure out why you're so upset about it."

This particular conversation, or one of many variations, had been happening for a couple of days now. For some reason or another, Sypha was slowly becoming irritated by everything we did...and by we, I mean me and Alucard. No matter what we did or how we managed to rise to her standards, we would inevitably hear her screeching over something else we supposedly were doing wrong.

The first day after Y/N came in injured, if we saw Alucard it was a miracle. He didn't leave Y/N's side for anything other than the bare essentials. He would come out for water for her, blankets for her. Everything for her. It was then that Sypha started getting irritable.

"You should get things for yourself, too, Alucard."

"She isn't going to die if you stop to get a drink of water or something to eat, Alucard."

"Why don't you leave her be so she can rest, Alucard?"

"Why don't you and Trevor see if you can find the tools Y/N will need once she has her strength back?"

"When are you going to go out to hunt for something, Trevor?"

"Am I the only one who's going to do all the cooking around here?"

"Why aren't you two helping me get things set up for dinner?"

It seemed as though Sypha was only able to complain about everything because she refused to see the good things that were happening. Yes, Alucard was having a bit of trouble taking care of himself, but that didn't mean he wasn't doing it at all. He just chose to do those things while watching Y/N...and with the way Sypha was bitching every twenty minutes, I couldn't blame him in the slightest.

"Sypha, would you stop?" I finally snapped. "You've done nothing but bitch and complain about every little thing that goes on around here, and frankly I'm getting sick of it."

I stood and moved around the now shocked woman sitting on the other side of the table. Taking her shoulders in hand, I began trying to massage them in small circles in an attempt to dissipate the tenseness that seemed to take up residence there.

"I understand that you're upset. We all are. Alucard the most out of all of us. But you've got to stop taking that upset out on me and Alucard or eventually you're going to end up hurting yourself by saying something you can't take back." I sat down next to her, turned her toward me and continued to speak as honestly as I could.

"I know that you don't know what to do with yourself and you don't have any idea how to help Y/N get better faster, but the fact remains that you're driving me and Alucard mad with all of this nagging you're doing. You've somehow turned into our mother, for some unknown reason, and you seem to get some kind of perverse enjoyment out of making us miserable.

"Take Fang Face, for instance. You've been getting on his ass for not eating or anything like that, but have you thought, for just one moment, about what he is doing? He's been taking portions of food for himself in with him to make sure to eat and drink like you've told him on many occasions. He just takes it in there to keep an eye on her. He's come out here to tell us how Y/N is doing, but the moment he shows his face, you start yelling at him to do something else."

Sypha looked at me with tears gathering in the corners of her eyes. "I'm sorry! I'm just so damn worried about her!" Once she'd finished her sentence, she burst out in tears again, her sobs wrenching from deep inside her fears and inadequacies. I held her tight as her body shook with the force of those heart-wrenching gasps and hiccups, and tried my best to reassure her that she wasn't the only one who had no idea what else to do.

"I know how you feel. And I'm not being some ass who's only trying to make you feel better. I'm serious. I have no idea what to do either, but I know that bitching and complaining about every little thing everyone does that isn't conducive to Y/N's recovery isn't going to help me or anyone else."

Once her crying had slowed down, she turned her head and asked, "How have you managed to put up with me for this long?"

"Patience," I said solemnly, and with a bit of humor, "And the promise of having an ale one of these days." And, as I'd hoped, a chuckle escaped her lips and shook her shoulders.

Alucard P.O.V.

"Where am I?" Y/N asked in a raspy voice, her eyes seeming to not only lose focus, but also have trouble staying open.

"You're in our room, dear," I said with just a bit more happiness than I'd intended to get through in my voice. She looked over at me and gave me a small smile.

"There you are," she said after blinking a few times. Her hand reached up to trail her fingers down my cheek and then over my hand on her forehead. "Could I have a drink of water?"

"Of course! Let me help you up a bit," I said a little too loudly. I put the cloth down and helped Y/N to sit up, making sure to place the pillows up a bit more to support her back. I handed her the cup of water and she greedily drank it down. When she looked at me to hand the cup back, she gave me an appreciative smile. I tried not to, but the worry over whether she would stay awake or not plagued my mind. I was so deep in thought that I didn't notice Y/N trying to get my attention.

"There you go worrying that bottom lip of yours again," I heard her shaky voice break through my inner turmoil. "Please don't worry overmuch about me, Adrian. I'll be just fine soon enough."

"Telling me not to worry over you is like telling that idiot Belmont that he doesn't actually know everything. He's barely smarter than a rock as it is, but he doesn't know he's wrong until after the fact, and even then he may never admit that he's wrong." Hearing her snicker at me, I added, "I'm rambling on about him again, aren't I?"

She chuckled, but took my hand in hers and answered, "So, does this mean that thick-headed fool is just as worried as you?"

"Yes, he is. Maybe not as much, but he is worried. More worried, I would have to say, that you wouldn't wake up and he'd have to tell Sypha." I sighed dramatically.

"I know this is going to be a mistake, but why don't you go tell them that I'm awake now? It'll get the unpleasantness of the ordeal out of the way now and relieve their minds about whether I survived or not." She looked at my face and gave me a small warm smile before squeezing my hand and setting me off on my task.