KATE
"It's freezing," Michael says, his body shivering. We are under a thick blanket and I'm almost too warm, but his teeth are literally chattering.
"I'm fine, I think it's you," I say, suddenly concerned. I reach for his face, brushing the hair off of his forehead. The skin is indeed warm, much warmer than normal. "Michael, you're too hot."
"You're too sexy," he says lazily, smiling like an idiot at his own joke. I sit up and look at him, noticing that he can barely keep his eyes open.
"Are you feeling okay?" I ask, brushing the hair off his forehead again. His hand reaches up to grab my arm and he pulls me him. My face rests against the flaming skin of his neck as he ignores my question.
"Michael," I press, wriggling away from him.
"I'm just tired," he sighs, pulling me back.
"We slept all day," I point out, wriggling free again. Michael groans, his arms reaching out for me, but his eyes closed.
"Mmm tired," he whines again.
"Okay, come on," I wrap my arms around him and help heave him off the couch. If he is going to sleep off this fever, he is going to do it in a proper bed. Michael lets me support him all the way to bed, where he falls face first. He groans as I tug on his arms, readjusting him so that his head is at least on a pillow.
"Are you going to take care of me?" He sighs, a ridiculous grin on his face. Even though I'm worried at how quickly his fever erupted, I can't help but smile back.
"What do you need?" I ask, leaning over to kiss his cheek.
"You," he mumbles, his hands grabbing me around the waist and pulling me to lay alongside him. I am not the slightest bit tired, but I nestle into his arms anyway. He is heavily asleep within minutes, and he doesn't even flinch when I reach my hand up to his face.
Rarely do I get the opportunity to touch Michael like this; to really see him. My hand traces over his pale cheek, lingering over the light stubble that shadows his jaw. My finger runs down the perfectly straight angle of his nose and traces the shape of his bright lips, reveling in the way they part under my touch. I lean up quietly and kiss the flaming skin on his cheek, sliding out of his grasp when I'm sure he's deep enough asleep.
I tuck the blankets around him and retreat to the kitchen, grabbing a glass of water and some aspirin. I set them on the bedside table next to Michael, in case he wakes up and needs them. He looks so small and worn out; I can't resist kissing his cheek again, and running my hand through his hair. He sighs in his sleep and my heart swells to twice its usual size. When I leave the room, I leave the door cracked open so that I can hear him if he calls me.
Two hours later, I am up to my eyeballs in a research paper for my Chemistry class. I sigh, knowing that this would probably be easier if I hadn't walked out of the class with Michael that day. As I am in the middle of typing a nonsensical paragraph about nitrogen chloride, the chat bubble on my computer pops up. It's Dana.
DanaHawks47: Hey, r u ok? Called earlier but you didn't answer.
KWill: yeah, it's all good! Sorry, we got your message but Michael isn't feeling well.
DanaHawks47: I'm glad! Well, not that he's sick :( but I'm glad u 2 worked it out.
KWill: He's sleeping it off! Poor boy. We're fine, we just need to communicate better.
DanaHawks47: Story of my life. Relationships are hard sometimes. But if it's the right person, it will wrk out!
KWill: I think it is :)
