I woke up with a sort of dazed feel. Bright light streamed in though the cracks from my blind pulled over the one window in my bedroom. Ugh. I better get up soon or I'll be late, I thought to myself. I forced myself from the comfort of my warm bed and stood up. My head started spinning the moment I stood up, followed by a pounding, painful feeling. What the hell? Maybe a shower will wake me up…I made my way to my small bathroom that was connected to my bedroom and got my shower ready, stripping off my clothes. In moments warm water flowed over me. Ah, much better. Although the pounding didn't go away completely, I just told myself the shower had worked and got on with my day.

I hopped out of the shower and dried off, then retreated back to my room to find some decent clothes for work today. A baggy gray button down dress with rolled up sleeves up to my elbows that went to just above my knees, black leggings, and black boots. Casual. After getting dressed I grabbed my bag which was left right next to my bed. My stomach was feeling a little queasy so I skipped breakfast and had a glass of water instead. Hopefully the cool water would soothe my sore throat, which I just realized had been bugging me. After all was done, I headed out and took a bus to work.

Once I arrived at work everything was already pretty hectic. Just another day. I briskly walked over to my desk, ignoring the still pounding feeling in my head. It'll pass eventually. Once I get started on all of this work I won't even be able to pay attention to it anymore. I plopped my bag down beside me and pulled out one of my binders, opening it to the page I had last worked on.

"Ariadne!" I heard Cobb call out to me.

"Hey." He walked up to my desk with some papers in his hand. He looked at me for a second, turning back to his papers, then back to me right after.

"You don't look well. Are you feeling alright?"

"Oh, yeah. I'm fine." He gave me a quizzical look and then put a hand on my forehead, surprising me. He wasn't really the type of guy to just do that to someone.

"No, you're not. You're burning up."

"Well I feel perfectly fine, now if you don't mind I'm going to get back to all of this work I need to do," I said, sounding a little harsh. I needed to get him to leave me alone though, if I wanted any chance of finishing my work before Friday.

"Ariadne, please go home and get some much needed rest. And no arguing," he added right as I opened my mouth to reply to him. "Besides, if you can't fully focus on your work it won't be done as well as it could be." He had obviously added in his last words to force me to go home.

"…fine."

"I hope you feel better soon." He gave me a little smile and walked away. Ugh. I grabbed my bag, slung it over my shoulder, and left.

Once I was back into my apartment I went over to my couch, curled up, and pulled out my binder yet again. If he won't let me work there, I can always work here, I thought to myself, smiling slyly. My work would not be late under any circumstances. I immediately started working on it.

After about 10 minutes of work I had to put it down. My head was spinning like crazy and my eyes felt heavy. I physically couldn't work anymore. I shivered (had someone turned on the AC?) and curled up on my side on the couch with a blanket, closing my eyes. Before I knew it I was asleep.

I awoke to someone knocking on my door. Repeatedly. Leave me alone…the knocking continued. I finally pulled myself up from the couch and headed to the door, opening it to reveal Arthur. Wait, Arthur?

"Um, hey," I said to him, still partially asleep.

"Well, Cobb told me that you were out sick today, and of course me having barely any work, decided to come over and help you out," he said this with a smile. I just looked at him, still trying to comprehend his words and presence through my spinning head. "Anyway, he was right, you look awful. Come on," he put an arm around my shoulders and guided me back to my couch where I curled up again with my blanket. He kneeled down beside the couch where my face was. "Try to get some sleep, okay?" I nodded and closed my eyes, slipping back into a deep sleep.

I awoke to see Arthur sitting in my armchair, reading a book. He looked so focused. I sat up slowly, feeling groggy and just plain out of it.

"Oh, you're up. Feeling any better?"

"Not really."

"I'll make you some tea, that should help." He got up from his chair, placing his book on the table next to it, about to head to the kitchen.

"Thanks…"

About 10 minutes later he appeared with a mug of piping hot peppermint tea. I took it from him graciously and sipped it. He sat down next to me on the couch, letting me lean on him. I moved away quickly though.

"I could be contagious, you know," I said to him, just realizing it now.

"Yes, that's true. But I'm immune to sickness."

"Yeah, right. I don't want to spread this to you and cause you to be miserable as well!"

"I'll be fine, don't worry about me. This is about me trying to help you feel better, anyway." He put his arm around my shoulders. I gave up and leaned on him, sipping my tea. We sat like that for a while, until I had finished my tea.

"You still look awful," he said, looking at me closely.

"Jee, thanks. I wonder why," I said sarcastically looking up at him.

"No, I mean…maybe you should see a doctor or something. You're eyes are very dark and you're skin is really pale. And you have a bad fever." He placed one of his cool hands on my forehead. "Yeah, definitely a bad fever."

"I'll take some Tylenol later."

"I don't think Tylenol's gonna cut it."

"It usually helps when I'm sick, can you get me some? It's in the medicine cabinet in the bathroom connected to my bedroom."

"Sure," he stood up and headed over to where my bedroom was. I let myself fall onto the couch and curled up yet again with my blanket, shutting my eyes for a moment until he got back. I felt a hand on my shoulder and knew he was back, so I opened my eyes to see him kneeling next to the couch, by my face.

"Here, take this…" he handed me the medicine and a glass of water. I popped the pills into my mouth and washed them down with a gulp of the water.

"Thanks." I handed him the glass and he took it, setting it on a table.

"Maybe you should change into your pajamas, I just realized that you're still wearing your work clothes. It might make you more comfortable," he offered. I realized this too and blushed a little.

"Yeah, I think I'll do that," I hopped up off the couch, a little too fast, and stumbled a little, he caught me by the shoulders, steadying me.

"Careful."

"Sorry…thanks."

I went into my bedroom and closed the door behind me. My room was pretty bare, just my bed, mini table…that was it. But of course with various clothes thrown everywhere. I knelt down and picked up a faded red, baggy t-shirt. There may or may not have been some holes in it. I shrugged it off, shook off my dress, and replaced it with the t-shirt. I took off my leggings too and searched around my room to find some comfy pants. After a minute of searching I came across a pair of gray pants made with soft, thin fabric. I slipped them on and then went into my bathroom. When I looked into the mirror a sunken eyed, pale me stared back. Wow, I really do look awful. My hair was a mess too. I grabbed a brush and attacked it, attempting to at least get some of the knots out. I eventually gave up on my hair, I mean, I already looked a wreck anyway so my hair wasn't really going to matter either way. I wonder what Arthur thinks of how I look…gosh I don't even want to know. Wait, why do I even care what he thinks? And why's he even trying to help me out? What the hells even going on…I pondered this for a couple seconds. We weren't particularly close…well, okay, yes we were. But I mean you gotta really care about someone to willingly show up at their door and offer to care for them while they're sick. Maybe he's just a really nice person? I let it go and accepted the fact that he was being nice to me and I should appreciate it, and headed back towards the living room where he was waiting for me. Deep down I was still questioning his true motives. When I stepped back into the living room he was sitting on the couch, he looked back at me and smiled.

"Nice pajamas." I blushed a little.

"Why, thank you." I curled back up onto the couch. He draped the blanket back over me and I rested my head on a pillow. "I'm wondering, Arthur, why did you decide to help me out? This is a super nice thing to do so I was just curious…I really appreciate it though."

"I just thought I should, I guess cause I care about you." He actually really cares about me? No one had ever cared about me enough to actually act on it.

"Oh…thank you," I replied quietly. I really didn't know what to say. He smiled goofily and messed up my hair playfully, I smiled back and laughed. "Want to watch a movie together?"

"Sure. What do you have in mind?"

"One of my favorites, Titanic!"

"Hmm, depressing movie." I laughed.

"Yes, it is. But it's a cute love story…"

"True." I hopped off of the couch and searched for it in my DVD stash beside my television. Once I found it I turned on the TV, popped in the disc, and snuggled myself up on the couch next to Arthur.

I sniffled. Crap. Arthur looked at me with a little smile and pulled me closer to him.

"Aw, is the movie making you cry?" he asked me playfully.

"It's a sad movie! What, am I supposed to laugh or something?" I responded sarcastically smiling up at him. He laughed back.

"You know, the guy character reminds me a lot of Cobb."

"Wow, never realized that. They really do look alike." We both looked at each other and burst out laughing. I had never really thought about it too much, but it was actually a lot of fun to be with Arthur. He was different than anyone else I usually spent time with…it actually felt like he wanted to be with me. Like I could open up completely to him and not have to worry. To be carefree. We sat there for some more of the movie, just watching it together, close together on the couch.

"You know, I think I'm starting to feel better. You being here must be curing me," I said jokingly.

"I'm glad to hear that. I should stay even longer then, you know, to ensure you're eventually 100% cured."

"Well that didn't sound cheesy at all," I replied causing, us both to laugh.

"You have pretty eyes."

"Um…thank you." He blushed and looked back at the movie for a moment.

"Sorry, sometimes I say things without thinking first…that was awkward…" he mumbled quickly, embarrassed. I just smiled at him and held his arm, he looked down at me.

"That wasn't awkward at all, I'm actually very happy that you think that, that's a sweet thing of you to say." We both held a gaze for a couple seconds, looking into each others eyes. Without realizing it our faces were becoming closer and closer to one another's. Our lips gently touched. We kissed. His lips felt warm and soft on mine. It was almost an electric feeling. We kept kissing until eventually I realized we were now lying on the couch, me on the bottom him on top. He stroked my hair with one of his hands and I wrapped mine around his back, almost as if to pull him the closest he could possibly be to me. I felt his arms moving up the back of my t-shirt. Then he paused and looked at me with his deep eyes, wordlessly asking for my approval. I merely smiled and caught him in a kiss. That was approval enough. He swiftly lifted partially from the couch and removed my shirt, leaving me in only my bra. He then unhooked it and tossed it aside, leaving me now topless. He then hastily pulled off his own shirt, messing up his hair in the process, but it just made him look sexier anyway. We wrapped ourselves into an even deeper kiss and embrace and he slowly started to pull down my pajama pants. Next was my underwear.

I awoke to find myself lying beside Arthur who appeared to still be in a very deep sleep…on the floor. Wait, what? Oh…yeah. I had almost forgotten what had happened last night. I looked at Arthur's sleeping face, he looked so calm. Content. I smiled a small smile and tried to resist my urge to run my fingers through his hair, because I was sure that that would be enough to wake him. I knew from experience how much of a light sleeper he was.

It was a cold winter morning and I had just arrived at the warehouse. The cool air around me caused my breath to be let out in short puffs of smoke. I shivered slightly underneath my thick wool sweater. I cursed to myself as I gazed down at my tights, wishing I had worn pants instead. Too late now for that. I made my way carefully towards my desk and set my bag on top. Once I had my things out and ready for day's work I decided to go see if any of the guys were here yet. Cobb's was a definite yes but the others had made a habit of getting here late. I shuffled my shivering body away from my desk, hugging my arms close to my body in hopes of warmth. I made my way around a corner and to my surprise, there was Arthur. But he didn't greet me like he usually did, for now he was slumped over his desk…sleeping. Yes, Arthur was in fact dead asleep at his desk. I almost laughed out loud but instead stifled my laugh and grinned goofily. I walked over to his desk softly.

"Arthur?" I said quietly, not expecting a response.

"Huh?" his head shot up from his desk, startled. I jumped in surprise.

"Jeez! That scared me! I just came in here and you were passed out on your desk." He looked at me and once he had comprehended the situation he merely leaned back into his chair.

"Well at least now you know that I'm a light sleeper now," he replied jokingly.

I remained in the same position, laying on my side, as I watched him sleep. Thinking of these old memories was somehow comforting in a way. Jeez, how awkward it was going to be now. Or maybe not? I can't believe this happened. First thing I'm sick and he's caring for me and then bam we've had sex. What a night…

"Hn…" My body jerked as Arthur mumbled in his sleep, startling me. I should probably get up now. I carefully sat up, cautious as not to wake him, and picked up my clothes, then sliding into them before making my way to the kitchen. In the kitchen I poured myself a glass of cool water and leaned against the counter, sipping my water. It felt good on my throat, which was still a little scratchy but for the most part better. Oh crap. What if I had spread my illness to Arthur? I had not even thought of that. I muttered under my breath how stupid I had been and set my glass on the counter, just as Arthur came shuffling into the kitchen. He was rubbing his eyes, also now clothed again but this time just his pair of jeans.

"Hey…" he said groggily.

"Hey."

"Good morning, are you feeling any better?"

"Thank you, yes. Last night…" He cut me off.

"Was my fault. I shouldn't have taken advantage of you when you were sick…I have no idea what's wrong with me…" Wait, what?

"No, no! I was just as for it as you were. Please don't feel bad…it was…good."

"…I thought so too." I realized just then how close we were now. Our eyes locked for a what seemed like eternity. Then he lifted my chin gently and our lips softly touched, kissing me gently.