Wrote this instead of studying for my organic chemistry exam like I should be doing *shrugs*. Anyways, I'll just let you guys read. Enjoy!

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There's a mix of relief when the bell rings, signaling the last class of the day will be starting in five minutes. I exit the classroom and make my way down the hall to my next class. I have study hall with Emily to end the day with and it will be a relief to see how she is doing. She came to school with a terrible cough and stuffy nose two days ago and she has only gotten worse since then; frequent headaches, huge loss of energy, and scratchy throat now being added onto her list of symptoms. She went to the doctor yesterday after school and they gave her some antibiotics and some other medicines but she refused to take them after the first few times, claiming that they were messing up her stomach. I can tell that she's lost a bit of weight too since she either hasn't had an appetite or can't seem to hold down any food that she does eat. Seeing my usually energetic and happy girlfriend so rundown hurts me just as much, if not more, then her sickness is hurting her.

I finally get to the classroom and sit at the table all the way in the back of the room. I know Em won't want to be around a lot of people if the past few days are any indication of that. I'm just glad it's Friday and she'll be able to rest properly for a few days. Her mom left for Texas this morning to spend some time with her dad, but only after Emily had talked her into it. Pam had been planning on going but as soon as Emily got sick she was going to forego the trip and stay home to take care of her. All it took was one day for Emily to get tired of Pam hanging around her 24/7, making sure she was eating, staying hydrated, and taking her meds. Apparently she even tried to give Emily a sponge bath since she was having a hot spell and was practically dripping in sweat. That was where Emily drew the line and convinced her to take the trip to Texas. Pam only gave in after she had called my mom and asked her if Emily could stay with us and if Ashley could keep an eye on her condition.

Emily sluggishly walks through the door just seconds before the tardy bell rings. Her sleepy eyes scanning the room for me and a relieved look appearing on her face when she spotted me in the back. She let her backpack drop from her shoulder and she plopped down in the seat next to me.

"Hey babe, are you feeling any better?" I ask softly as I gently kiss her temple. She's really running a fever, her skin is on fire.

"No, I feel like shit. I just want to go home," she mumbles.

"I'm sorry baby. I hate that you feel so bad. It's killing me to see you like this." Emily doesn't say anything, just shifts her body and lays her head in my lap. She squirms around a bit, trying to find a comfortable position. She ends up propping her feet up on the table, her lower back and butt planted on her chair, and her head and shoulders resting over my thighs. I run my fingers through her hair, nails grazing gently across her temples and scalp. She hums contently, but then that turns into her going into a coughing fit and having to sit up until it passes. When it does she looks even more exhausted than before. Emily leans forward and rests her forehead on the desk so I rub my hand up and down her back softly.

"Em?"

"Hmm?"

"So, my mom got called for a last-minute business trip to New York this weekend and there's no way she can get out of it."

"Oh God, I'm gonna die this weekend," she groans.

"Hey! I take offense to that. I am perfectly capable of taking care of you," I argue. She turns her head to the side and raises a perfectly shaped eyebrow at me. "I'm serious, Em. You'll be fine."

"Hanna, I love you, but you aren't exactly the best at keeping things alive. Need I remind you of the half a dozen fish you forgot to feed and they all died?" Emily says warily.

"Emily, please just trust me on this. God, I'm not gonna let my girlfriend die because I 'forgot' to feed her. Besides it's not like you've been eating much anyway."

She cracks a small smile and reluctantly gives in, "Fine, I trust you to take care of me."

"Thank you. Now, try to get some rest," I say as I pull her closer to me by her shoulders, laying my head on top of hers that is now resting on my chest. I go back to playing with her hair and she dozes off after a couple minutes.

I wince when the bell rings at the end of the day, as if feeling the pain it causes Emily when it startles her awake. We get up and collect our things. As we exit the classroom I grab her hand, intertwining our fingers, and leading her to my car. I open the passenger door for her and help her in. I run around to my side and start the car, carefully pulling out of the parking lot and driving towards my house. When we get there, I get out and go back over to Emily's side and help her out. We slowly make our way through the door and up the stairs to my room.

"Sit," I tell her gently. She sinks onto the bed. I waltz over to my dresser and pull out a pair of Emily's boy shorts and a tank top that she has in her drawer here. I go back over and stand in front of her. "Arms up."

Emily raises her arms and I pull off her hoodie and shirt before reaching around her back and unclipping her bra, knowing she will be more comfortable. I slide the tank top over her head and pull in down over her torso, dropping a kiss onto her cheek as I do so. I back up a little and lift her left leg to remove her shoe before doing the same with her right. Knowing what's coming next, Emily holds on my forearms as I grip her hips and stands up for me to take off her pants and replace them with the pair of shorts I got. I unbuckle her jeans and pull the zipper down. Emily places her hands on my shoulders to brace herself as I slide down her body, bringing her jeans down with me. Still kneeling down on the floor, I grab the shorts off the bed and pull them up her long, toned, tanned legs. I raise back up to face her, a grateful smile on her face and love in her eyes. I return the smile and lean my head back to kiss the underside of her chin.

"Now," I say as I pull the covers back on my bed, " Lay down and get some rest. I'm gonna go downstairs and get everything you may need squared away. Your cell phone is right here and I have mine on me so just call me or text me if you wake up and need anything, okay?"

"Got it, boss," Emily smiles. I pull the blankets up to her chin and turn to exit the room. "Babe?"

"Yeah, Em?"

"Thank you."

I smile in reply and walk down to the kitchen. I read the instructions that both my mom and Emily's mom left for Emily's medicine routine and stuff. An hour or so later I hear movement upstairs. I race up to my room, but am confused when I don't see Emily. I hear the toilet flush down the hall and turn around to see Emily exiting the bathroom.

"You have a good nap, Emmy?" I ask, wrapping an arm around her waist to support her as she walks.

"Better than the last few days, but still not as good as usual," she replies lowly. I give her a sad smile and lead her back to my room. "No, I want to go downstairs with you," she pouts.

"Honey, get back in bed and I'll be there in a minute. We can cuddle and watch Netflix. Does that sound good?"

"Yeah."

"It's getting close to dinner time. Do you feel up to eating?" Emily groans and buries her head in my shoulder. "Em, when was the last time you ate?"

"I don't know. Yesterday afternoon?"

"Emily! That's too long to go without eating when you're this sick. No wonder you have like zero energy. You need to eat if you expect to get better anytime soon. Lay down, I'm going to fix you something." Before she has a chance to protest, I leave the room and hustle downstairs to the kitchen.

Earlier I decided on making Em some homemade chicken noodle soup for dinner. I take two pots out of the cabinet and set them on the stove burners. I add a couple cups of water and chicken broth before taking out the pieces of chicken my mom cooked before she left, celery, carrots, green beans, and peas from the fridge. I cut the chicken into small chunks and slice the celery and carrots before adding all of them to one pot and pour a box of noodles into water in the other pot. I turn the heat on high and wait for everything to cook. Once it's ready, I get the food tray from the cabinet as well as a bowl and spoon. I set the bowl on the tray and add the noodles. After that I add the chicken, vegetables, and soup mixture from the other pot. I get Emily a bottle of water and add it to the tray before heading back upstairs.

My room is quiet and I almost expect to find Emily asleep. She's laying on my bed facing the door, but as soon as she hears me she opens her eyes and starts to sit up. I put the tray on my bedside table and help her up. As soon as she is comfortable I pick the tray back up and put it over her lap. The tray has legs on it so I'm able to easily set it over her thighs with the legs resting on either side. She looks at the bowl of soup warily before turning her attention back to me.

"Han, thanks for doing this, but my throat really hurts and I don't feel like eating."

"You have to eat, Em. You don't have to finish it, but please, just try to eat as much as you can," I say as I pick up the spoon and get a scoop of the soup, elevating it to her closed mouth. "Eat. Please? For me?"

She sighs and looks at me worriedly, "Promise this won't kill me?"

"EM! You'll be fine. God, have a little faith in me." She opens her mouth, allowing me to slip the spoonful of soup inside. She winces and she swallows it. "Come on, it can't be that bad."

"It hurts. I told you my throat was sore."

"I know, babe, but you have to eat. Now," I say as I raise another spoonful, "just do as much as you can."

After fifteen minutes, and many glares from Emily as I spoon-fed her, half of the soup has been eaten and I figured that would be good enough for now, before Em slaps the spoon out of my hand and flips the tray across the room. "Finally," she mutters under her breath.

"Hey, please don't be mad babe. I just want you to get better," I whisper softly, taking her hand in mine and running the fingers of my free hand through her hair to push it back from her face.

"I know. And I know it may not have seemed like it a few minutes ago, but I really do appreciate you doing all this. I've gotta admit, you are taking really good care of me. I'm sorry for doubting you baby," she murmurs, giving my hand a gentle squeeze. I press a kiss to her forehead and get off the bed. I pick up the tray and walk back downstairs, yelling over my shoulder to Emily that I'll be back in a minute. I put the dishes in the sink. I turn to look at the clock on the kitchen wall and see that it's nearing nine in the evening. I know it's still kind of early, but under the circumstances I think Emily should probably be going to sleep for the night. I grab her medicine that her mom said for her to take before bed and trudge back upstairs to see her still sitting up in my bed waiting for me.

"You should get some sleep, Em," I say as I hand her the antibiotics

She takes them with a gulp of her water and looks up at me with her big, brown, puppy eyes. "Can we cuddle?"

I smile and slip into the bed beside her, "Of course. You know I could never turn down cuddling with my favorite girl."

I lay on my back with my arm stretched out across the bed. Emily turns on her side and slides in next to me tightly. She tucks her head into the crook of my neck, throwing her arm across my waist and a leg over one of mine. I pull her into me more and alternate between running my fingers through her hair and tracing patterns on her back. After about ten minutes her breathing has evened out. She sounds a lot better, she doesn't sound nearly as congested as she did before. I tilt my head to the side and watch her peaceful face for a couple more minutes before I made a move to get out of bed to go back to the kitchen and clean everything up. Before I could even move an inch Emily tightened her hold around my waist and pulled me back into her. "No," she mumbles, "stay with me."

I smile softly and settle back into place, "Always. I'll always stay with you, love."

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Thanks for reading, loves! Hope you enjoyed it, xo