I feel like shit. I've been sick with the flu for the past three days and it is not letting up. I'm constantly sweating from my fever, my nose is constantly either running or stuffy, and despite having a ridiculously high fever, I am constantly shivering. Having no roommates, I make a quick run to pick up some more broth-based soup from the store. It's the only thing I can eat that soothes my throat.
I know how awful I look. My blue eyes are watery and droopy. My blond hair is messy because I couldn't be bothered to brush it. My nose is red and filled with mucus. I'm coughing everywhere. Sorry, public, but I need to eat something. My entire body aches as I step out of my car and walk to the convenience store entrance. I can barely keep my eyes open, I'm exhausted. As I walk around to the isle containing the canned soup, I notice someone else there, too. And when I get even closer, I see him crouched down, taking the last can of my chicken noodle soup.
"Hell no you don't!" My sickly voice is embarrassing and weak, but demanding and causes the dark-haired man to scowl at me. He looks like shit, too. Maybe even worse than me. He's fairly attractive, though.
"Excuse me?" he says, nose red and sounding full of snot, as he stands up tightly holding the can of soup in his hand. "You want this?" he holds it out, not offering it but letting me see it. I look to his face and see the smuggest grin that's ever graced the features of any human being.
I frown at him. "Look. I drove twenty minutes to get that fucking can of soup. Hand it over." I hold out my hand as if he'll just give it to me. I know that isn't what's going to happen, though.
His expression lightens, but the arrogant look remains. "Oh, really? It only took me a minute to walk here. Good thing, too. Looks like I got here just in time."
"Give me that can, you bastard."
He smiles. "No."
"God dammit! Give me the fucking soup! I want to go home and sleep!"
"So do I. Wish I could say it was nice meeting you." He turns around and walks towards the check-out line. I fast-walk towards him and grab his shoulder.
"I'll fucking pay you for it, I don't care. It's the only kind I like." Do I have to beg him?
He looks like he'll consider it. He places his hand on his chin and asks, "How much?"
"I don't know, how much do you want for it?" I ask.
"How much was it listed for?"
"A dollar ninety-eight." I know exactly how much it is because I have to come in here every other fucking day to get it since this flu started.
"Ten dollars and you can have it."
"Are you fucking kidding me?!"
"Do you want it or not?" Whenever I think of this asshole, it's going to be with that haughty grin, because it's decorating his sickly face once again. His dark, tired eyes are shimmering.
I can't believe I'm doing this. "Fucking fine." I pull out a ten dollar bill from my wallet and he gives me the soup for the money.
"Thanks. Have a good day," he says as he smiles and walks off behind me. He's talking to a store associate. What for? Whatever. I make my way to the register and buy my single can of soup. I'll have to come back tomorrow when the shelves are restocked.
I look back to the isle I was in and see that asshole walking towards the registers with five cans of the same shit. Seriously?! "Hey asshole, were you hustling me?!" I yell as loud as I can manage. He finds his place behind me in line.
"No, they have more in the back, you idiot. You just have to ask. Thanks for paying for my soup."
He winks at me as the cashier says, "Sir... Sir!" I look at her and she hands me my receipt and grocery bag. "Have a good day," she utters kind of rudely. I wait, though, and stand at the end of the line and watch that dick hand her the ten dollar bill I paid him, grab his paper bag, thank the cashier charmingly, and then walk past me.
I quickly catch up to him, "I want my ten dollars back," I demand.
"Why the hell would I give you your money back? You wanted my can of soup. You should have asked someone for more cans."
"I wasn't thinking, Jesus Christ!"
"Well that's your fault." He holds the door open for me as we walk outside. I ignore him completely and walk straight to my shitty car as he calls after me. "Hey, how about I make it up to you?" I continue walking and hold my hand up to give him the finger. "C'mon over to my place, I'll heat all these up in a big pot and we can split it, alright? You look like you could eat a lot more than one can." I hear the sudden sincerity in his voice and am really surprised. A cold-hearted jerk like that inviting me over? To eat his food?
I turn around to face him. He's a good thirty feet away. It's relatively easy for me to make a decision, and despite him being an asshole, I half-yell, "I hope that wasn't a pity offer because I never turn down free food." He smiles and shakes his head before turning around and walking to (I'm guessing) the direction of his home.
"So what's your name?" he asks as soon as I catch up to him.
"Naruto. Yours?"
"Sasuke. I guess it is nice to meet you, after all."
"Don't be so sure just yet, Sasuke." He was right when he said it takes him a minute to walk to the store. We're there after a brief conversation about how shitty we've been thanks to the flu.
"—yeah it's been bad this year," he continues while fumbling with his keys to unlock his apartment door. "Almost everyone I know has had it. I was hoping to avoid it, but," he pushes his door in and does an 'after-you' gesture, "I ended up being one of the last people in our office to catch it."
His apartment is pretty nice. Seems like a one-bedroom with a good-sized living room and kitchen. It's extremely clean, though, which might be making it look larger than it is. "Nice place you got," I mention.
"Thanks. Do you have an apartment or...?" Why's he interested? Making small talk?
"Yeah, it isn't this spacious, though. Just a studio flat."
Sasuke nods his head. "A lot of those around here are nice, though. Highly sought-after."
"I guess so." A small, totally black cat rubs against the side of my leg and wraps the tip of its tail around my calf. "Oh, you have a cat?" I question. This guy doesn't seem the type to enjoy pets.
"Yeah, she was my friend's at first. He was sleeping on my couch for a while, but he left the cat here after he found his own place, the asshole. You aren't allergic are you?" I crouch down to pet her.
"Nah. What's her name?" The cat purrs as I scratch under her chin.
I glance up to Sasuke and a wave of embarrassment washes over his face. He sighs as he drags a hand down his face. "Her name is Sasuke." I burst into laughter.
"Haha! What the fuck? Hey, Sasuke~" I baby-talk to the cat. "You're so pretty, aren't you?" She continues to purr and head-butts my knee and I stand up. "Haha why is her name Sasuke?"
"The guy thought it would be funny to name the cat after me, thinking it was a male. But she ended up being female, with a male name."
"At least you've got a good story, huh?" I smile. He smiles back.
"Yeah, I guess so. I'm going to heat up this soup. You can take off your shoes and sit on the couch if you want. I know how shitty you feel." He places the bag on the kitchen counter, removes its contents, and dumps all five cans into a big pot on the burner. So I decide to relax. I turn on the news, which is uninteresting. The flu count is up. No shit. Someone was just robbed. As usual. Puppies need adopting. My flat doesn't allow pets, damn.
Before I know it, Sasuke the human is coming over with two big bowls of soup. "Thank you so much," I say, wide eyed and ready to devour this.
"Don't mention it. You paid for it," he smiles and takes a seat next to me. "Don't spill that on the couch or I'll fuck you up."
"Yeah, yeah." We eat delicious soup and watch the news. Soon Sasuke changes the channel to some nature show about Earth's natural beauties. It's honestly fascinating.
"Doesn't seeing huge fields like that just make you want to run and run?" I look at Sasuke as I ask.
"Maybe they would if I didn't feel like chopping my own head off from this fucking headache."
I can relate. "Take a nap. That helps mine go away," I advise.
"Yeah, I'll probably do that after we finish eating." I sort of dread dinner ending now because I like this guy's company. He's interesting and chill. I think we'd make pretty good friends even if he's an asshole.
I drink up the last of the salty broth and set my dish on the coffee table in front of me. I don't remember falling asleep on his couch, but what seems like a couple minutes later, Sasuke is shaking me awake. "Wake up, dumbass. Is that a way to treat your host?"
"Sorry, I've been so tired all day," I rub my eyes and sneeze into my elbow.
"Bless you," Sasuke tells me.
"Thanks," then I remember what I came here for in the first place. "That soup was delicious, Sas, thank you!"
"'Sas', huh?" He grins. "Again, you're the one who bought it. Plus it was just canned, you idiot."
"I know, but it tasted better than usual today," I admit sheepishly.
He's still grinning when he catches my gaze and asks, "Want to take a nap with me?"
The suddenness catches me off guard. I don't even think before I say, "What?"
"Just sleeping, you know," he states straightforwardly.
"Two sick strangers taking a nap together. You're probably just waiting to murder me or some shit, I don't know."
"What? What makes you think that? You were already asleep on my couch. If I wanted to do anything I would have." He takes a moment to chuckle. "You can go home if you'd rather do that." Well, he is nice-looking. He's pretty witty and funny, too. What am I thinking? He's not asking me out or asking me for sex, he just wants a nap. And if he does actually try to kill me, I think I can take him.
I look him up and down. "I don't know what's making me so spontaneous today," I confess, "but sure. Fuck it. Why not?"
He closes his eyes, shakes his head, and smiles. "You're too easy, Naruto." When he opens his eyes, he says, "With anyone else, that would probably get you into trouble."
I know I should be paranoid and leave, but I think Sasuke's genuinely a good guy. "Fuck you."
"C'mon," he mutters as he picks up our dishes and leads me to the kitchen. After placing them in the sink, I follow him to his room. It isn't anything fancy. Just a regular sized, tidy bedroom with modern furnishing, but it smells incredible.
"Which side do you sleep on?" I ask.
"The right." Fuck, me too. Whatever. Sasuke throws the extra pillows to the floor and unrolls the duvet. I undo my pants and they drop to the floor. Sasuke's eyes widen, "What the fuck do you think we're doing in here?!" he yells, flustered and offended.
"I can't sleep in jeans, asshole!" I reply. Sasuke thinks a moment, has the facial expression of hm-yeah-I-guess-so, and shrugs his shoulders before doing the same. We both make our way into his bed in boxer shorts and hoodies. I feel awkward. Should I lay as usual? I'll be facing him. Should I face away from him or will he think that's rude? I decide to lie on my back, as uncomfortable as it is for me. I glance to Sasuke, who is lying on his side facing me with his eyes already closed. Maybe it is okay then? I turn to face him, too.
It's uncomfortable sleeping with my mouth open because I know I'm going to be drooling and snoring since I can't breathe through my nose, but he has to do the same thing so I guess that makes it less embarrassing?
And I was right. When I wake up, I've drooled all over the pillow and Sasuke is lying next to me laughing into the air with his arm bent over his eyes.
I'm so aware of what's going on right now I yell, "Shut up, asshole!" in a voice that makes it obvious that I was sleeping like a baby.
"God, you snore so loud!" He laughs and snorts.
"Shut up! I don't normally do that, I swear! I can't breathe!"
"What the fuck ever," Sasuke laughs and coughs and laughs some more. I grab his arms to pull them away from his face and he rolls onto his side. He's... beautiful. He really can't stop laughing and his perfect teeth are exposed in a wide-open smile as his body quivers with each wave of laughter. His eyes are closed, but elated and teary with joy. Snot is starting to drip from his nose but he doesn't seem to care or notice. Looking at how happy he is, and feeling the weak tension from his arms try to fight against me in order to cover his face again, makes me chuckle, too. He opens his eyes and sees me in the middle of a laughing/coughing fit and he loses it all over again.
I never imagined he was such a happy person. He reaches out and latches his arms around my neck and buries his wet face into my hoodie. Gross, but it's okay. I hold him close to me and feel him continue to happily shudder. When it dies down, he pushes away from me, wipes his face and says, "You're an ugly sleeper."
"That was rude, asshole," I tell him, but I can't stop smiling.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry. I couldn't stop laughing. I tried but I kept thinking of your snoring and, ppftt, and I—ha hA HAAHAA!"
"Oh my god, shut the fuck uuuuppppp, that's so mortifying!"
"Hahaha. Hmmm," he ends his laughter. "Thank you," he says. "I really haven't laughed that hard in so long. I mean so long."
"Yeah, you looked like one of those stone-cold-hearted bastards who hates fun," I tell him. It's true.
"Well you looked like the impulsive type and you were eye-catching at the store, no matter how sick you looked, so I'm glad you came over. I just wanted something different today."
"'Something different'? Do you pick up guys like groceries at the store?" That was lame, I shouldn't have said that.
"Shut up," he says as he lightly punches me in the shoulder. "Get out of my apartment," he softly demands with a smile.
I honestly don't want to leave without... "Can I ask you something, Sasuke?"
"Sure."
"Can I... can I kiss you?" I see his face fluster a little, but it's barely noticeable.
"I'm sick," he calmly remarks.
"Well damn, if you don't want me to you could just say so."
"I'm fucking with you, come here." He holds the back on my head and pulls me to him. The kiss is sloppy and messy from the sickness, drool, snot, whatever else, and I have to take breaths through my mouth but it's a great kiss nonetheless. "Now get out," he orders with a gentle grin.
I leave the warm comfortableness of the bed, pull on my pants, and head out the bedroom door. I pat kitty Sasuke on my way out and yell, "Hope to see you again, sometime!" to human Sasuke before closing the door behind me and walking to my car.
A/N: Might continue this into a short multi-chap, might not. I don't know. I don't know what this is. Forgive me.