"Now It's My Turn"
The loud buzzing sound awoke Peter with a start. He darted up, sitting in his bed in the darkness, slowly drifting into consciousness. The loud, obnoxious buzzing had to stop. Reaching over to the alarm, Peter shut it off. However, the noise still continued. Looking over to the darkness of the other side of the room, Peter saw that Jason hadn't stirred, despite the blaring of the alarm. Not to mention he could barely see Jason, who was huddled under a pile of blankets.
"Jase, you gotta get up." Peter grumbled, dragging himself out of bed and over to Jason's side. Placing one knee on the edge of Jasons' bed, Peter leaned over him to shut off the alarm. Despite the annoying, loud buzzing of the two alarms, Jason still hadn't moved. Peter lightly pushed him back and forth a few times. "Jase, c'mon. It's seven, we got to get ready for school." He still didn't move, so Peter pushed harder. It usually wasn't this hard to wake him up. "Jason, you have to get up now or I'll drag you out of bed." Jason let out a groan and rolled away from Peter. This only made Peter question if he was drunk or had a hangover or something. "I'm going to count to three," he warned playfully. "One… Two… Three!" On three, Peter pulled the covers off Jason's face.
"Leave me alone, let me just sleep a little more." Jason protest, searching blindly for his covers to pull up again. Peter looked down at him with a concerned expression. "What?" Jason asked, eyes slightly open now, looking up at Peter and wondering what the hell was wrong with him.
"You look horrible, and you're all sweaty."
"Well I'm fuckin' freezing" Jason explained.
Peter leaned in, resting the palm of his hand gently on Jason's forehead. "Oh God, you're burning up. You can't go to school today."
"I feel fine, I can go." It seemed this was the motivation Jason needed to get up. He quickly rose to sitting position, pausing for a moment as the whole world seemed to spin around him quickly.
"No you can't." Peter objected, pushing him back down in the bed. "Stay there while I go get the thermometer."
For once Peter was glad his mom sent him that embarrassing care package full of medicine, band-aids, a thermometer, deodorant, a tooth-brush and tooth-paste, and some clean underwear. Reaching under his bed, Peter pulled out the box. It had only been opened that one time, so everything in it was still neatly arranged. Pulling out the thermometer and the Theraflu, Peter pushed the box back under and went back over to Jason. "Open up." He commanded, turning on the thermometer. Jason was too out of it to argue anymore so he simply did what Peter asked. After waiting for the beep, Peter pulled out the thermometer. "Shit, 103, Jason you're really sick…"
"Nomnot." He mumbled in protest, eyes remaining closed.
"Okay I'll be right back, you just rest." With a small kiss on Jason's forehead, Peter left the room.
Jason's consistency of time was all distorted for him right now, but when he awoke, Peter had returned.
"Here. Sit up. Take this." Peter helped Jason sit up, placing a pill in his mouth and bringing a cup of water to Jason's lips.
After Jason had swallowed, he looked over at Peter. "Whazzat?" he mumbled.
"It's Theraflu. I'm not sure if you have the flu, but it should help either way." Peter gently laid Jason back in the bed, pulling the covers up to his neck. "Now just rest some more okay?" he said, trying to conceal the worry in his voice. Jason nodded and drifted back into a hazy sleep.
He wasn't sure how long he had slept, but soon Jason found himself waking up to Peter hovering over him. He had a kind smile on his face and a soft expression.
"Hey." He said tenderly, "I'm sorry to wake you, but I made you some soup." Jason sat up in his bed while Peter adjusted his pillows so that he'd be comfortable. He got up and retrieved the bowl of hot soup that was on the nightstand, along with a spoon, and brought them over to Jason. When Jason reached for the bowl, Peter pulled it back slightly. "Ummm…Can I…feed it to you?" Peter asked a little timidly. He was unsure of what Jason might say, but it was always a little secret fantasy of his and now he had the chance to live it out.
"Sure." Jason replied with a small, amused smile. He didn't mind, and it was actually kind of cute that Peter wanted to do this. And Peter's overjoyed expression made it just that much better. Not to mention who knew what disaster would occur if he held a bowl of hot soup in his present state.
Peter took the first spoonful of soup, tasting it to make sure it wouldn't burn Jason's mouth. The temperature was just right, so Peter scooped up another spoonful and carefully brought it to Jason's mouth.
"S'good." Jason replied after taking a second mouthful. Even through his blurry gaze he could see the smile that had spread across Peter's face.
After the soup was finished, Peter returned the empty bowl to the table. He went back to Jason's side, tucking him back in. It was then he noticed Jason's shivering. "You okay?"
"Why's it so cold in here?" he muttered. "Can I have more blankets?"
"You can't or you'll overheat…" Peter recalled hearing that from his mother one time when he was sick. Apparently it could be dangerous if you are too covered with heat because even though you think you're cold, your body already is above normal temperature. Peter bit his bottom lip, worrying and slightly panicking what to do. He feared if he went to the nurse, she would make Peter go to class, but under no circumstances did he want to leave Jason. Shutting his eyes really tight, Peter tried to recall what else his mother had said about high fevers. After some concentrated thought, the words came back clearly to him. Standing up, Peter lifted his shirt off his back and pulled down his pants.
"Peter I'm really not in the mood right now…" Jason said, closing his eyes once more.
"No. This is something my mother told me about and I wanted to try it. Move over a little." Jason obliged and Peter crawled into bed next to him. "If our bare bodies touch, it should help with your fever. I can absorb some of your heat and bring it down."
"I should get sick more often." he tried to joke, but Jason could only muster up a weak smile at the moment while he scooted over in the bed, allowing Peter to climb in next to him.
Peter lifted up the covers, feeling guilty for hearing Jason's quick gasp as the coldness of the room hit his sweaty body. Quickly, Peter covered himself in the blanket as well, making sure they were both tightly wrapped under the blanket. He scooted closer to Jason, wrapping his arms around him and holding his body close. Peter could almost feel the heat actually leaving Jason's body and spreading throughout his. It brought with it Jason's pain and suffering, and for a moment, Peter felt as if he was taking on some of Jason's burden. The two of them remained like that, dazing off into a deep sleep.
The sun's rising rays shone through the boys' window, dancing upon Jason's eyelids until he woke up. His eyes blinked open, a few moments passing before his surroundings became clear. He was lying in Peter's arms (when usually it was the opposite way around), and they were covered in blankets despite the heat being on in the room. The foggy events of last night slowly came back to Jason as a smile grew on his face. He looked down at his sleeping boyfriend, feeling more than grateful to have him around.
It was as if Jason's steady stare woke Peter, because moments later the boy's eyes fluttered open to see Jason's face only inches from his. Peter yawned before displaying a sleepy smile. "'Morning. Do you feel better?" he inquired.
Jason nodded, "Yea, I do. A lot. I think my fever went down too."
Peter reached his hand up from under the covers to check his forehead. "Yea, you feel normal now." He reported with a smile.
"We better get ready for school." He said, flipping the covers off and sitting up in bed. Peter nodded and did the same, walking back to his side of the room to gather stuff for his shower. Jason stood at the side of his bed for a moment, watching Peter intently. "….Peter?" Peter looked up, with a nod, waiting to hear what Jason had to say. With a shy smile, something Jason did not often display, he looked over at Peter; "Thanks." Peter grinned and got back to gathering his clothes. There were no more words spoken until they were ready, but a million silent ones were made known.