okay, this story is dedicated to the WONDERFUL fluffyandkagura, because she's awesome and she beat me to the punch for writing a sick-fic. you should all go read it. it's bloody amazing, and I can only hope that mine can measure up. this is also intended to be a two-shot, but I'm having major writer's block on the second chapter, so I don't know how soon I'll be able to get it up, BUT I AM TRYING REALLY HARD TO CONTINUE IT!

please let me know if you spot any mistakes, and I dearly hope they aren't OOC. also, in the middle, you'll notice that I focus on Arthur for a bit...but then I kinda jump to Ariadne...yeah, hopefully that part makes sense. it's supposed to jump back like that...just so you know. also, I don't know how long the flu really lasts...but she's had it for about a week.

Disclaimer: do I look like Christopher Nolan? I don't own Inception.

The door had been pounding for what felt like hours before Ariadne finally dragged herself out of bed to answer it. She figured that if she had just pulled a pillow over her head and waited it out, the knocker would eventually go away.

But instead, whoever was on the other side of her door was relentlessly pursuing.

Ariadne couldn't take any more of it; she stumbled to the door, intending to give whoever was there a piece of her mind.

If she didn't manage to pass out first.

"Alright, alright, just hold your horses." she muttered quietly, before letting out a hacking cough.

She took in a deep breath before opening the door, preparing to yell, but-

"Arthur!" she let out another cough. "What are you doing here?"

"What, I'm not allowed to take care of my colleague?" Arthur looked mock-offended. "Come on, Ari, you haven't been at work for a week!"

"Yeah, well, if it weren't for Cobb, I would have been there. Believe me." Ariadne was still slightly annoyed at Cobb's attempt to keep her from work. She knew she was sick, but that wasn't going to keep her away from her job. Cobb should have been impressed by her determination and astounding work ethic.

"Yeah, I believe you." Arthur smirked knowingly. He tried to move past her into the room, but she stood, determined, blocking the doorway.

"But you shouldn't be here, Arthur, you know I have the flu. What if you get sick?" Ariadne had half a mind to just refuse to let him in, but she knew him too well to think that her sickness would make him leave. Not that she didn't want him to be there, but she was contagious, and it wasn't a good idea. But she knew it didn't matter to him; after all, her being sick was the reason he was there. And she knew that nothing she said or did would make him go away. Not now, after he had driven all the way over there after work just to visit her. She noticed that he was still wearing his suit and tie, and his hair was still neatly slicked back.

"Arthur, I'm honored that you came all the way over here for me, I really am, but I still don't think it's a good idea. You're not completely immune to disease, you know." But Ariadne stepped back to let him into her apartment nonetheless.

Arthur just smirked at her, and walked inside.

"I don't care about that, Ari. I just want to take care of you."

"I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself." But when Arthur didn't budge, Ariadne smiled. "But it will be nice to have someone else do the work for a change."

"That's why I'm here." Arthur gave her a look she couldn't say 'no' to.

"Well, aren't you sweet." she said.

"Like I said," Arthur continued, "Can't I just come over and take care of my colleague?"

"Colleague?" Ariadne just stared at him. "Is that all I am to you?"

Arthur looked shocked, he didn't know what to say. Of all the things he had been expecting to come out of Ariadne's mouth, it wasn't that.

"Of course not!" He denied her, trying to sound as cool as possible. She didn't need to know she'd caught him completely off-guard. "You are many things to me."

"Like what?" She moved towards the couch, not bothering to shut the door.

"Well," Arthur closed it for her. "You are...an amazing architect."

Ariadne snorted.

"Hey, I wasn't finished." Arthur tried pouting at her. It didn't work. She giggled.

"You are an amazing person. You are wonderful for a laugh, you HAVE a wonderful laugh, you are amazingly talented at what you do." He continued on, not noticing the incredulous look she was giving him.

"You are also cute, funny, sweet, caring, hardworking, trusting, you are one of my best friends-"

Best friends? Of course that's all we would be. Ariadne thought bitterly.

"-and when I look at you," he took a deep breath. "I just can't help but smile." he finished dramatically, striking a very Hamlet-esque pose. Ariadne laughed out loud.

"And may I add," Arthur went to her and lifted her head to look her in the eyes. "You are also incredibly beautiful."

Ariadne blushed and smiled at him. "Wow Arthur. Did Eames teach you how to be charming?"

Arthur frowned. "Hey, can't I be charming on my own?"

"Of course you can." Ariadne pinched his cheek. He just continued to frown.

"Stop it." he said.

"Alriiiight." she moved to the couch and sat down. "So, what did you bring me?" she asked as she curled up into a ball, and wrapping her blanket tighter around her.

"Close your eyes." Arthur smiled. She was gonna be so proud of him.

(*)

"Okay, open!" Ariadne jerked awake. Her eyes had been closed for so long, she had actually fallen asleep. What had Arthur been doing?

She opened her eyes to a widely grinning Arthur, standing in front of her with a steaming bowl in his hands.

"What's that?" she asked blearily.

"Chicken noodle soup!" Arthur exclaimed. He set the bowl down on the coffee in front of her. "And," he rushed back to the kitchen. "A cup of delicious bouillon." He set the cup next to her soup.

Ariadne smiled, Arthur was too sweet to her. She began to eat her soup, it was just right. She thought of The Three Little Bears, it was her favorite childhood story. Her dad would always tell it to her as a bedtime story, she remembered always whining if he didn't.

She continued to sip her soup absentmindedly, lost in her nostalgic thoughts.

Arthur just continued to stand in front of her, watching. She was strong, it was something he really admired about her. She was a fighter. He remembered that the last time she had been sick, she had actually come to work.

"Cobb, I'm not that sick! Really, I feel fine working today!"

But Cobb was fighting her. "Ariadne, I don't care how fine you feel, I don't want you to be here today."

"I promise I'll stay away from everyone, I don't want to get you guys sick!"

She was so determined, Arthur thought her mind have been slightly affected by the illness.

"Ari, it's YOU I care about, okay?" Cobb went over, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"Hey!" Eames shouted from his corner. He feigned looking hurt. Cobb just rolled his eyes and ignored him.

"How are you supposed to get better when you're out here, working your butt off all day?"

Ariadne was silent, she hadn't thought about that. Cobb smiled, he had won.

Arthur was smiling too, although he tried not to let her see it. They all wanted the best for Ariadne, why couldn't she see that?

"Now, go home, get some rest, and get better, okay?" Cobb turned her around and pushed her towards the door. "Lounge around, watch some TV, enjoy your day off," he said.

Arthur hoped she had been getting better, he didn't want to have a repeat of what had happened the last time.

Ariadne had shown up at work, claiming that she was all better, and demanding that they let her into the warehouse to work.

"Are you sure you're all right?" Cobb looked at her suspiciously.

"Of course I am!" she replied exasperatedly. "Why would you think otherwise?"

"Well, for one thing, there are dark circles under your eyes, have you been getting any sleep?"

"Yes!" she was mad at his distrust in her right now.

"Uh-huh. Well, for another thing, you're extremely pale, your breathing is really shallow, your hair is an absolute mess, you're sweating, and-" he reached out to feel her forehead. "You're burning up."

His point was proven.

Arthur sighed, he had been listening to the whole exchange from his desk. Why was she doing this to herself, it was incredibly stupid.

"Come on, Cobb! I feel fine, I swear I've gotten better since Monday!" She was practically begging him to let her stay.

"No, go home." Cobb just folded his arms and continued to stand in front her, blocking her way to her desk.

Arthur could hear Ariadne's loud sigh as she gave in and turned away. He could just see her face now: puppy-dog eyes, her mouth turned down in an adorable, hard-to-resist pout...

Arthur was suddenly drawn out of his thoughts by the girl's voice.

(*)

He had been standing there for a good ten minutes. She had finished her soup, and was now taking delight in watching him.

"Arthur?"

When he didn't respond, she giggled. It was easy for him to get lost in his thoughts. She had seen it happen before.

He had a dreamy, kind-of adorable half smile on his face; she wondered what he was thinking about.

She continued to watch as his facial expressions changed from happiness, to admiration, to disdain, to worried, to wonderment...his eyes focused the whole time at a spot on the wall behind her.

He was so cute. He wasn't even looking at her, and Ariadne could feel herself getting lost in his eyes. She started sipping her bouillon, just to give herself something to do, just in case he might notice that she was staring at him.

After another ten-or-so minutes, she brought herself out of her thoughts and tried again to get his attention.

"Arthur."

No response. She laughed, it was getting quite ridiculous. She began to worry that if she didn't get him back to reality soon, he might just stand there the whole night.

"Arthur!"

He jerked back to reality. Finally.

"You can sit down, you know." She gave him a small smile and looked pointedly at the spot on the couch next to her.

"Yeah, sure." He quickly moved over to her and sat down. They were silent.

Well, this is slightly awkward.

The two of them looked at each and smiled shyly.

He had such a cute smile, Ariadne thought to herself. She was amazed that she had never noticed it before. It was a bit addicting actually, she couldn't stop staring at it.

The first thing that Arthur noticed was that she was staring at his lips. He blushed.

Ariadne leaned forward ever so slightly, her hands itching to tangle themselves in his hair.

She sure was pretty. Her lips were chapped, her hair was tangled, and her eyes were swollen and red. How could anyone have the flu for a week, and still look so amazing?

Ariadne had an urge to kiss him.

Why was she still staring at him?

He had called her beautiful. Was he thinking properly? Had she gotten him sick? She had the flu. And he called her beautiful.

He wanted to kiss her. He knew he shouldn't...

He looked away first.

Ariadne's head fell slightly, and she went back to her bouillon.

They sat in silence.

"Thanks, Arthur." She eventually broke the silence.

"For?"

"For all this." She said, genuinely happy at everything he was doing for her. No one had ever taken such good care of her before. "For coming over here, for fixing me soup, helping me keep up with my work." He had, in fact, been coming over to her place every day, keeping her up to date on their plans and helping her work on the levels if she got stuck. Despite what Cobb said about how only the dreamers should know the levels, Ariadne couldn't do everything on her own.

"But most of all, thanks for keeping me company this whole time." She gave him a genuine, thankful smile.

He just smiled back at her. "It was my pleasure." he said.

She said nothing, but leaned her head on his shoulder. His heart gave a little flutter.

He turned his head and gave her a soft kiss on her hairline. It was so light, she couldn't be sure that she'd felt it.

But she smiled anyway.

When she woke up, she felt something heavy leaning on her. Arthur's head had fallen to lean on hers, and it was dark outside. They must have been asleep for a couple hours. She quietly moved his head and got up. She took her dirty dishes and took them to the kitchen; she didn't want to think about all the dishes she'd have to wash tomorrow.

She gasped.

Her sink was empty. Her counter was clean. She checked the dishwasher-also empty. She suddenly realized why it had taken Arthur so long to make her soup earlier. He had done all her dishes for her.

She just stood there, staring in amazement. This was too much, he really shouldn't have done it.

"Surprise." She turned around to see Arthur, with a tired smile on his face.

"Arthur, you really shouldn't have done all this." She was too astounded at his actions to say more.

"Ariadne, stop. I came over here to help you out, and I will do anything that falls into that category."

Ariadne was staring at him with her mouth open. How could she ever thank him enough? He did too much for her, and she doubted he would do it for anyone else.

"Arthur-"

"You don't need to thank me, Ari." Arthur held up his hand to silence her. "I was happy to do it."

"I just-" she was speechless. She decided to just give him a smile.

"You need to get some sleep." he said, turning serious. "Come on." He put an arm around her shoulders. "Where's your bedroom?"

"There." she pointed to it and he led her over.

After getting into her bed and curling up under a few more blankets, she grabbed Arthur's hand.

"Stay with me?"

Arthur smiled. "Of course."

He pulled up a chair and sat down next to her, all the while, never letting go of her hand. Even when she fell asleep, she maintained a grip on it.

He sat there for hours, just content with watching her sleep. Finally, at 3:30 a.m., he felt himself unable to keep the drowsiness away. He let go of her hand and placed it on the covers. She shifted ever so slightly, but didn't wake. Arthur breathed a sigh of relief.

She looked so peaceful, he wished he could have stayed there all night, but then he wouldn't have had enough energy to go back to work tomorrow.

He reluctantly got up, and looked at her one more time.

"Sweet dreams." he said, lightly brushing a lock of hair back from her face.

(*)

When Ariadne woke up, the first thing she did was drag herself to the bathroom. She felt horrible, she was aching all over.

After taking a hot shower, she didn't know what to do. Arthur would inevitably be at work, and she couldn't go anywhere...she decided the best thing to do would be to watch a movie. She headed to the living room, but when she got there, she found that someone had beaten her to the punch.

Arthur was sitting on the couch.

"Arthur?" Ariadne gaped at him. "What are you doing here?"

Arthur sat up and turned off the TV. "I decided to take the day off." he said casually. "Make sure you don't try to sneak off to work again." he smirked at her. "Besides, I'm dead tired from watching after you all night." he yawned.

"You think you're tired?" Ariadne muttered teasingly. She shifted her focus to the TV. "What were you watching?"

"The Sting. One of my favorites."

"Ooh, classic." Ariadne wasn't surprised. "Good choice."

"Yeah." Arthur smirked.

Ariadne made her way over to the couch and sat down next to him. "You really don't have to do this, you know."

"I know." Arthur smiled at her. "But that's not the point. Sick or not, I'd love to spend the day with you. Oh, by the way," he got up and moved to the kitchen. When he reentered the living room, he was carrying a plate. "I made you breakfast." He grinned proudly.

"Oh my god." Ariadne was speechless. "Arthur, what-"

"Don't even start, Ari." Arthur said seriously, setting the plate down on the coffee table. "Just eat." He settled back down on the couch.

"Well, thank you." She said. "This is the most thoughtful thing anyone's ever done for me."

"I'm here for you, Ari, never forget that. I'm here to take care of you and spend time with you, even if that means we sit just around, watching old movies all day."

He leaned back and put his arm around her, and she snuggled close to him, leaning her head on his shoulder.

"Sounds like a plan."

please review. pretty please? I'll love you forever.

~ByTheBeautifulSea :-)