Disclaimer: I do not own Victorious, nor the virus influenza. Though I do sometimes possess the latter.
/
"Jade, am I gonna die?"
Jade sighed, propping a pillow up behind Cat, the red-headed girl leaning back once it was in place. "No, you're not gonna die. You've just got the flu."
Cat blinked, tilting her head. "Then why are you here?" Cat had been surprised when the brunette had turned up at her house, bustling through the door. She'd felt sure it was an imminent sign of her death. She was pretty sure Jade was like a crow, an omen of death. But maybe it was just because Jade dressed in black all the time. Although, Cat thought back, there was that one time Jade wore an aqua sort of dress. Were crows ever not black? Cat would ask Jade later. She'd know.
Jade sat back, a pink-painted wooden chair pulled up beside Cat's bed, flowers spattered across the white covers of her bedspread. "I'm here because you texted that you were sick."
Cat's face lit up, a delicate hand covering her mouth as she coughed. "You came just because of that?"
Jade scowled, turning her gazed to Cat's covered toes, wiggling at the end of her bedspread. "No, I came because the last time you were sick, you kept bugging me all weekend, and I didn't get a moment's peace."
Cat giggled, the laughter turning into a hoarse cough. "Owwie." She grimaced, eyebrows upturned.
"Here, let me feel your forehead." Jade leaned over, pressing the back of her hand to Cat's head.
"Ah, your hand's so cold!"
"Shut it." Jade snapped, face pensive, pulling her hand back into her lap. "You're pretty hot. I'm gonna get you a glass of water."
Cat bounced in place on her mattress, the sound of her hands clapping together muffled by her bedspread. Jade studied the flush on the smaller girl's face, the heat starting to fade from the back of her hand, where Cat's skin had seared it. "Can you get me some chicken noodle soup?" Cat batted her eyelashes at Jade, voice slightly muffled by her half-blocked nose.
Jade crossed the room, opening Cat's door and slipping out. "No."
Truth be told, she wasn't here just to make sure Cat left her alone for the rest of the weekend. That was definitely a part, but she knew Cat's parents had taken her brother for... a series of 'special' tests. Why they'd left Cat behind, Jade could probably guess. Anyone who'd spent five minutes with the girl wouldn't have to try too hard to come up with reasons. But some part of her grudgingly accepted that Cat was probably her closest friend, if only because she didn't have the brains to take a hint. Still, here she was, babysitting a sick Cat when she could be having coffee with Beck and making fun of all the aspiring writers, grinding out an unsuccessful screenplay, and making sure everyone in the coffeehouse knew it. And she knew she could've just turned her phone off. She supposed she was here out of some sort of obligation, or, god forbid, affection.
The sound of running water was loud in the silent house, drowning out the faint sound of birds from outside. Cat's house was pretty nice, actually. Apart from her room. That was Jade's worst nightmare. Pastel and pink and bunnies and ugh. She set the now full glass on the counter, rummaging through Cat's pantry. There was a surprising lack of candy, considering whose house she was in.
Cat sat up in bed eagerly as Jade entered the room. "Did you get me soup?"
"Catch."
Cat winced instinctively, a plastic-wrapped object crinkling as it landed on her lap. "A Twinkie?"
"You were all out of soup."
Cat grinned, fingers plucking at the plastic as Jade sat down beside her again, foot hitting her handbag, slumped at the feet of the chair. She sat the glass of water down carefully on Cat's bedside table, making sure not to knock over the framed picture of a hamster Cat had there. She flicked the tab on her own can of soda, metal clicking and hissing.
She took a cool sip as Cat huffed, Twinkie half eaten. "I can't taste it." Cat pouted, head hanging.
"Just remember what it tastes like. You should know by now that you can't taste with your nose all stuffed up. You had the flu last year too." Jade shook her head slightly, leaning back in the creaking chair.
Cat took another slow bite of the Twinkie, face disappointed. "I forgot."
"Here, drink your water." Jade pushed the glass closer, water slopping to the edge. Cat's eyes flicked between the half eaten snack and the water, doubtful. "Do it." Jade raised an eyebrow. If she'd managed to train her mother's rat of a dog, she could train Cat to be obedient. And the sooner she got better... or well enough, Jade could get out of here, and not have to worry about a text at 3am reading; "I sneezed and it was icky. Owwie." The less texts like that she received, the better. And if that meant treating the source, so be it. Jade glanced at her phone, checking the time. "Hey, so what movies do you have?" She plastered a smile on, setting her phone on the bedside table next to her condensation-covered can of soda.
"Can we watch the Little Mermaid?" Cat gave a hopeful smile, face flushed, red hair spilled over her shoulders messily.
"No. What else you got?" Jade stared blankly at Cat. There was no way she was watching a Disney movie with Cat. That was just crossing the line. She was already endangering her reputation just by being here. Which is why she hadn't told anyone she was coming. She'd even told Beck she was going to yell at the slow children in the under ten's races at the park today. He'd seemed to believe her, probably because she'd done the same thing last year. She remembered that time fondly. She'd even made one of them cry and run back to his mommy. Run slowly.
"They're in there." Cat thrust a pointed finger to a dresser drawer, sniffling.
Jade crossed to the dresser, pulling a drawer out. Nope, that was underwear. Huh. Cat sure had a lot of black panties. Jade slid the drawer shut, moving to the next one. A messy stack of DVD's slid around inside the drawer, a mass of brightly coloured covers assaulting Jade's eyes. My Little Pony, Spongebob Squarepants, Beauty And The Beast. Crap, crap, crap. Jade's eyes lit up as she reached the bottom of a pile. "Child's Play?"
Cat blew her nose, adding a crumpled tissue to the mound by her bed. "My brother bought me that for my birthday. He thought it sounded good. I haven't watched it, 'cause dolls kinda scare me."
Jade fought back a grin. "Oh don't worry, Cat, this movie isn't scary at all."
Cat smiled in response, eyes bright and slightly glazed. "'Kay 'Kay."
/
It only took about thirty minutes for Cat's whimpers to start annoying Jade.
"Is it over yet?" Cat peeked out from behind her fingers, hands pressed over her eyes.
Jade stared at Cat in disbelief, face bathed with flickering light. "You're seriously scared? This isn't even the best part!"
Cat squeaked, fingers slamming shut over her eyes again as a gunshot sounded on the screen, shoulders shaking as she huddled down in her bedcovers, a little cough escaping.
Jade did her best to ignore it, and for the last couple years of their friendship, she'd pretty much been successful at ignoring Cat. But she couldn't ignore the creeping feeling of guilt. At least... that's what she thought it was. It wasn't something she was familiar with. She barely had a passing acquaintance with the word. But it was hard to dismiss that shivering pile of blankets, tugging at the corner of her eye. She sighed, pressing 'stop' on the remote, and climbing to her feet.
Jade watched in resignation as the glowing castle arced across the screen, face lit blue in the semi-darkness, a pout fixed on her lips. Cat giggled in glee, bouncing in her bed, a couple of wadded up tissues tumbling from the blankets. "You tell anyone about this, you're dead." Scowled Jade, Cat muting her smile and nodding solemnly, before her gaze returned raptly to the screen.
Still, Jade reasoned, as Cat sang along to Under The Sea, words warped and muffled by her nose and occasional bouts of coughing, it wasn't the worst afternoon she'd ever spent. She sat back in the garish pink chair, fingers tented over her stomach. She glanced over at Cat, the red-haired girl's eyes already flickering, lashes matting darkly against her cheeks until they finally shut, shoulders slumping a little, lips parted, face still flushed as she slept. In fact, it wasn't too bad at all.
/
A/N: You may be asking to yourself, or maybe to me, but still to yourself 'cause you're alone, "What point did this have? What was the meaning of this? WHY WON'T YOU ANSWER ME?"
Well, there's no point. Or meaning. It is what it is, and what it is, is short. I think that sentence just made me seasick somehow.
Anyhow, review if you thought there was a point somewhere, and I really should have warned because you pricked your finger and now you need a tetanus shot, and by gum, I'd better be paying for that!
Or review if you thought there wasn't a point, and you're outraged by that. You searched this whole haystack of a fic searching for one, only to find it was never there at all, and you just messed up some poor cow's dinner and now you're skin's all itchy and your allergies are playing up AND THAT COW LICKED YOU.
Or just review telling me you're not going to review. C: