Chicken Soup for the Valentine Soul

Xxx

"Uggh, I hate this!" Mai Valentine moaned as she blew her nose for the umpteenth time that day.

"Why did I have to get sick right before exams?" The blonde woman groaned. Mai was a second-year college student attending Domino College over the summer. She was behind in a couple of her courses because of her recent trips around the world.

She wasn't too upset though; the Dominican Republic and Las Vegas had been nice getaways.

But of course, there was a price to pay for all that downtime and now she had practically missed her summer by taking extra courses in order to catch up. She had been doing well though, straight A's in all her classes up until this point. The finals never really nailed her, most of the time her marks would drop by one or two percent because of the exam. It was never anything serious, or unexpected.

But the cold she contracted a couple days before her finals had definitely been unexpected.

Here she was, surrounded by papers and textbooks, with a throbbing headache and a runny nose.

The doctor had said it was a common cold; it had been spreading a lot during the summer. And now looking back, she remembered seeing a lot of her classmates sucking on lozenges and bringing tissue boxes to class.

But she was pretty good at avoiding germs. Either that or her immune system was just really good. Then again it could also have had to do with her being a winter baby.

Whatever the case, she was here now, sitting on the floor in her living room with a tissue box and a whole semester of work to go over.

She was wearing purple sweatpants with a violet tank top, and her hair was tied back in a messy bun.

In her mind, she looked a mess. No one was allowed to see her.

She really didn't have too many friends at the college but she had given her high school friend, Tea Gardner, a call saying that she was sick and wouldn't be able to hang out that weekend.

Every once in a while she would hang out with Tea's group. They were strange, but they were a nice group of teens. She had gone to their high school but had graduated a couple years before them. She was still friends with them but she really only kept in contact with Tea and…

"Joey…he definitely can't see me now." She told herself aloud. Joey would definitely laugh at her appearance right now. That goofball always found a way to rain on her parade. Okay so maybe she liked his company and maybe she enjoyed his light-hearted jokes but he was still a dweeb and practically a kid compared to her.

"Wait, why am I even thinking about him? I have exams to study for!" She asked herself, before groaning from another wave of head pain.

That bottle of aspirin was looking pretty good right about now.

But before she could even reach over and grab at it she heard the doorbell ring.

"Now who could that be?" Even if it was Tea, she probably wouldn't let the girl in. She was sick, and stressed, and highly annoyed. And her makeup wasn't done.

Nevertheless, she got up from her sitting position and wobbled towards the door, wincing at the heavy pain flashing in her cranium.

"Who is it?" She yelled out before reaching for the doorknob.

"It's me Mai!" A cheerful and spirited voice shouted.

Oh hell no.

Tea had probably filled him in on her condition. Maybe they were worried.

Slowly but steadily, she twisted the doorknob and began to pull on the door. Standing there, 5'11, blonde and lanky, was Joey Wheeler, holding a glass bowl with a plate on top.

"Hey Mai, I heard-woah, are you feeling alright? I heard you were under the weather but it looks like you've been under the apocalypse," a broad smile never leaving his mug.

A smile tugged at the corners of her mouth, because that was pretty funny. But it was an insult, and it took every bit of compassion in her body to stop her from slamming the door in his face and possibly breaking his toe.

"What can I do you for, Joey? If you were talking to Tea than you know I'm busy." She brushed off his little side comment and stood up straight, hands crossed and resting right under her chest.

"I'm just kidding Mai, you look great. Can I come in?" He asked innocently. She stared for about a millisecond and then decided that it wouldn't hurt. Besides, she really wasn't even studying at this point.

"Sure, just watch out for all my stuff." She said sharply.

"Wow, that's a lot to study for! Aren't your exams in a couple of days?" He asked as he placed the bowl on her kitchen table and sat down beside her in the living room.

"Please don't remind me hun, so what's in the bowl?" She said pointing at the glass he brought in.

"It's Chicken soup! Tea told me you were sick so I whipped up a batch!" He replied with a smile full of pride. She couldn't help but blush. That had to be the sweetest thing ever.

"Our school already finished, and when I found out you weren't done yet I felt kind of bad, and then I found out you were sick so…" He trailed off noticing she was staring at him blankly.

"Well if you don't like it, it's okay." He said rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly.

"N-no, thank you so much! I'll try some right now, Joey I really appreciate it." She hoped her smile and warm words saved her from that situation. She was really impressed, and really happy he had done that for her.

"Do you want some too?" She asked as she grabbed two bowls and some silverware from the kitchen.

"Alright, it's pretty good I'm telling you." He said with a toothy grin. She believed him, and with that adorable smile, who wouldn't?

She poured some into the bowls and breathed in the steam that quickly rose. It smelled really good, and she could already tell that it would taste so much better.

She took a sip as she handed a bowl filled with soup and a spoon to Joey. The flavour danced on her taste buds. Who knew Chicken soup could taste so good? There had to be more than just chicken and broth in the soup because she tasted all kinds of herbs and spices mixed in with the liquid.

It was amazing, to say the least.

"This is fabulous Joey! It's really good." She said whole-heartily as she finished up her bowl quickly. Joey smiled bashfully.

"Yeah, it's a family recipe. If you have it every other day or so on, you'll get better soon. Or at least, you'll feel better."

"I already feel better knowing that you're here." She admitted absent-mindedly as she went for seconds. Her eyes opened in shock as she realized what she had just said.

However Joey laughed and shook his head.

"I'm glad I could stop by. And…I'm glad that you're glad I'm here." His words grew softer as he finished off his sentence, and he stared at her study notes that were thrown across the floor. Mai couldn't help but freeze for a moment and stare at him.

Her face was getting red, and she really didn't know what to say.

"W-well don't let it get to your head, Wheeler! I'm really just bored and needed some company, t-that's all." But her play off was about as successful as a missed shot. Joey smiled and winked at her.

"Yeah, yeah, whatever Mai. Now who's going to help you study all of these notes?" He grinned at her again and began to look over all of her study notes. Her face turned crimson red when he began to reach for a paper that she had scribbled diary entries on.

…Diary entries that were about him, actually.

"Okay that's it! Out, Wheeler! I have to study and drink your delicious soup! No pouting, out!"

xxx

This isn't really going to be a long and deep story, just a little romance between Joey and Mai. I think they are they cutest couple, and I wanted to write a couple of short tales about them. Going to update soon!

-GeminiMercedes-