Out of all the days for Mackenzie Harris had to fall sick, why did it have to be today? She was captain of the girl's basketball team, she couldn't afford to be sick during such a big game! Said game was tonight and her and her team had been practicing for this night all week! It wasn't that big a game, but it was her first game for this school. That was something she just couldn't miss.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a fit of painful and violent coughing.

She was so close to convincing her aunt to let her go to school. If not for her high fever and her throwing up breakfast that morning, she would have been scoot free. But Mac was determined to go to school—for once in her life. Her aunt practically had to tie her down to her bed before she went to work that day.

Her aunt Agatha even warned her, saying she had the neighbors looking out to make sure she didn't sneak out the house.

Mac didn't want to test this out. There was one neighbor that she really didn't want to be bothered with. He was probably at school that morning, but she wouldn't be surprised if he stayed home. He was pretty notorious for skipping school. Heck, he probably purposely stayed home just to keep an eye on her. She wouldn't put it past him. He seemed to make it his personal duty to make her life miserable.

After another violent wave of coughs, Mac heard the door bell ring. She groaned when she tried to move, her body was aching and her head throbbing. She laid back down when she started seeing colorful lights in front of her eyes. She quickly gave up on getting up and decided to roll out of bed. Big mistake. She regretted it the moment she hit the ground with a thud, limbs tangled up in her blanket.

She decided to stay there when more blindingly colorful lights danced in front of her eyes. Her hot cheek rested on her cool carpet. She never realized how soft her floor was. How comfortable and almost dream like it felt agents her hot skin. Why, she could almost fall asleep—Knock knock!

Mac was abruptly pulled out of her almost dream like state, eyes out of focus, a tiny bit of drool on the side of her mouth. She could have sworn she was only asleep for a second.

The knock at the door only got louder. She was hoping if she ignored it, who ever it was would just go away. No such luck.

With another groan, Mac slowly got to her feet, wrapping herself into her soft comforter. She slowly made her way down her stairs, the door ringing with every step she took. She swore she'd make sure to punch who ever was at the door in the nose. She didn't care what kind of assault charges she'd get in the proses.

After what felt like forever (when did they get so many stairs? Were there always this many?) Mac swung open the door, ready let loose a long string of curse words at the person who dared to make her get out of the comfort of her bed on the day that she felt like absolute crap.

This string of heated words however were lost on the way out of her mouth when she saw bright red hair and storming gray eyes. Speak of the devil.

Those gray eyes widened when they saw the sickly girl swing open the front door, standing there with ghostly pale skin—aside from her bright red throbbing nose—in her pajamas, hair in a sloppy pony tail. Needless to say, she was a bit embarrassed.

"Geez, you look terrible." Was the first words that the red headed boy had to say.

This caused Mac to come out of her embarrassed stupor. Without hesitation, she tried to slam her door in hopes of possibly breaking the boy's noes in the proses. Unfortunately for her, his foot was faster.

"Nice to see you too Princess." The boy sneered. The two teens were having a tug-of-war, only instead of a rope, they had the door.

"Go away Castiel!" Mac said, cringing at the sound of her own voice.

"Gosh, you even sound terrible."

Mac scoffed, "Gee, that's what every girl wants to hear." She rolled her eyes.

This only earned her a chuckle, "What can I say? I'm a lady killer."

This only caused her to push on the door even harder. She would have been successful in closing him out had she not been attacked by another wave of dry coughing. She heaved as her eyes watered. Without a second thought she made her way to the kitchen to take in a glass of water, letting the intruder win the the door edition of tug-of-war.

Unfortunately, the liquid burned on the way down due to her sore throat. She ignored it though as the cool refreshing water soothed her coughs. She placed her cup on the counter when she felt a very familiar presents.

"Castiel," Mac mumbled, hands gripping the edge of the counter, starting to feel a bit dizzy,"Get out of my house."

This only earned her an amused snort from the red headed devil, "Is that any way to treat the guy who brought you your homework?"

Before Mac could even answer, she gagged. She quickly rushed out of the kitchen, running to the down stairs bathroom, slamming and locking the door behind her.


Agatha had called Castiel that morning telling him to keep an eye out for her niece. She was sick, and she was worried that she might sneak out of the house to go to school and practice for the big game. Well, it wasn't that much of a big game, but it was the first game of the year, so everyone had been pretty excited about it. Especially Mac. She'd spend extra hours at school in the gym shooting hoops, or practicing dribbling in her backyard. She wouldn't even flinch when he would shout his sarcastic remarks from his window. Which...he did quite often.

On his way to his locker, he over heard Nathaniel and Melody discussing who was going to bring the sick Mac her homework. Castiel didn't hesitate to volunteer. Because one: there was no way he was letting Nat know where she lived and two: being Mac's next door neighbor, there was no way he was letting the idiot president know where he lived and by a extent, his equally annoying sister Amber.

Nathaniel was very spectacle, and rightfully so. Castiel didn't blame him. Sense when did he ever offer to help out another student. But that didn't stop him from letting a few insults loose. Of course! He just couldn't let a perfect opportunity of insulting his worst enemy go to waste.

After much convincing—mostly on Melody's part—Castiel was given the task to give the sick Princess her homework.

And boy was he in for a surprise. He had no doubt in his mind that she wasn't faking sick—something he did quite often as a kid when his parents were home more.

After all, she was really looking forward to this game. But seeing her really drove the fact home. Boy did she look terrible! Her normally bright eyes looked dull and cloudy. Her bright red cheeks were pail and ghostly. Her soft spoken sweet voice sounded weak and tired. The fiery passion behind her snark was completely gone.

At the moment, Castiel was sitting in the living room, listening to Mac as she continually gagged in the downstairs bathroom. Becoming bored with just sitting in one place, he decided to walk around the living room. He couldn't help but smirk at the sight of framed pictures of a young Mac on the coffee and lamp tables. Oh the potential black mail materiel.

He was interrupted from his thoughts when he heard the door open. Mac had come out, still wrapped in her blanket. She looked over at him, confused as though she was surprised to see he was standing there. Her eyes narrowed as she made her way for the stairs. She swayed a few times, leaning agents the wall before she just gave up completely, finally deciding to just flap down on the couch.

Castiel's almost permanent smirk was plastered on his face as he made his way to the couch, sitting not too far from the sick teen girl.

They were silent for awhile, only sound that could be heard was Mac's soft breathing. Just when he thought she had probably fallen asleep, she peeked up at him from behind her blanket.

"You're still here?" She pouted. Her pout's cuteness was enhanced by her red noes, making her look almost child like.

"Yup." Castiel stated bluntly, popping his "P."

More silence, then, "Well, why?"

Why? Castiel wasn't quite sure himself. He could have just dropped off her homework, then went home. He lived right next door, it's not like it would've been a problem. He'd be lying though if he said he didn't miss her presents at school. Teasing her and making her flustered was practically a part of his daily routine. He was a creature of habit. Her not being there messed with his routine and put him in a sour mood. He wouldn't tell her that. Of course not, why would he? Instead, he said the first words that popped into his mind, "To annoy you of course."

Mac didn't say much more. She just rolled her eyes and hid back under her cover. She peeked at him when she felt him getting up. He wordlessly went over to the TV, turning it on without hesitation. He didn't think twice about making himself at home.

He came back over and sat in the same place he was before.

"What are you doing?" Mac asked, trying but failing to hold back a cough.

"I'm bored." He said bluntly, "I didn't want to just sit here and listen to you breath."

Mac scoffed, "I didn't ask you to stay. You can go home you know."

"Tempting." He tapped his chin, as though he was thinking it over, "But I don't want you to get the satisfaction Princess."

The raven mumbled something under her breath, something among the lines of "That's not my name," when he tuned her out.

The two teens sat in silence, the only sound filling the room was the hum of the TV and Mac's occasional cough. She hadn't even notice that she had fallen asleep until she felt someone shaking her to wake up. The moment she opened her eyes, the sweet aroma of lemons came dancing into her nostrils. Looking up, she saw Castiel sanding before her, a hot steaming mug in his hand.

"Here." He offered her the cup, "This should soothe that cough."

Mac didn't take the cup right away. Could you blame her? This boy has done nothing but torment her sense she first arrived at Sweet Amoris! Now suddenly he was being... nice! Concerned even!

Her dark eyebrows knitted together in confusion as she eyed the cup suspiciously causing Castiel to groan losing patients, "Relax, it's not like I poised it."

Mac was about to say something back when her stomach growled. She blushed in embarrassment, Castiel seeing her cheeks having color for the first time sense he'd been there.

The poor girl hadn't been able to keep anything down all day. Just the smell alone reminded her of how hungry she was. Without further hesitation, she took the steaming cup. The aroma of the lemon tea was wonderful!

She blew on it softly, before taking a long sip, tasting the honey mixed into the drink. The warm liquid put great relief on her sore throat.

"Thank you." She rasped out, clearing her throat.

Castiel waved away her thanks, "You were drowning out the TV." Was his quick responds.

"Oh."

Odd. Why did she feel so disappointed with his responds? She deiced she didn't want to think any more on it as she quietly sipped her tea while she watched part of the movie while sitting next to Castiel. This was probably the most civil the two had ever been together so long that the two had known each other. Mac couldn't say why, but she was actually happy. Had Castiel never came over, she'd been up stairs in her room feeling dreadful. She was even starting to feel a little better! As though her stomach were agreeing, it grumbled, reminding her that she was hungry. This earned her an amused chuckle from Castiel.

"Think you can eat solids yet?" He asked pausing the movie as he stood up. This action startled Mac who hadn't noticed her head was on his shoulder. She blushed wildly.

"W-why don't I go fix us something." She blurted out, not really trusting the red head near a stove.

He merely smirked, "Relax Princess. I'm a professional when it comes to canned soup." He was actually quite surprised to hear her giggle. He'd never gotten that responds from her before. Usually a death threat or a glare but never a small laugh. Not even a chuckle.

This caused him to involuntarily blush at the sound of it. Turning his face, he added, "Yeah, plush I don't need you to be coughing in the food or anything." Without another word, he marched his way into the kitchen. He pretty much knew where everything was, seeing as he's help Agatha put up groceries in the past.

A few minuets later, he emerged from the kitchen with tomato soup and grilled cheese. The two teens sat next to each other, a TV tray on each lap with a steaming hop bowl of soup that they dipped there grilled cheese in.

They silently ate as they continued to watch the movie.


Agatha had come home later that evening to see the most adorable sight! Castiel was sitting up on the couch, head slumped over as he had fallen asleep, a slight snore coming from his lips, with Mac laying down wrapped in her blanket, her head on his lap.

She just couldn't ignore this! She had to take a picture and send it to Mac's parents!

Unfortunately for her, she had left the flash on, successfully waking the two teens up. Thankfully, she got the picture, and the kids didn't suspect a thing.

After the two were fully awake, Castiel saw how late it was, so he decided to go home. On his way out the door, he heard a soft voice speak up behind him.

"Thank you Castiel."

It wasn't much. It was a thanks, but it still meant a lot to him. The way she said it—soft sweet and gentle—was as though she was seeing him in a new light.

Which meant he was getting somewhere.

"No problem Princess." He waved, and she smiled. That was a first. If he didn't know any better, he'd say they were starting to become friends.

And that was good enough for him.