A/N It's the middle of the night and I need a nice dosage of Kames, in which James is sick and Kendall takes care of him. Heck yeah let's do this thing!
Warning: There is absolutely no point or plot to this. Just adorable, cuddly bromance to feed your Kames hunger. Enjoy
James has the television on silent, listening to the sounds of his mostly empty apartment. A clock is ticking and he doesn't really care for this noise, it makes his head hurt. A cicada is buzzing loudly in a tree outside the kitchen window. And that's all James can hear. Usually, at night the sounds of four teenage boys snoring echo through the dark hallways. But Carlos, Logan, Katie and Mrs. Knight are away for the weekend to visit an amusement park.
Kendall and James had decided to opt out of the action packed weekend. James has a modeling gig in a couple of days, and Kendall (though he wouldn't admit) doesn't really care for the sickening, scary feeling of all the rides Carlos and Katie likes so much, so he offered to stay with James to keep him company.
The apartment is eerily quiet, too quiet for James, even though the incessant ticking and chirping is grating on his frazzled nerves. He unmutes the television, praying it doesn't wake Kendall up. A goofy cartoon that Carlos likes to watch is playing, brightening up the dark living room with colorful flashes of light. James pays no attention to the cartoon though.
He wishes he were in bed, fast asleep. But a couple hours ago, he had woken up with a nose that kept running, soaking his pillow in snot. Coughs were wracking his chest, threatening to wake up Kendall, the big-brother-bear who is an incredibly light sleeper. James had tried stifling his coughs, but it made his chest hurt badly. He held them in until he gagged and he choked and he sputtered. His nose was so clogged up, he could hardly breathe laying down. It was terrible.
So finally, James had grabbed his fuzzy blankets and trudged to the couch, which is where he rested now in the same position as he was when he first sat down. It hurts too much to move. His legs are up on the foot rest and he's sprawled out against the cushions, mouth agape so he could draw in heavy breaths because his nose is so clogged up. He wraps his blankets around his body tighter when the shivers start. James doesn't understand why he is so cold, when he is snugly wrapped in such a warm blanket. He hopes he isn't running a fever.
James sighs and miserably runs a hand over his face. The worst is the sore throat. It's causing him unbearable pain. He can't swallow without daggers exploding in his throat. It just hurts so much…
James is alarmed when he feels sweat coat his palm after rubbing his forehead. His face feels strangely overheated against the skin on his hand. There is no denying he has come down with something now. James doesn't want to admit it, but he doesn't feel good. He wants to sleep, but he is too miserable to fall into peaceful oblivion. Usually, James likes to hide being sick best he could, because he was one of the oldest in the group and the biggest; he was supposed to be tough. But there's someone who he allows to see him sick, and that Kendall. The blonde is the only one who's seen James at his absolute worst. And Kendall was the only thing James wanted right now.
With a great heave of energy that leaves him feeling worn out, James gets to his feet and turns off the television. He keeps his blanket around his shoulders and holds it closed with two weak, shaky fists and pads down the hall to the bedroom he shares with his bandmates.
Kendall looks so comfy, and James is jealous of him for a split moment. The blonde is on his stomach, cheek smooshed against his plaid cased pillow, his arms cuddling the fluffy fabric to his face. Kendall's matching blue plaid sheet is tangled around half his body, his lanky legs poking out from beneath the covers. His body rises and falls gently with each sleeping breath he takes.
James feels bad for what he's about to do next, but he needs some comfort. He doesn't know how to take care of himself. Kendall always had a way of making him feel better.
"Kendall?" James croaks, and he's surprised how hoarse his voice sounds. Tears well up behind his hazel eyes, burning as they begged to be released, but James blinks them back. The pain in his throat is just awful. Kendall would know what to do, he somehow always did.
"Mfph," Kendall mutters in his sleep. His body flops to his side and he cuddles his pillow closer, smacking his lips. James rolls his eyes, frustrated.
"Kendall!" James snakes his hand out of his blanket and shakes the sleeping boy's shoulder.
Kendall groans, slowly waking up when he feels a clammy hand shaking him awake. He blinks a couple times before the dark room comes into focus. He sees James standing above him, a blanket wrapped around him like a burrito. Flushed cheeks are practically glowing in the moonlight that shines through his window. But it doesn't really hit Kendall right away that James is sick.
"No," Kendall mumbles. He doesn't care what James wants, because he is used to the pretty boy's ridiculous late night antics. One time, James had woken him up at three AM just because he stayed up making his own shampoo and wanted to test it out on Kendall's hair. Tonight, Kendall just wants to sleep. "Go 'way…"
James ignores Kendall and sits on the bed with a sniffle. He cradles his aching head in his hands. He really doesn't feel good now and Kendall is starting to notice this.
"James? What's wrong?"
James is quiet. He doesn't want to speak. His throat hurts too much. A few seconds later, a cool hand is resting against his heated forehead. James leans into the touch and closes his eyes.
"You're hot, James," Kendall announces. His voice is edged with concern and James could feel his eyes burning into his flushed appearance. Kendall's fingers swoops James' bangs back and tangle in his sweaty locks as he runs a hand through his hair. "Do you not feel so good?"
James simply shakes his head. Kendall frowns with sympathy.
"Can you tell me what hurts?"
James opens his mouth to speak, but his throat burns and protests. No sound comes out. James leans over and buries his face in Kendall's chest.
Kendall holds James for a second and gives his back a pat before prying James' feverish body from his and looking in his glassy eyes. Kendall knows James must be really sick, because he gets clingy and unresponsive when he isn't feeling well. It is just James' personality. He is usually over the top and quirky, but on the rare occasion that he comes down with something, his arrogant independence is stripped away, leaving him vulnerable and innocent. He was a creature of comfort, and craved physical touch when he was sick, too.
"Come on, you have to tell me what's wrong so I can take care of you," Kendall says. His voice is tender and sweet and makes James feel secure.
"Sick," James answers, wincing as pain shoots up his throat. Kendall restrains the urge to roll his eyes at the ill boy's non-descriptive answer and swipes James' bangs out of his face again when they flop down into his face.
"Is it your throat, your belly? What about your head?" Kendall questions, desperate to know what is hurting his best friend.
James sniffles and wiggles his nose like a bunny. Kendall hands him a tissue. After James blows his nose harshly, he finally whispers to Kendall why he doesn't feel well. "My throat hurts so bad. I feel achy and cold and my head hurts. I can't breathe through my nose."
Kendall nods and rubs James' back. He's sad his friend is sick, but he's grateful he wasn't suffering from a stomachache. He was too tired to clean throw-up all night.
"I'll be right back, bro. Just sit tight."
James looks at Kendall, a little scared. Where was he going?
"Don't worry, I'm just gonna grab some stuff to make you feel better," Kendall assures James, reading his mind. Kendall yawns and heads to the kitchen. He whips up some hot tea with honey, then makes his way to the bathroom and grabs some Ibuprofen for James' pain and fever. He then grabs a cool washcloth and hurries to the bedroom.
James is curled up in a tiny, whimpering, shivering ball. Kendall's heart goes out to him. The brunette has been through a couple bouts of tonsillitis in the past and Kendall worries that it's what he's fighting off right now. He hadn't had an infection since middle school, though.
Kendall sets down his armful of items and pulls out a baggy hoodie and sweats from James' dresser.
"Here, let's put these on," Kendall offers. James is only dressed in a t-shirt and pajama pants.
James just lies there though, blinking dazedly at Kendall.
"Ok, I'll help ya bud," Kendall tells him. He pulls off James' damp t-shirt. The brunet immediately starts shivering violently and wraps his arms around his middle. Kendall shoves the sweatshirt over his head and pulls his arms through. Next, he pulls his pj pants off and replaces them with warmer ones, then hoists James up in a sitting position.
"No, wanna sleep," James whines.
"Not yet bro, you need to take this medicine first." Kendall places a pill on his tongue and hands him the cup of tea.
"Take little sips," Kendall instructs. James drinks some of Kendall's specialty hot tea (he got the recipe from Logan) and starts to cough. Kendall's pats his back and reminds him, again, to take little drinks of the tea. James slowly laps up the hot liquid. It coats his throat with warmth and soothes the pain a bit.
"Feel better?" Kendall asks hopefully. James nods gratefully and hands him the cup back, because his tummy was starting to feel nauseated from the drink.
James curls back up into a ball and all Kendall can think to do is place the washcloth on his burning forehead and rub his fingertips against his shivering back.
"S-sorry," James says sleepily. Kendall arches an eyebrow
"Why, buddy?"
"Woke you up… Sorry," James apologizes again. He really does feel bad about waking Kendall, especially when he knew the blonde was having a stressful week without enough sleep.
"Ssh, ssh," Kendall said, appalled that James would ever feel the need to apologize for needing him. Together, they take great care of Logan and Carlos, but they are always the ones to protect each other. James is always there for Kendall and vice-versa. It's unspoken of, especially since Carlos and Logan are under the impression that the two tallest boys are some kind of superheroes or something. But Kendall is the only one James could be vulnerable around. And James is the only person in the entire world who Kendall told everything to. "It's fine, bud. Just think about getting better now, ok?"
"Lay down," James says, patting the empty spot next to him. He wants Kendall to get some rest now, he has done enough from him and needs to go back to sleep.
"No, I need to make sure you're alright," Kendall tells James. As soon as he knew James was sick, he had planned to be up all night keeping an eye on him. But James pulls Kendall downs beside him and shares some blanket with him. Kendall just smiles. It was super comfy in bed…
"Oof," Kendall said as James rolls over on top of him. A heavy arm and an even heavier leg is wrapped around Kendall's torso. "Good night, James."
Despite how exhausted he is, Kendall stays awake and keeps an eye on James. The brunette moans and whimpers through his feverish sleep, and at one point, tiny crystal tears rolled down his red cheeks. Kendall wipes them away gently with the washcloth.
Morning comes eventually. James' fever hasn't broken, and he wakes up because he's pretty sure he's never felt so terrible in his life. He cuddles closer to Kendall and whimpers his big brother's name, but he receives no answer or comfort. James looks up to see that Kendall is fast asleep now, his head tilted to the side and chin on his chest.
James doesn't have the heart to wake Kendall up again. He knows Kendall had been awake for him all night judging by how tired he looks. He tries to fall back to sleep, but his stomach had a weird ache right in the middle, and his throat actually hurt even worse if it was possible. He crawls out of Kendall's bed and stumbles dizzily to the bathroom. His fever is making it hard to function. He splashes cold water on his hot face after using the restroom and turns to head back to the bedroom, but a strong, woozy feeling makes him stop, holding onto the porcelain sink for support. The sick feeling doesn't fade like he prays it does, so finally he just lowers himself to the tile floor, wishing for the pain to go away.
Kendall hasn't been sleeping for very long, but he feels like something is wrong. He expects to wake up with a heavy, sweaty weight in his arms, but it's gone.
"James?" Kendall asks, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. He doesn't get an answer. He hopes James might be feeling better and was eating food or watching TV, but something deep in his gut felt off.
James is not in the kitchen or the living room like Kendall had hoped he would be. But a light is shining beneath the closed bathroom door and Kendall opens it to find James on the floor, sweating and shivering like he was just dunked in a cold tub of water.
"James! Hey, what happened? Did you throw up?" Kendall asks.
James doesn't answer. He has a vacant expression on his face and his eyes are clouded with pain. Kendall feels his forehead and gasps at the heat he finds. James is way too sick. Kendall feels a little scared, but tries to keep calm.
"James, are you with me bro?" he asks, stroking the sick boy's red-hot cheek tenderly with the pad of his thumb. James just moans and clings to Kendall's arm.
"What are you doing in here, James?"
"I don't feel s'good," he slurs, blinking heavily.
"I know you don't," Kendall said sympathetically, tucking an arm beneath James' neck and lifting him to a sitting position. James leans against Kendall's chest and whimpers.
"It hurts…"
"Ssh, I gotcha," Kendall whispers. He's not sure if he can do what he is about to attempt next, but he knows he needs to get the listless boy into bed, so he loops one arm under his legs and keeps the other strong against James' back. He stands up slowly and carries the big boy to bed, then gives him another dose of medicine before he lies back down. Again, James curls up practically on top of Kendall. His warm head nuzzles on his chest and his legs wrap around Kendall's.
"Thanks for taking care of me," James whispers, even though he is half asleep already. Kendall smiles and rests his chin on James' head, hugging him close.
The next time James wakes up, his fever is almost entirely broken and his throat isn't as sore. His illness turned out to be a bad cold rather than tonsillitis, and even though he still feels sick, he is loads better.
Kendall is sleeping. He had fallen asleep when James' fever went down. Sometime through their long rest, they had flipped positions. Kendall is now lying on top of James, blonde hair sticking in all different directions, and a little spot of drool is dripping down the corner of his mouth.
This time, James is the one who takes care of an exhausted Kendall. He covers him up with his blankets and slips a pillow under his head before moving back to his own bed to sleep off the rest of his cold.
A/N Ok that was wretched and blah but I wrote it at 2 AM last night! I just have this image that Kendall and James are like the cutest, cuddliest little things ever together when Carlos and Logan aren't around, and I couldn't sleep, thus this was born lol. Please review!
Ps 4 days til BigTimeTulsa wooohoooo eeeeeeeeeeeeeee yay.