A/N: An old Squid/Sponge fanfic I wrote from 2008. If there are any grammatical errors, that's why. The title was inspired by the "Suds" episode. So yep this is a classic "character gets sick, love interest takes care of them" story. Back then, I didn't understand how cliched the idea was, but whatever. At least I had fun writing it. :D
By the way, the fluff will give you cavities. :3
"Squidward? Oh, Squidward?" Spongebob wandered outside the residence of Squidward Tentacles house. He searched a little bit around the yard, looking for signs of life. He hadn't seen the octopus in a few days. He hadn't been to work. He hadn't heard the beautiful sound of his clarinet playing, or his sounds of annoyance when him and Patrick played in the front yard. And most of all he hadn't heard his voice. That melodic voice that was music to the sponge's ears. And he was getting quite worried. He should have at least come out of his house by now.
He finally decided to go inside the Easter Island Head, despite knowing how furious Squidward would be if he knew he had broken into his house. Not that he hadn't done it before. He reached under the mat for the extra key and turned it into the hole of the door.
As he entered, he noticed all of the lights were completely turned off. Not even any sunlight escaped to enter the windows. He felt a sense of foreboding as he quietly shut the door behind him. Looking around the room, he squinted trying to see in the dark. He could see Squidward wasn't in the living room, or in the kitchen just beyond that. "S-Squidward...?" He whispered quietly, stepping in a bit further.
He saw a light switch on the wall next to the entrance to the stairs. He flipped it on, and lights in the kitchen immediately came on, brightening up the whole room. Nothing in either room was touched. Nothing was laying about, all objects were in their ordinary positions, as if no one lived in the house at all.
Suddenly he heard a loud groan coming from upstairs. Fearing the worst, Spongebob made his way up the stairs quickly. "Squidward? Are you there?" He whispered.
Then he heard it again from the bedroom. He stepped in quietly to see a figure draped in bedsheets. Tissues littered the floors and bed, as well as a turned over bucket that sat on the mattress. There was no light in the room. Complete darkness once again. Spongebob stepped in the room, and not being able to see, natrually turned on a light.
The figure suddenly shot up and screamed at the top of his lungs at the sudden change in contrast. He turned and held a pillow in defense, but when he noticed it was Spongebob, he held it down. "Sponge...bob...?" He whispered, squinting trying to make him out. It seemed as if the light was hurting him. His voice was grating, and scratchy, and he sounded like he was struggling to make out the words.
"Squidward!" Spongebob cried out happily, and he ran to the side of the bed and wrapped his arms around the octopus's neck. "You're ok!"
"Wh-what are you talking about...?" Squidward asked, voice barely audible. It didn't even sound like his actually voice anymore. The nasally sound was gone.
"I haven't seen you in four days! I thought you were dead!" He squeezed tighter and snuggled into his flannel p.j.'s.
Squidward winced at the volume of Spongebob's voice, which wasn't as bad as usual, but every little thing seemed to give him a head ache. He unwrapped Spongebob's arms gently and set him down on the floor. "I might as well be..." He choked out, flopping down on the bed, sending tissues flying every where.
Spongebob suddenly took in the sight of Squidward's face. His p.j.'s were worn and tattered, his eyes were bloodshot and hanging half-open from the heaviness, his skin was a pale gray, like the color of chalk almost, excess mucus covered parts of his nose, and his tentacles and torso were thin and flimsy from dehydration and starvation. "Squidward, you look horrible!" He cried, putting a hand to the octopus's forehead. "And you're so hot..."
"I'm what?"
"How long have you been like this?" Spongebob asked frantically.
"Sunday..." Squidward muttered, putting a tentacle to his stomach as he winced with pain. "And it hasn't let up since..."
"Oh no..." Spongebob whispered, beginning to get scared. "Squidward...what if you have pneumonia...or...or...the flu...or the suds...or..." He suddenly gasped and gave Squidward a frightened look. "You could be dying! Are you dying? I've seen the signs of a deteriorating body... Oh no, you are dying!" he began to rush around the room, holding his head. "Oh, Squidward, you can't die! I don't want you tooooo! YOU'RE MY BEST FRIEND...!" He broke down at the side of the bed, crying on the dirty bed sheets.
Squidward held up the sponge's head. "Spongebob, I'm not dying..." He muttered. "I have the flu...I think..." He coughed hoarsely and held his throat afterwards from the pain of his sore throat. "Or strep throat. Or both..."
"S-so...you're not going to die?" Spongebob asked, eyes wide with tears of joy.
"No...(As far as I know...)" He said.
"Oh thank Neptune!" And he hugged the octopus again tightly, hurting his aching body. "Squidward, if you had said yes, I don't know what I would have-"
"Yeah, yeah." Squidward interrupted, rolling his eyes. "Sport, if I were you, I wouldn't be hugging me tight now... Unless you really want to get sick."
Spongebob pulled away and gave a questioning look. "Oh Squidward, you've been sick for so long... Why didn't you call me?" He asked.
"I would have... I guess..." He said hesitatly. "But when I got up to try to walk every day, I would get dizzy and begin to faint.. Plus my tentacles ache so bad, I can't take one step... I haven't gone downstairs since Sunday..." He pulled the covers over himself as he shivered from the cold.
Spongebob gasped. "You poor thing! And I didn't even help you!" He looked ashamed of himself. "Some friend I am..."
Squidward patted the sponge's head lightly. "It's ok... It's not your fault. For once."
"R-really?"
"Yeah, I mean how could you have known?"
"I guess... I feel bad..."
"Don't. Ok?" He gave him a slight smile, trying to brighten the sponge's spirits. He felt a bit guilty that he was still giving out sarcasm after the sponge had finally found him after being trapped in that room for the whole week.
"Ok.. Wait, you said you haven't been out of this room for a week, almost?" Spongebob asked.
"Y-yeah, why?"
"Dear Neptune, you must be starving!" Spongebob cried. He headed for the door. "Don't worry, buddy, I'll fix you something up really quick!"
"Spongebob... You don't have to-"
"It'll only take a second!" Spongebob said. "Do you want chicken noodle soup or tomato?"
"Err...chicken noodle..." Squidward replied, feeling slightly guilty that he was making the sponge do this for him. He had offered, but he felt like he already gives so much. "And...a glass...or a couple glasses of water?"
"No problem, Squidsy!" Spongebob called running down the stairs.
"Do you want more water, Squidward?" Spongebob asked, after he had brought up the soup and water. He was straddled on top of Squidward on the bed as he attempted to help him eat and drink, despite the octopus's pleas.
"No...I think seven glasses is enough..." Squidward sighed, shakily putting the tray with the now-empty soup bowl on his side table.
"So, did you like it?" He asked, referring to the soup he had made.
"I...have to admit it was pretty good..." Squidward said approvingly. "It soothed my throat..."
"I'll admit I can't make soup as well as I can make a Krabby Patty, but I think I'm pretty good at it." Spongebob said.
"You did better than I could do.." Squidward said, admitting something he never would if he was well.
"Thank you, Squidward!" He said, smiling warmly at the octopus.
Squidward stared awkwardly at the position Spongebob was in, practically on top of him. He had been there almost the whole day, and even though he was grateful that he was taking care of him, he was getting a bit embarrassed. He tried to contain his dirty thoughts as he pictured what could happen otherwise with Spongebob in that same position.
"Squidward?" Spongebob jolted him from his thoughts.
"Huh, what?"
"I said, didn't you say your tentacles ached?"
"Uh, yeah.. A lot..." He said, wincing as Spongebob repositioned himself on his soft spots.
"Well I know how to fix that!" Spongebob said, and he rolled to the side. "Get over the covers, first."
Giving him a strange look, he took off the bedsheets and laid out all of his legs slowly and gently. "What are you...going to do?" He asked, slightly anxious.
Spongebob flexed his fingers and grinned. "A foot massage of course! Hand me your other pillow."
Squidward shuddered at the sheer thought. "Ok, here." He handed Spongebob the pillow.
"Ok, first we prop up your legs like this..." He gently lifted Squidward's tentacles with ease and rested them on the pillow. He moved to the edge of the bed in front of his feet. "Where do you want me to start?"
"Umm...where ever you want..." A bead of sweat ran down his forehead as he tried to keep himself composed.
"Ok, let's start with the feet." He grabbed two of his tentacles and rubbed up and down, squeezing the soft flesh soothingly.
Squidward moaned with pleasure as he felt all the tension leave his aching legs. "Ohhhhh, yeah... That's the spot..."
"You like that?"
"Ohhhhh, yes..."
He rubbed harder and squeezed tighter. "How about that?"
"I love it..."
After a while of just massaging his feet, he slowly began to move up to his legs, where he patted them with his elbows like the professionals do. Squidward couldn't get enough of it. All the aching was leaving him as Spongebob worked his magic.
"Hey Spongebob?" Squidward whispered as he closed his eyes while he continued.
"Yes?"
"...Why are you doing this?"
"To help you be able to move better, of course!"
"No, I mean...taking care of me."
Spongebob looked up for a moment, smiling as he did. "You're obviously very sick... And you're one of my best friends, and I wouldn't abandon you. I'm happy to do it!"
How caring could one creature be? Even when he's such a jackass to him, he acts so nice. "Wow...um...and you don't...mind?" He asked.
"Nope! I just want you to feel better... I hate seeing you like this..." He looked brokenhearted for a moement. "But don't worry! I'll be here for you if you need me." And he reached up and planted a kiss on his bulbous nose.
If he wasn't so out of it, Squidward surely would have blown his head off at Spongebob for doing something like that. But at this point, it actually felt like a relaxing gesture. He felt himself begin to stare off into space as more thoughts like that filled his mind.
"Squid? Are you ok?" Spongebob asked worriedly. "W-was that too much?"
"Huh? Was...was what too much?"
"Umm..." he twiddled his thumbs nervously. "T-that kiss..." He turned pink in his cheeks.
"No.. It was..." He tried to find the words to finish that sentence. "...nice."
"Y-you're being...serious?" Spongebob seemed utterly shocked at what just came out of Squidward's mouth.
"Yeah."
Spongebob beamed and reached over a kissed him lightly on the nose again. Squidward groaned. "That doesn't mean I said you could do it again..." He murmured out of embarrassment.
"S-sorry..." He said, getting back to work massaging his legs.
As he lay there soundly, Squidward remembered something Spongebob had been worried about before. Him dying. Would he really be that sad if he was dying? Would he really be that broken up? And that's why he was going all-out with the treatments? "Hey, Spongebob?" He had to know.
"Mhm?"
"Can I...ask you something?"
"Yep!"
"Ok...well you know how earlier you thought I was...dying?" He tried to say the words delicately.
He immediately stopped massaging to look up at him seriously. "Y-yeah...?"
"Well...what if I really was?"
Spongebob's eyes widened. "S-Squidward...y-you're really..." His eyes welled up. "Are you saying you're really dying?"
Squidward's eyes widened himself. "N-no, that's not what I was saying-"
"Oh, Squidward NOOOOOO!" He jumped on top of him and hugged him around the sides. "Please tell me you're lying!" And he sobbed into his shirt.
"Spongebob, i was speaking hypothetically!" He tried to get out as a yell, but it was more like a harsh whisper.
"Huh? So you're not-"
"Of course not!" He said, slightly frustrated now. "I would tell you if I was dying!"
He lifted his head, which was now soggy from tears and he smiled brightly. "Oh, good!" he snuggled his head back into Squidward's shirt.
"You didn't answer my question."
"What was it?"
"If I was really dying-WHICH I'M NOT-would you really...be that upset?"
"Of course, Squidward!" He gave him a slightly harsh look. "We've been neighbors, and friends, for so long...if anything happened to you...I would..." His eyes welled up again.
Squidward grew nervous. "Ok, no need to start crying again..."
"S-sorry... But...I just don't think I'd be able to..." He couldn't finish his sentence. "Well...you kinda... You're one of the things that...makes my life...worth living..." He blushed and turned away from him, trying to hide the color.
Did he really just hear that? Him. Squidward Q. Tentacles, was one of the things that made his life worth living? Him? The person that acted like he despised him every day? HIM? How was that possible? He grabbed the sponge's face, which was as pink as Patrick's skin would be. "Are you serious?"
"Y-yeah... You...you're really special to me, Squidward..." He surpressed a smile that was forming at his lips. "You're...the most amazing person in my life..." He turned away again.
Squidward blinked. Nobody had ever said something like that to him. And even though it was Spongebob, who was nice to everybody in the seven seas, he knew that he was being singled out as the most important person in his life. Better than Patrick, or Sandy, or Mr. Krabs, or Plankton.. A depressed cephalopod was the most important person in a happy-go-lucky sponge's life. he tried to look for a sign of derision in his face, but he saw nothing but seriousness. "Holy fish-paste, you really mean that, don't you?"
He nodded. "I mean...I don't think you feel that way about me...but..." He couldn't finish.
Squidward felt a wall of guilt overcome him. And he reassured him with a statement that couldn't be more true. "I do, to be honest." He whispered.
"Wha...What?" He turned to face him, utterly shocked.
"I said, I feel the same way, Spongebob."
His surprised face turned to touched. he smiled at him, eyes welling up. "Squidward..."
Squidward rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah.." He hated fluffy moments like this. He sat up, Spongebob still on his chest, looking up at him with big, appreciative eyes. "Now can you-" Before he could say anything else, the circulation in his body was cut off by a bone-crushing hug. He felt Spongebob snuggle his head further in his p.j.'s and rub his back soothingly. He sighed. "Spongebob..."
"Yes?"
"P-please get off of me..." He struggled to get the words out as he squeezed tighter.
"I don't want to..." He said plainly. "You're really nice..."
Squidward sighed, not having the energy to command him anymore. He just lay back down, Spongebob now on top of him, and pulled the covers over himself and the sponge. It felt...right somehow..
The warmth making his eyes droop, he felt he should show some kindness back to him. He wrapped a tentacle around his back and smiled at him warmly. "hey, Spongebob?"
"Yes, Squiddy?" He answered, using his favorite pet name.
"Thanks..."
"You're welcome..." And he planted one more kiss on his cheek before they both fell asleep in each others arms.