Authors Note; Thank you for taking your time to read this.

Aaron woke up in the middle of the night, a sharp pain shooting across the right side of his stomach to his navel. He quickly pressed a hand against the pain, hoping pressure would help. He heard that women often got stomach pains regularly every month, if this his what they went through he had a new found respect for them. As quickly as the pain passed another wave of shooting pain appeared.

As Jackson slept soundly beside him, Aaron swore under his breath at the pain. He hoped he hadn't gotten food poising. He hadn't been sick yet, but you didn't have to actually be sick to have food poising did you? He didn't know. He'd only had a bit of toast at breakfast and sandwich in the evening the previous day. He hadn't managed to eat much with a stomach ache. His appetite had dwindled so much, no longer was he a bottomless pit.

He shuffled up the bed and leant his back against the head rest. Bringing his knees up to his chest, he hugged his stomach and waited for the cramp to pass. He hoped it would. He couldn't cope with dealing with stomach cramps and pain throughout the night.

At some point he must have dosed off again when the pain had passed. He woke up again a few hours later at more reasonable time, before Jackson. The builder was still sleeping beside him when he woke, showing signs of stirring awake anytime soon. He was thankful that he had shuffled further down the bed to lie back down before he had drifted back to sleep and not nodded off sitting up. He couldn't deal with a crick in his neck as well. He was annoyed that he still had stomach ache. For the life of him he couldn't figure out why. Just as he flung back the cover on his side and stood up, a lancing pain radiated through his stomach, doubling him over.

"Shit." Aaron swore, grabbing his abdomen, like it was about to fall off. A thin layer of sweat broke out across his forehead as he struggled to control the pain.

He waited, hunched over, for the pain to subside. Listening to Paddy potter about downstairs, informed him that the vet was already awake and starting his day off. He jumped when he heard Jackson beginning to move around behind him.

"Morning." Jackson groaned as he stretched out on the bed like a giant cat. "Urgh, I'm so glad I don't have to go in today. Think I might just lounge around here."

"Lucky for some." Aaron mumbled, unhappily. He was a little jealous. He didn't feel like going into work today, spending all day climbing under cars and being ordered around by Cain or Ryan. It just didn't appeal to him not in the state he found himself in.

"How are you feeling today anyway?" The older man asked, not forgetting how miserable Aaron had looked yesterday.

"No better." He wasn't going to lie.

"Aw babe come here," Jackson said holding his arm, so his side was free for Aaron.

Aaron tried to look annoyed. But he couldn't. He wanted nothing more than to spend today in bed with Jackson. A few minutes wouldn't hurt would it.

"You haven't pulled anything while you've been at work have you? Or when we were helping your mum out the other night?" Jackson questioned out of the blue as the younger man rested against him. "Because my mum always warned me when I lifted heavy things not to pull anything. Never knew what she really means by that but still- you haven't pulled anything have you?"

"No- aah!" Aaron hissed as another sharp shooting pain ran through his lower abdomen.

"Aaron?"

The young mechanic curled in on himself tightly, hugging his stomach, waiting for the pain to pass again. This sucked, whatever it was.

"Maybe you shouldn't go into work either today, your hardly any better are you?" Jackson told Aaron, rubbing his back as he tried to comfort him through the wave of sudden pain.

"No I'm fine. I already had yesterday afternoon off." Aaron argued, feeling the pain starting to ease off.

"Aaron you've got a temperature!" Jackson said noticing the thin sheen of sweat in his boyfriends skin and going into feel how hot his forehead was.

"No I haven't." Aaron continued to argue.

"Yes you have. You're sweating."

"Stop going on, I'm fine." Aaron shrugged off, shuffling out from Jacksons hold and off of the bed. He couldn't stand fuss or attention, despite the pain he was still in.

"If you say so." Jackson sighed. He wouldn't want to force himself into work with a low grade fever and stomach ache. But it seemed Aaron did. There was no telling the younger man, he had to come around on his own terms.

Jackson had laid back and watched the young mechanic change into a clean pair of underwear and a fresh set of clothes, obviously not bothered about grabbing a shower that morning. He had picked up his discarded overalls from the floor and shoved his feet into his boots, before he had left the house. Grabbing a piece of toast off of Paddys plate on his way down when he had left for work.

The builder was now sat down the pub, a small stack of paper scattered across the table he now occupied with a glass of lager and at hand a bowl of chips. He thought why not enjoy a little pub grub and a nice drink while he slaved away over the accounts and dealings. There was no better way to be doing it. He would rather not spend his day off dealing with paperwork but he couldn't put it off anymore.

"Surely you can do all of that in your own home?" Nicola commented as she caught sight of Jacksons table when she took a seat at the bar. "You're making the place look untidy."

"Oh you don't mean that Nicola." Jackson jokes, signing the bottom of one very important document and tucking it back into a folder.

"Oh yes I do. This is a pub, not an office." Nicola huffed.

"You know, you're really starting to sound like Edna around here." Jackson teased achieving the wanted grump from Nicola. The petite blonde left him alone after that.

Over at the garage Aaron was glad that he had been shoved at the back of the garage to work underneath a Mini Cooper, while the other two worked together on a land rover out front. At the back he was left on his own, to get on. He had been lying underneath the engine of the car, on his back for the past twenty minutes. He was trying his hardest to loosen a bolt with a wrench in his hand when another excruciating pain shot through his lower stomach, making him cry out in pain and drop the wrench from his hands, to quickly apply pressure to his abdomen and hope that the pain would past. Luckily the wrench landed with a loud clatter beside his head, missing his face, as he tensed the muscles in his stomach to help.

Cain and Ryan had heard the commotion, quickly jumping to, to aid their co worker thinking he had hurt himself badly.

"Aaron, lad. What you done?" Ryan called as they rushed inside. They weaved in between tool boxes, car parts and tyres to get to the younger man. They had both heard him cry out.

"Nothing. . .-ah! I'm fine." Aaron gasped still waiting for the pain to pass, as he lay beneath the engine.

"Are you sure? You sound like you're in pain?" Ryan questioned as Cain stood beside him.

"Yeah I'm fine. . . I just dropped a wrench on my hand." Aaron lied, the pain starting to ease.

Cain, satisfied with the reason behind Aaron's cry of pain, turned round and went back to work. Leaving Ryan to dither on the spot for a while before following suit.

Beneath the engine, Aaron rubbed at his stomach until the pain eased back into a dull ache before fumbling for the wrench beside his face and continuing with his work for another ten minutes.

He slid out from underneath the Mini Cooper and made his way over to the corner of the garage which had been made into a make shift mini kitchen. He washed the oil of his hands in the battered sink before grabbing a clean mug off of the side and filling it with cold water. He took a few gulps before replacing the water he had drunk in the cup and reaching for the first aid kit. Making sure that Cain and Ryan were busy with work themselves, Aaron hunted for a couple of painkillers in the first aid box before putting the first aid box back it's in place. He threw the two white painkillers to the back of his mouth before following them down with water. He hoped that the pills would help his stomach a little, it was beginning to make him feel a little sick.

Lunch time couldn't have come around any sooner. He was thankful to have an hour to himself to just sit down and recharge his batteries. An hour before his lunch break he had received a text from Jackson, letting him know he was in the pub and that he if told the builder what he wanted to order, he would get it in ready for when he walked through the door. He wasn't sure what he wanted to eat, not with the sick feeling taking residence in his stomach. Maybe he was just feeling sick because he hasn't eaten anything probably in two days and a good pub meal would set him right. He had texted Jackson back that he wouldn't mind chips and a steak pie along side a cool larger. He would just have the one larger and then have orange juice or coke after that. Cain didn't like them drinking on their lunch break as it meant he was restricted with who he could send on call outs then. Aaron didn't mind call outs, he liked having the chance to get away from the village and driving for a bit, especially as he didn't have a car himself to take out for leisurely drives. But he needed a nice cool larger, it sounded lovely to him right now as he trudged over to The Woolpack.

He found Jackson seated at the far end of the pub, paper stacked on one side of the table as Marlon was then placing their order of meals down on the table. The older builder still had a pencil tucked behind his ear as he sipped from his own pint, thanking the chef as he went back to the kitchen. Aaron made his way over to his boyfriend and plonked himself down on the spare seat opposite him.

"You look rough." Jackson commented as he popped a chip into his mouth.

Aaron sent a glare his way. "Thanks."

"You feeling alright?" Jackson questioned waiting for Aaron to snap at him again like he did that morning.

"Yes." Aaron grunted, digging into his own food, hoping it would help to have a decent meal.

Jackson sat for a few seconds, watching Aaron when he knew the young mechanic was to busy eating to worry about being watched. He noticed that Aaron was looking slightly paler than usual, nothing worrying, but just a little off colour, his forehead was a little shiny from sweat and he knew that the teen was still running a temperature as he had rolled his overalls down to his waist and was just wearing a t-shirt, despite a slight chill in the autumn air.
He, however, had a thick hoodie on to combat the drop in temperature October had brought with it.

"Feeling better?" The older man asked as they pushed their plates away from them and drank the last of their pints.

Aaron nodded, his hand hand absently rubbing at his stomach once more.

The food hasn't helped at all. To keep Jackson from questioning his health, he had thought it would be best to eat all that was on his plate. He had never been one to leave food, his mother and Paddy had always referred to him as a bottomless pit. The feeling of being too full was adding more pain to his already aching stomach and he now felt sick once again.

"When are you due back at the garage?" The older man asked, making conversation.

Aaron lit the screen on his phone to check the time, he had another half an hour, thank god, before he was needed back there. "Half an hour."

"That's good then, spend a little time together just by ourselves. " Jackson smiled slipping a hand underneath the table between them and placing a hand on his boyfriends knee, unseen by others.

Aaron grimaced again when another bout of pain shot through his lower abdomen.

"You sure you're alright?"Jackson asked as he watched on with concern as Aaron started massaging his stomach with his hand as his knuckles turned white on his other, as he formed a tight fist.

"M'fine." Aaron gritted out. His stomach began to turn and he could feel bile rising in his throat.

"You don't-" Jackson began before Aaron bolted from the table.

He just about made it into a cubicle before his stomach decided to revolt and spew his recently consumed food into the toilet bowl with a vengeance. The acid burnt his throat and he began to cough, nearly throwing up again when he saw the mess. The young mechanic felt a hand on his back and turned round feebly to see who it was. He suspected it to be Jackson and it was. He'd left the cubicle door open in the rush of making it to the toilet before he vomited all over the pub floor. So his boyfriend had witnessed it all.

"I'll call Cain and let him know you won't be going back this afternoon." Jackson told him firmly. "You can't work with a stomach bug."

Aaron was too out of it from all the retching to argue with him. He just wanted to curl up in a ball right then and wait it out until it passed. He had never felt so rough. He didn't know what type of bug or virus he had caught. He listened as Jackson made the phone call to his uncle at the garage, explaining to him that he wouldn't be returning that afternoon, continuing to rub soft circles on Aaron's back as the young mechanic waited for his stomach to settle down.

"You okay to move? Get you home?" Jackson asked the sick teen.

Aaron nodded, he could make it a few yards home. He had never experienced such pain, lancing through his abdomen right then but he knew he couldn't stay on the floor of the pub toilets all afternoon. He wanted to get out before anyone else came in and saw him in such a state.

They managed to get the young mechanic home and in bed with minimal fuss. They had managed to walk through the village unnoticed as Jackson supported Aaron when another sharp shooting pain cramped the muscles in his stomach causing him to stumble outside the B&B. He had ungraciously crawled up the stairs in smithy cottage and collapsed onto their bed, curling up around his stomach. Aaron didn't even flinch when Clyde jumped onto the bed and jostled him.

"Clyde!" Jackson called out when the huge lump of a dog, carelessly shuffled around beside Aaron before plonking himself down on his legs. "Clyde c'mon!"

"Leave him." Aaron said quietly, raking a hand through his dogs fur.

The builder rolled his eyes. He grabbed the bin from beside the wardrobe, took out the plastic bag and placed the empty bin beside the bed. "In case you need to. . . You know." Jackson grimaced. "I'll get you some pain killers and water to help."

"Thanks." Aaron mumbled into the pillow he had wrapped an arm around.

It had been a couple of hours since Jackson had gotten Aaron to keep the medicine and water down and settle down to catch some much needed sleep to help speed up the process of getting better. It was a nasty bug that the younger man had caught, and they had all tried to work out how Aaron may have caught such a bug. He hadn't come in contact with anyone in the village who was ill and he had not come home complaining about sick customers spreading their germs. It was a mystery to them.

"Do you think he could keep any tea down him?" Hazel asked as she prepared food for tea.

Her son sat at the kitchen table, listening out for Aaron, and shook his head. "I doubt it." He sighed. "Think I heard him throwing up again half an hour ago."

"Poor lad. Do you want to go check up on him then? Take him this- hang on." Hazel said, whipping her hands dry on her apron, before disappearing into the living room and reappearing with a hot water bottle, covered in a soft deep purple cover. "It was a bit chilly last night, give this to him, it might help." Hazel emptied the cold water out of the bottle, before filling it up again from the kettle. "There that should do it." She said handing it to her son.

"Thanks mum."

Aaron was curled up on his side still, an arm protectively holding his stomach as Clyde laid along his back, keeping him company. The covers were kicked to the bottom of the bed and half hung off. Jackson picked the covers up from the bottom of the bed and laid them so they covered Aaron up to his waist. He then climbed onto the bed himself, in front of his boy friend and laid down beside him so they were facing each other. He studied the younger mans face for any signs of pain or distress but found none. At least while he was sleeping he wasn't feeling uncomfortable. The builder pressed a kiss to Aaron's forehead to gage his temperature, his skin felt red hot to the touch. No doubt he still had a fever from earlier. They were going to have to sort that out soon. He began to ease Aaron's protective arm from around his stomach to replace it with hot water bottle. Hazel had sworn to him it would help at least a little bit. He knew Aaron wouldn't go much on the cover, dark purple. However it would serve the purpose it was needed for.

The teen began to stir when the heat of the water bottle made contact with his stomach. "Aaron." Jackson began to coax.

"What?" Aaron groaned, coming to. He went to stretch out, ease his taught muscles, but thought better of it when he was reminded of the ache in his stomach. He could feel the heat radiating against his skin , helping a little. "Thanks."

"What for?" Jackson asked, running a hand up and down Aaron's side soothingly.

"This," he said gesturing to the warm relief. "Taking care of me, everything."

"N'aw you big softie." The older man teased, chuckling when Clyde woke up behind the teen and plopped his head down on top of Aaron's head, in a caring gesture. "He's loyal." He commented on the dog who had not left his side.

"Of course he is."

"How are you feeling now?" Jackson asked. "Any better?"

"Not really." Aaron swallowed, pressing the hot water bottle against his stomach.

"I'll get you some more pain relief, I think you're due for something else and maybe something to get that temperature down." Jackson instructed, taking note of how high the teens temperature had gotten. He wasn't used to taking care of sick people, but going on what he remembered his own mum doing when taking care of him when he was ill, he couldn't go far wrong.

"Okay." Aaron grumbled, shuffling his head around a little to get comfortable, his eyes closing as sleep clawed at him.

The builder spent the majority of the evening checking on Aaron, giving him pain relief and re heating his hot water bottle, making sure he was comfortable. Hazel felt sorry for the poor boy, thinking he looked in a sorry state when she popped her head round the bedroom to check on him herself. Whatever it was that had gotten into his system was really taking its toll on the teen. She had checked his temperature and was rather quite alarmed. The heat was radiating off of the younger man, any higher and they would have to take him into a hospital if they couldn't get it down.

Jackson was thankful when it seemed Aaron had succumbed to a deep sleep, rather than the short little light naps he had uncomfortably drifted into here and there. His stomach had kept waking him up, however it seemed they had finally managed to dull the pain to a bearable level and gotten his temperature down just a minute bit, enough for him to fall into a nice deep sleep and for Jackson to take a breather from all the fussing.