Disclaimer: I don't own anything
Runny noses aren't always bad
As soon as Vanessa closed her eyes, Zac ran out of the door trying to make as little noise as possible, and after about two minutes came back in carrying a vase filled with 3 sunflowers that he had kept in his room after he came back from buying Vanessa's sick day essentials. Vanessa felt the strong smell of flowers immediately.
"Open your eyes" Vanessa did as instructed.
"Oh my goodness Zac, these are beautiful!"
Zac brought the vase over to her and she noticed that every flower had a tag attached to its stem. She read the first tag she could reach, which said "you" in Zac's messy but adorable handwriting. She took the next tag and read "I". Anxious to know what the third tag said, she moved the vase so that the third tag was facing her and read "love". It only took her a few seconds to realize what he meant.
"I love you too Zac" she said shyly and blushed while looking down. He smiled, glad that she had reacted the way she had. He moved close to her and with one hand, caressed her cheek, and then kissed it.
Vanessa suddenly had the urge to sneeze, and sneeze, and sneeze. Her eyes were all watery after she was done, and her nose, if possible, had gotten ever redder. Vanessa looked at the flowers, frowned, sneezed again, and then sighed.
After having said "bless you" numerous times, Zac asked: "Are you ok?"
"Yeah, but I think the flowers might be giving me allergies, on top of the cold."
"Oh no" Zac quickly took the vase from the table, removed the tags from the stems, gave those to Vanessa, and took the flowers outside to the balcony.
Vanessa frowned. It seemed like everything Zac had planned for the day, Vanessa had ruined somehow. She felt so bad for him. After all the effort he had put through to make her sick day, a pleasant day, she had crushed all of his ideas. It's not like she had done it on purpose, but she still had.
Zac came back into the room to find Vanessa with her head down.
"Hey, you ok?"
Vanessa looked up at him through watery eyes and a fake smile. "Yeah, I'm ok"
"Come on mini Van, I know you, your not ok. You know you can tell me anything. Do you still not feel well? Was it something I said? Did?" Zac looked at her expectantly.
"No it's not that. I feel better, and you have been perfect."
"Then what's wrong?"
"It's just that you have worked so hard to make today nice for me. I feel lousy but I have managed to keep my mind off it thanks to you. I don't know how to thank you. The thing is, I have ruined most of your plans. First I made you fish for carrots in the soup, just because I didn't like them, then I fell asleep on you, then I refused to kiss you because I'm sick, and then I did it again, and now, to top it all off, I'm allergic to the beautiful flowers you brought me. I'm so sorry Zac, I ruined everything" Vanessa finished, letting a tear cascade down her cheek.
"Hey, don't cry" Zac said, cupping her face with both his hands and removing her tears with his thumbs. 'You haven't ruined anything. Sure, there have been some mishaps but they haven't been your fault. They only thing you're guilty of today, is making me the happiest guy in the world. I have gotten to spend the whole day with you! To me, that is reward enough for my work." Zac finished and smiled at her. He kissed her forehead and hugged her.
"Thanks Zac, this day couldn't have been better"
"Who says it's over?"
"Well, it's kind of late, and I haven't gotten much rest today so I should really go to sleep. I don't feel so well."
Zac placed the palm of his hand on her forehead. "You're burning up. Let me give you some more medicine and then I promise I'll let you sleep."
"Eww"
Zac brought over the medicine and another bottle of chocolate milk, and this time, Vanessa drank them without protesting, but still putting on a disgusted face.
"Hey Van, is it ok if I just sleep here in your couch? Your fever has me kind of worried; I don't want it to get to high in the middle of the night"
"Sure, go ahead, but I don't think there's anything to worry about"
Zac took a pillow from Vanessa's bed and a blanket from the closet and put them on the couch. After getting ready for bed in his own room, he came back to find Vanessa bathed, changed and clean. She didn't look as terrible as she looked before, because her hair was now in a side braid, but her nose was as red as ever, and because of the fever, so were her cheeks.
Zac approached her. "Come on babe; want me to tuck you in?" And there it was. Vanessa's heart jumped out of her chest, danced around the room, and jumped back in. He had called her babe, not joking, and not disrespectfully, but just right. She couldn't hold back her smile.
"Okay!"
Zac pulled the covers from under her and put them over her slim body. He kissed her forehead. "Goodnight Nessy wessy. I hope your dreams are filled with nurses and superheroes! I love you" Vanessa smiled in response.
He turned off the light and got into the sofa. He tried to go to sleep but after five minutes he heard a soft whisper.
"Zac? Are you awake?"
"Yeah" Are you ok?"
"Yeah, it's just that I'm a little worried that from the sofa you aren't really going to know if my fever rises."
"Yeah you're right"
"Come sleep with me"
"Are you sure? You don't mind?"
"I'm positive."
Zac got up from the couch and made his way over to the bed. He pulled back the covers a little bit and got in as far away from Vanessa as he could. He really wanted to be close to her, but he didn't want to seem too forward. He was startled when he felt her body curl up against his. He put his arm under her head so she could use him as a pillow, and she put her hand on his chest. Soon they had both fallen asleep.
That night Zac barely slept. He could not believe so many things had happened is such an uneventful day. He kept tossing and turning, careful not to wake Vanessa up, but never removing his arm from her torso. He kept waking up to the sound of Vanessa's cough and his own. Wait…'did I just cough?'
A/N: There are two more chapters left and then this story is done! I'll probably finish everything up today because tomorrow is my farewell party because I'm leaving for college, so after today I won't have any time for fan fiction, sadly… I wish I could write this story forever because it's really fun to write, but I have an expiration date. Thanks for the reviews! Until next time!
