JUNIPER WOODS

Apollo woke up feeling tired.

That statement probably contradicted itself. I mean, people who wake up are supposed to feel refreshed and awake, right?

But Apollo was tired and aching all over. And he had no clue why.

With some effort, he forced himself out of bed and went to the bathroom to splash some water on his face, thinking it would chase away the tiredness. Of course, it didn't help. Instead, his head had started to hurt.

Sighing in frustration, he trudged to the kitchen to make himself a sandwich. Though he wasn't hungry in the slightest, he decided some food might help with his energy issue.

He finished about a quarter of the thing before he couldn't eat anymore. He placed the sandwich down on a plate and went to get changed. He put on his usual outfit, which was his white shirt, red vest and red dress pants. He was about to head out the door when-

Wait. Something was missing from his outfit.

He walked back to his room and looked into the mirror. Something was...Off. He couldn't put his finger on it. Something looked missing...

Got it. He'd forgotten his tie.

As he made his move to grab it, he couldn't help but wonder how he could have forgotten it. His tie was one of his most important things, so how could he manage to miss that one out?

He looked back in the mirror. Oh wait. Something was still missing.

His head only started to hurt more as he tried to think of what it was. What was with him today?

At that moment, he heard the doorbell ring. Forget it. Try to find what was wrong later, go answer the door first. He headed to the door and opened the door. It was only then did he notice how warm he felt. Stupid weather.

"Hi, Apollo." The girl at the door smiled sweetly at him. She was holding a basket in her gloved hands. She was wearing a pale-pink dress and a cream-yellow shawl, which was fastened together by a pine cone. She had really, really long hair, which was tied in two plaits. She also had a cream-yellow hat on her head. She was kind of pretty. But why would she come to see him-

Wait a dang minute.

"Oh, hello Juniper." Apollo wanted to punch himself. How did he not recognize her at first? She was one of his good friends, he'd know her face anywhere. So why...Wait.

"Why're you here? I have to get to the Agency soon." Apollo asked. Juniper looked mildly surprised.

"You do? But Thena told me Mister Wright told you all beforehand that he was giving the office a break today..." Juniper said. Wait, of course. What was wrong with his brain today? It's just so-

Aurgh, his head hurt.

"Wait, you're right...Do you want to come in?" Apollo stepped aside, allowing Juniper to enter. He sat down on one of the couches, and Juniper sat on the couch facing his.

"I see you haven't gelled your hair." Juniper commented with a small giggle. Oh, of course. He didn't gel his hair. No wonder he still looked off even with the tie.

"Yeah, I forgot to." He replied sheepishly. He bit his lower lip. Dang, it was cold all of a sudden. No, wait, he still felt warm. Was he feeling warm and cold at the same time? What the rocketship was up with this weather? He kept contradicting himself today.

"Apollo?" Juniper looked concerned, "Are you okay? You're shivering..."

"Fine." Apollo sucked in a breath, "I'm fine." No, he didn't feel fine. Being warm and cold at the same time made it impossible to feel fine.

He felt his stomach lurch when the room suddenly tilted sideways. And then it started spinning. A lot. The sight just made his head and muscles hurt more.

Suddenly a wave of nausea hit him. He got up and dashed to the bathroom, probably knocking into some furniture or something on the way. But his mind was in too much of a blur to notice.

Whatever came out from his mouth and into the sink...Ew, that didn't look like anything he ate.

Apollo was vaguely aware of Juniper calling his name. His mind was still fuzzy and blurry. All he knew was that he felt really uncomfortable and wanted the feeling to go away.

"Apollo!" Suddenly it sounded as if she was screaming right beside his ear. He winced, it made his ears hurt. He felt something soft press against his forehead, but it was drawn away soon after. "You're having a really high fever!" Why did her voice sound so loud?

"Not...Feeling well." Apollo managed, through another wave of nausea and sudden spike in his headache. He felt like his skull was being split in two with an axe.

"Let's get you to your room, then you can lie down. Come on." Juniper said gently, helping Apollo to his feet, though he could barely stand. Apollo staggered to his room with his arm over Juniper's shoulder and most of his weight leaning on her (He was surprisingly light, though, Juniper thought). Everything was still spinning like a tornado, but with Juniper's help, he managed to move.

When they finally reached the room, Juniper helped Apollo to his bed, where he lay down. She pulled the blankets over him gently, placing her hand to his forehead.

"Do you want a drink?" She offered, "My Grandma says that you'd feel better if you drank water." After receiving a muffled grunt from Apollo, she left the room to get him a glass of water. Apollo squeezed his eyes shut, trying to get the uncomfortable feeling to go away. But then he was hit with a sudden pang of guilt. Juniper hadn't come here to babysit him.

"I'm back. Can you sit up?" Juniper sat down on the bed beside him, holding a glass of water to him in her hands. He slowly pushed himself up in a sitting position, taking the glass of water from her hands. He took a sip, before placing the glass down on the bedside table.

"...Sorry." He muttered.

"Hm?" Juniper blinked, be it from Apollo not being loud enough, or that she was surprised by what he said.

"...I said I'm sorry." Apollo sighed, biting his lower lip, "You didn't come here to take care of me."

"What? N-No! It's fine!" Juniper smiled gently, "In fact...I wouldn't mind staying here and taking care of you until you're completely better!" At that, Apollo's lips curled into a small smile.

"Really?...Thanks, Juniper. I think you're the best nurse around, too." Apollo said, followed by a small yawn. Even though his entire body hurt, he was starting to feel a bit tired.

"Try to get some rest, Apollo, okay?" Juniper gently patted Apollo's head. Apollo nodded, before lowering back down into his bed. "I'll be here when you wake up. I'll be here for as long as you need me to be." And he let himself drift to sleep, knowing Juniper would always be there to care for him.

Author's notes: Sorry this one took so long again. I rewrote this three times. Three times. The first was Athena and Juniper visiting Apollo's house, the second was Apollo visiting Athena's house where Juniper already was, but neither of them seemed to fit. So I tried to think of a scenario, and then I remembered that I've had this idea since forever, so I went with it.

I'll be honest, I don't know jack about fevers or illnesses.

The last times I've had fevers, they were for completely no reasons at all. I even got sent to the emergency room once because of a fever I had. I just wrote what happened to me when I had a fever. It's probably not the same as fevers normal people have, but oh well.

Anyways, please send suggestions and prompts, and R&R.