I sat on my bed, my cell phone pressed to my ear. "Are you feeling any better today, Merlin?" Arthur asked.

"Not really," I said with a sniffle. "It's been two days, and I still feel like crap. My head is killing me. I can't stop sneezing. My throat is on fire. I've sucked on like, ten cough drops so far today. I'm just glad it's Friday. I should be over it by Monday. Maybe."

"Well, I've picked up all of your assignments for yesterday and today You actually didn't miss much work. It's been kind of a slow week. I'll bring them by for you. I think most of the teachers expect them back by Monday."

"No!" I objected. I didn't want Arthur to come by and see me all…ugly. My face was blotchy. My eyes were red. My nose was red and slightly chapped from all of the tissues. And to make matters worse, I kept sneezing. And nearly every time I sneezed, something magical happened.

Not in a good way.

When something magical happened around me, it could get crazy. It could get downright weird.

So far I'd managed to make my mattress spin enough to nearly make me vomit, my books talk in foreign languages, my dresser sing opera, my door tell knock-knock jokes, and my bearded dragon giggle like a little girl. Seriously, he sounded just like a five-year-old girl.

"Why not?" Arthur wanted to know. "You need your assignments. How else do you expect to get them? From what you said earlier, you're in no state to come over to my place. You're probably all drugged up on cough medicine right now, aren't you?"

I chose not to answer his last question. I sighed. "All right, fine. Bring them by. But just give them to my mom. Don't come up to my room."

"Merlin, why not?"

"Because I said so. Please?"

"Whatever. I'll be over in a little bit."

We hung up. "Mom!" I yelled. My mother entered the room, looking at me expectantly. "Arthur's stopping by to drop off my homework. Don't let him come up."

"Why not, dear?"

I scowled at her. Was she serious? "Because, Mom, I'm all sick and gross. And my sneezing is making my magic go whacko."

Shaking her head, Mom went back to whatever she was doing. Only a few minutes later, I heard a knock. Then the front door was opened, and closed again. Footsteps sounded in the hallway, and then there was a knock on my bedroom door.

I rolled my eyes. "Mom, you don't have to knock right now. Just come in."

The door opened. "Hey," Arthur said, as he walked in.

Squealing, I sank down and yanked my blanket up so it was covering most of my face. "What are you doing?" I demanded. "I told you not to come up!"

"I didn't listen. Obviously. Besides, your dad said it was fine."

My dad. Dang it. How could I have forgotten to talk to him as well? "Why?" I wanted to know.

"I wanted to check on you."

"Well, I'm fine. Okay? So you can go n-" I broke off with a loud sneeze.

Behind Arthur, all of my DVDs floated into the air. Panicking, I made them fall. At least that magic outburst was mild, compared to the other things that had happened when I sneezed.

Arthur spun around at the noise of falling DVD cases. He was frowning. "What was that?"

I shrugged. "Um, I probably just had too many movies on that shelf. It was bound to fall over at some point."

He shook his head and looked back at me. He took my hand in his own. "Let me take care of you, Merlin. I'll help you get better."

"How? By getting sick yourself? What can you do that my mom's chicken noodle soup can't?"

"I don't know. I just…I want to help you, however I can."

"Why?"

"Because, Merlin, I think…I think that I'm in love with you."

I wasn't quite sure what to say to that. I think my jaw fell open. "What?" I whispered.

He took a deep breath. "I don't think, actually. I know. Merlin, I have fallen in love with you. You're just...so you. I love it. And because I love you, I want to take care of you. So let me do this. Please."

I smiled at him. "Arthur, that means a lot to me. It really does. But I don't think that there is anything that you can do for me, not really. I'll be fine. My mom's got it covered."

"I just...I feel useless. I hate the idea of you sitting here, miserable, and me not doing anything to help. There's gotta be something that I can help with."

I thought about it for a minute. "You know, if you really want to do something for me, you can get me hot fudge sundae."

He arched an eyebrow. "Doesn't dairy irritate your throat even more?"

I scowled. Why did he have to remember that? "Fine. Get me some ginger ale, and saltine crackers. Please. I think Mom ran out this morning. I don't know if she was going to get some more tonight or not."

Arthur nodded. "I'll do that. I'll stop by again later tonight." He stood up and walked toward the door. Before he actually left, he paused, and looked back at me. "Wait a minute. You never said anything about...loving me back."

I rolled my eyes. "Of course I love you, dollophead. I've loved you for a while now."