Hey everyone! I'm sorry it's been awhile. Life got very hectic with school, musical, and choir. But here's the next chapter! If anyone has some prompts that would be wonderful since I'm trying to get into the full swing of writing again. Thank you!

L.L.A.P

~Laces

Chpt.26

"My mom sent me some of her homemade soup for you." Carter smiled, setting the steaming pot of chicken broth, ginger, carrots, mushrooms, and cabbage onto the bed side table. "She wants you to get better as soon as possible."

"Thanks." Livy smiled. Unfortunately she started convulsing as she broke out into a coughing fit, some blood splattering out of her mouth landing on her cheek.

Carter grabbed a tissue once she was done coughing and dabbed away the blood.

"Sorry for all this." Livy sighed, wincing in pain from her headache.

"Hey, how could you have known that you'd get some sort of rare foreign illness while in some small country." Carter smiled as he grabbed a wet cloth and dabbed it at her forehead.

"I'm just glad that it's not contagious." Livy stated. I wouldn't wish this hell on anyone.

"Are you kidding? I'm just happy that it's not fatal." Carter grinned, but his face suddenly became more serious.

"Hey, does Damian know you're here? Or that you're sick?" he inquired, and Livy sighed, shaking her head.

"No. I don't want him to see me like this." She informed. She grimaced at the state she was in. her blond hair was loose and stuck out all over the place from tossing and turning, her skin was a sickly pale with the occasional cold sweats, she had dark circles under her eyes due to a lack of sleep, and she had lost a considerable amount of weight since she lost a good amount of her appetite. "Why do you ask?"

"Just wondering." He said quickly, but was frowning a bit. Livy looked at him skeptically.

"Just wondering, huh?" Livy murmured, and just then there was a knock at the door. Livy's eyes rested on the door. "You didn't…"

"He misses you." Carter frowned. "He misses you a lot. I couldn't just not tell him that you were back."

"But he'll see me like this."

"He won't care what you look like, as long as he gets to see you, Livy." Carter stated sternly.

"Since when are you and Damian friends?" Livy questioned in her weak voice.

"We're not friends. We're drinking buddies." Carter sighed. The knock on the door came again, louder and Livy tensed, causing her to go into another coughing fit and some blood splattered onto the sheets of the bed. "Relax, Livy. He wants to see you." Carter whispered, and with that, the man opened the door. Damian gave a curt nod, and Carter left the room, leaving the two so they could have some privacy.

"Damian-" Damian didn't let her finish. He threw himself onto her bed and wrapped his body around hers in a full hug.

"Damian, be careful. There's some blood…"

"Do you think I care about the fucking blood." Damian growled, running his hands through Livy's hair, which was out of its usual braid, and he was kissing all over her face. his legs wrapped around hers possessively.

He sounded mad, but his actions showed care, confusing Livy.

"Damian-"

"I missed you so much. You think that some illness would make me not want to see you? If so, then you're delirious." Damian's low voice rumbled as he spoke in Livy's ear.

Livy shuttered from a cold chill in Damian's arms, then coughed again, trying to cover her mouth, which resulted in a spray of blood covering her hand.

"D-damian…" her eyes were wide and glassy and the boy realized she was about to cry. He quickly grabbed a napkin and dabbed at her mouth then wiped her hand. "Damian, why did you have to come… to… to see me like this." Hot tears streaked her face.

"Livy, I missed you."

"I missed you too but… but look at me. It looks like I'm dying. I never wanted you to see me like this because… be…cause…" she started trembling and coughing again. Damian held her and continued to dab at the blood. "I know if you see me like this, you'll never forget about it."

"Livy, I don't care what you look like. As long as I can be with you." Damian's eyes then settled on the soup Carter left.

"He's a good man." Damian nodded. "I dislike how close he is to you, but he is still a good man. Useful too." Damian grabbed the soup and helped Livy sit up.

"Damian, what are…"

"I am going to feed you this soup. The sooner you get better, the sooner I can make up for lost time. It's been months since I've seen you." Damian had some soup on the spoon and looked at Livy.

"Open wide."

"Damian-"

"Tt. Don't be so stubborn Livy." He smirked, but then got more serious. "Let me help you get through this."

Livy stared at him and he stared right back. His eyes looked tired and desperate. Not to mention when he looked at her, something changed. Livy never gave it much thought when Damian looked at her, but she realized that the look was as if she were the most precious thing in the world to him. Livy never realized how much she appreciated and treasured that look.

She sighed, but then reluctantly opened her mouth, letting Damian feed her the delicious soup.

Damian grinned as he continued to spoon feed her.

"After you're done the soup, I could read to you, if you like." Livy's eyes widened, having want to read but stopping due to it causing awful headaches and migraines. She then slowly smiled.

"Thank you, Damian. I'd really appreciate that." Damian looked down at the stack of book next to Livy's bed.

"Is there one in particular you want me to read to you?" he inquired and Livy shook her head.

"No. I just…" she trembled and started coughing again, Damian holding her through the cough and dabbing away the blood on the corners of her mouth. "I just want to hear your voice." Livy finished her sentence after the cough.

Damian grinned, then finished feeding Livy the last of what was in the bowl of soup. He looked down at the pile of books and picked up a thick one. He wanted to read to Livy for a long time, and he figured that reading to her a long book would make up for how much he wanted to read to her. He chose Last of the Amazons by Steven Pressfield.

"Are you ready?" Damian inquired as he opened the book, and Livy nodded as Damian guided her head to rest on his lap, so he could run his fingers through her hair while reading to her.

"Alright. Now... "Book one, mother bones. Chapter one, a tame Amazon. When I was a girl I had a nurse who was a tame Amazon. Of course such expression is a misnomer, as one of that race may be domesticated no more than an eagle or a she-wolf…""

Livy listened intently, melting into the touch of Damian's hand on her head and being lulled by his soothing voice.

Then, for the first time in two days, Livy was able to fall asleep.