"Hey babe." Lex was sitting in the break room at her job when Adam walked in. she stood and kissed his cheek before having a seat again. He grabbed her spoon and took a bite of the vanilla soft serve she was eating. She gave him a look but he just grinned at her.

"I have the most amazing news." the smile on his face only grew bigger. Lex looked at him patiently waiting for him to tell her his news.

"You aren't even going to guess?" he asked raising a brow. She was not making this any fun for him.

"You know I hate guessing at stuff. That and surprises." she remarked before feeding him more of her ice cream.

"I got a job." It was Lex's turn to smile. She was ecstatic to learn that her boyfriend had gotten a new job. She knew how much he hated the one they currently had.

"Adam that is amazing, Is it in Nuclear Medicine?" That had been what Adam had gone to school for. Before that he was a graphic artist, but when the company he worked for went belly up he decided to go back to school for something more practical.

"Yes it is. God I am just so happy right now." He ran a hand through his short cropped black hair. His brown eyes sparkled with excitement. "The only catch is it is in New Jersey."

It felt like a ton of bricks hit Lex in the stomach all at once. "You are moving to Jersey?" he asked, her mood instantly dampened.

"It's only a five hour drive from here. I can still come up on the weekends and see you. Or you could drive to see me." As much as he wanted her to go with him he knew that she was still in school and it would be cruel to have her have to switch schools this late into the semester. "And after you finish this semester in December maybe you can think about transferring to a school in Jersey."

"I don't know Adam. My whole life is up here." He placed his hand in her's. "This is something that I will seriously have to think about."

"Don't say no just yet. Take your time and think about it. I don't leave for Jersey until the end of the month."

"That's like two and a half weeks from now Adam!" She exclaimed. She frowned at her boyfriend. "That was no enough time to say goodbye."

"I know Baby but I have no choice." She wanted to tell him that he did have a choice. He could pass up this job offer and wait for one to open up in Massachusetts. But she could not be that selfish. She knew how hard he had worked for this.

"Ok, I will think about it but I am not making any promises." she agreed.

"I got you something." he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small black velvet box. She eyed him warily. He slid the box over to her. She opened it up to find a beautiful ring. It was small with diamonds in the band.

"Oh my god Adam!" her mouth hung open. There was no way he was proposing to her right now. First off where was the romance. Secondly him leaving was not a good enough reason to decide to get married. "This isn't what I think it is right?"

"No it is not an engagement ring." She let out a sigh of relief. He laughed a little at her when she did. "Give me a little more credit than that. If I were going to propose it would not be in our break room." He moved his hand from her's and rested his palm against her cheek. "It's a promise ring. You know like a place holder until it's time to put an engagement right on that finger."

"Ok then. Yes Adam I accept your ring." He grinned at her and slid the ring up her ring finger.

"Perfect. Just like you are."

"You are a goofball." she laughed at him.

–

Phil was sick, that is never a good thing. Phil healthy was an asshole. Phil sick, that's the stuff nightmares were made of. Phil was not a fun sick person. Granted most people who were sick were not fun. But they might just be whiny, people could deal with whiny. Nope, Phil Brooks was not whiny when he was sick, he was mean-er than he usually was.

Beth watched her poor boyfriend writhe around in his hotel room bed. His stomach was killing him, he had a nasty stomach virus. Apparently it was going around everywhere. The last time she talked to Lex on the phone she had it. Of course she was a little more pleasant about it then Phil was being.

"Phil, do you need anything? Some ginger ale or crackers perhaps." Beth asked him. He opened one eye to look at her. A sneer already forming on his lips. No that was not going to be fun for her at all.

"No." He moved again. This time on his right side. He just wanted to sleep but the cramps in his stomach and the constant switches from burning up to freezing kept him awake. There was no way he was going to the house show that night. That would just be stupid. He wanted to be at home right now. He would have been too if he thought his stomach could tolerate a plane ride to Chicago from California.

"Phil I have to leave now. Vince book me a signing that I cannot get out of. But I will be back as soon as I am done. Alright?"

"Get the fuck away from me!" Phil yelled. "Leave I don't fucking care."

She knew not to take it personal. She knew he didn't feel good but it was still frustrating. "Do you want me to grab you anything on my way back?"

"I said leave me alone!" he yelled.

"Alright I am leaving." she held up her hands in defense. "If you need anything just call me." She grabbed her rental keys and left.

"Ugh." He groaned before throwing the blankets over his face. "Why are people so fucking stupid."

"This is so asinine." he removed the blankets from himself. He was overheated. He needed to get to the shower. Maybe the cool water could help him. He placed his feet on the carpeted floor. His head began to spin. "Seriously?" He was going to throw up again.

Hr grabbed onto the nightstand to steady himself as he stood. "This sucks." he had a seat on the edge of the bed again. It was times like this that being straight edge wasn't so much fun. He looked at the clock on his phone. It was a little after one in the afternoon. He had a hunch that Lex would just be getting home from work. Her new thing was homeopathic remedies. Maybe she knew of something that could make him feel a little better. He dialed her number.

"Hey Punkers." she greeted him cheerily. He was already annoyed by her. "What can I do for ya?"

"I am sick. I need one of your hocus pocus remedies." he bit out.

"What's the matter?" she asked while making herself a peanut butter sandwich. She moved the phone to her other shoulder.

"I have a stomach bug." he explained. "I have been throwing up for the last day and a half. I haven't been able to sleep and I have hot and cold flashes."

"Oh my poor Punkers. Ok here's what I want you to do. Make yourself some ginger tea. No milk just tea. Sip it really slowly and it will help. Pregnant women drink it to help with morning sickness all the time. Also real ginger ale will do the trick too. But no Canada Dry because that does not have any ginger in it at all."

"You want me to drink something for pregnant people?" he asked.

"No, it's not for pregnant people it's just something that helps with morning sickness." she explained. "There is something about ginger that helps with nausea."

"Where would I get some ginger tea?"

"I will call Beth and have her pick some up along with some saltines and some sugar free candies." she told him.

"You are really good at taking care of me." he said.

"I do try. Now go back and lay down and I will either have Randy or Beth get you the stuff you need."

"Thank you Lexie."

"You're welcome Punkers." she said. "Feel better."