Disclaimer: I do not own The O.C. or any of its characters. Everything belongs to FOX and Josh Schwartz.

Ryan's POV

I laid there on the bed. I didn't even bother to get under the covers as my body ached too much to move. I kept going in and out of consciousness. It might have subconsciously been because I was worried of either Kirsten or Sandy coming home early and finding me. Though, I was so uncomfortable and in too much to stay asleep. One minute it'd be 11:10 and then I'd wake up and it would be 11:49. I don't know what's worse: Not being able to stay asleep when you feel like crap or having to listen to a chemistry lecture when you feel like crap. Seth left me alone in here to suffer after our short conversation. I felt relieved as though I had asked, he couldn't stop talking. On the bright side, I had managed to convince him from telling his parents. So now I just had the task of actually keeping this from them. That can't be too hard, right?

Seth came back into the pool house later. It seemed so soon after he had left. "Feeling any better?" Seth asked.

"No." I replied, annoyed. Mostly because I couldn't seem to be able to get any rest. "I feel like crap."

"Well, yeah, I assumed that because when you are sick, you don't feel exactly great—you feel the exact opposite of great—which is what you said…" Seth rambled and then trailed off as he noticed the glare I was giving him to shut up. His blabbering was making my head spin.

"You feel like crap?" Seth asked. That felt like a stupid question to ask. And any answer I could respond with felt like an understatement.

"I thought we established that?" I eventually responded.

"Well if only there was something that you could help with that. Oh right, it is called medicine, which my parents could easily offer if you'd tell them you're sick." Seth says and I groan into my pillow before turning back to him.

"I'm not sick." I protested.

"I thought we established you were." Seth comments with a sarcastic gasp. "My bad."

"Seth!" I said, trying to sit up. I coughed and then winced as my body ached with every movement.

"Sorry, I'm not sneaking you medicine or anything. If you want to take care of yourself, you're free to do that."

"I was going to ask you to turn out the light." I said, weakly as I gave up and laid back down. I would do it, but I wasn't going to attempt moving. Sitting up was a struggle at the moment. I figured that wouldn't be a big deal for him since he was standing right next to light switch. There was a moment of silence before the room was darker and then I let myself slip into consciousness.

Seth's POV

I shook my head as I left the pool house. I didn't understand why Ryan was just going to suffer in silence alone. I guess he didn't realize how awesome being sick could be. Whenever I get sick, it's paradise. No school and my parents were at my beck and call. Getting and doing pretty much whatever I ask them to is great. At the very least, it certainly can lessen how horrible he'd feel. Ryan was seriously missing out. I didn't see what the whole 'being sick denial' point was.

I went into my room for a while. I found myself, constantly wondering about Ryan. I was concerned for his well-being and I was also curious to how long he would last before my parents would figure it out. He hasn't been here long and my mom—well—she could spot me sick from a mile away and that was before I even would have the chance to tell her. I didn't think he'll last through dinner without them figuring it out.

About an hour later, my parents were home with dinner. Apparently, they had decided to bring some Thai food home. I wasn't complaining. I was satisfied as long as mom stayed away from the stove. But I wasn't sure if Ryan would be up for it tonight. I knew if I was sick, that would be the last thing I wanted. But I knew he was going to keep up the charade, he was going to have to eat.

"Where's Ryan?" My dad asked as he took the food out of the bags and put it on the table while my mom got out the plates and utensils.

"Asleep in the pool house." I answered.

"Is he okay?" My mom asked. I honestly think she has some sort of mom-meter when it comes to sickness or something; she just seems to know.

"Just exhausted. He was up late studying last night. Big test." I lied for him; it was least I could do. He made me swear not to tell and I was going to honor that; though I thought it was stupid and it probably wouldn't do him any good.

"Well dinner's here, so you should go get him." Mom told me and I nodded, going out to the pool house; I knew dinner was going to be interesting.

Ryan's POV

I had managed to get to sleep again. It didn't last. It seemed like five minutes later, Seth was shaking me awake. "What?" I asked, suddenly startled.

"They brought dinner." Seth said.

I sat up slowly to where my legs were hanging off the side of the bed. I put my hand on my forehead and took a breath, feeling my head pound. I didn't want to go in there. I wasn't even hungry. But I knew if I didn't go in there, they would know something was up.

"It's Thai food." Seth added before leaving the pool house.

"Oh. Great." I said sarcastically as I stood up; just the kind of food I needed right now.

I left the pool house and went into the kitchen. I glanced up at Sandy and Kirsten and put on a façade so they thought I was fine. They didn't need to know that I didn't feel well. They had done enough for me. They didn't need to worry about me. I was used to taking care of myself and I'd probably be better by morning. I just had to get through dinner.

"Hey Ryan, long day?" Sandy asked me as I sat down.

"Yeah."

"How was the test?" Kirsten asked me, casually. I was confused at first, but then I realized that Seth must have come up with an excuse to why I was sleeping. At least one good thing came out of him knowing.

"Fine." I said. Everything was fine. I put some food on plate. I wasn't hungry, especially not for this. I wasn't sure my stomach could handle much of anything, let alone something spicy. I barely ate this morning because I had been feeling so bad. The thought of food made me sick. But I knew I couldn't say I wasn't very hungry as I knew they'd find that odd as I didn't eat this morning. You need to eat something, Atwood. Just a few bites. As far as they knew, I was fine. I need to keep it that way. I put forkfuls of food into my mouth and forced myself to eat. I felt sick just looking at the food on my plate. I didn't eat more than maybe five forkfuls of food before I ended up just pushing the food around on my plate.

"Ryan, you okay?" Sandy asked. He seemed to notice I wasn't eating much.

"Just not very hungry." I responded.

"You barely ate this morning." Kirsten pointed out. I saw that coming.

"I had a big lunch." I lied.

Luckily, after that point, they didn't push it again and I was able to continue pushing the food around my plate. I was relieved. I knew my stomach wouldn't be able to handle another bite. Seth started a conversation about Summer. Those conversations could go on for hours and for once, I was grateful. It took the attention off me. I waited a bit before standing up.

"I can clean up." I offered and took the plates to sink. I felt tired, but I knew I needed to help out. It was the least I could do since they let me stay in their home. I started to wash them by-hand like I normally do, when I suddenly felt dizzy. My head felt like it was going to explode. I grabbed onto the sink to keep my balance so I didn't fall over.

"Ryan, are you alright?" Kirsten asked me.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I lied. I was starting to feel worse. My head was throbbing, I felt dizzy and the room began to spin. And because of the small portion of Thai food I forced myself to eat, my stomach was hurting.

"You don't look so good." She commented.

"No, I'm fine." I insisted. Maybe, I should get back to the pool house.

"Sandy." Kirsten calls, not taking her eyes off me.

"Ryan, are you feeling alright?" Sandy asked as he came over.

"I have homework to do." I said trying to get out of the kitchen, but Sandy stands in front of me and puts his hand on my shoulder to stop me from going anywhere.

"Hold on a second." Sandy said and then put his hand on my forehead. I shut my eyes for a moment.

"Is he sick?" Kirsten asked, the question directed to Sandy.

"He's really warm."

"I'm not—" I started to argue, but stopped at feeling my stomach lunge. I quickly moved past Sandy and Kirsten and made my way to the bathroom. I got there just in time as I started to throw up. I guess the Thai food wasn't a good idea.

It felt like I was there for hours, when really it was more like five minutes. It became dry heaving after a few minutes. I turned back at feeling someone starting to rub my back; it was Sandy. But I didn't say anything I started to vomit again. Once I was sure I was done, I made a move to push myself up. Sandy wrapped an arm around me and helped me up.

"Come on, let's get you to bed." Sandy said and I shook my head.

"I didn't finish…the dishes…"

"We have a dishwasher, Ryan. It'll do its job." He reminded me as we went back through the kitchen and then down the hallway. He turned right into one of their guest rooms. "Right now, the only job you need to worry about is getting into bed."

"Pool house…?"

"You're staying in here while you're sick." Sandy told me.

"I'm not sick." I tried to claim, though I knew it was useless to argue at this point.

"I beg to differ, Ryan." Sandy as he opened the door to the guest room. I got into the bed when Sandy lifted the covers. I think he said something else, but I didn't even hear it. I felt too horrible to care. I just need to sleep; I'd probably be better by tomorrow.

A/N: This chapter has been edit and slightly rewritten as of February 2020.

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