"Dude, get up. Now," Finn half-yelled, throwing a pillow at Kurt. Kurt moaned and pushed it away from his face. He despised sharing a room with Finn. Any romantic feelings he had had for the older boy at the beginning of the school year were completely gone. Finn lived like a pig; his half of the room was completely trashed, and Kurt had worked hard to accessorize perfectly before he moved in.
"Stop," Kurt groaned. He knew he was late. It was Friday, they were both exhausted from the week, but Kurt felt especially out of sorts. He was freezing cold, despite sleeping in socks and having multiple blankets over him. He felt unusually sore as well. Kurt played it up to working extra hard in glee rehearsals the day before, but then again, he knew he shouldn't be aching all over.
Kurt didn't know if he was sick or not, but he didn't have time to lie around and think about it. He was going to school, end of story. He and Finn had to ride together, which was twenty minutes of hell everyday. Kurt was tempted to let Finn drive so he could finish styling his hair, but Kurt realized there was no way they would make it to McKinley alive if Finn drove, so Kurt settled for looking homeless.
He was thankful he had conveniently dressed in multiple layers. By first period, he was burning up. Kurt shrugged out of his jacket and laid his throbbing head down on the desk. World history was a blow-off class, so he didn't miss much by cramming in a little bit of extra sleep.
Even with the nap, Kurt was walking around like a zombie by third period. Mercedes basically bombarded him as soon as he walked into their French class.
"Boy, you look sick as a dog," Mercedes teased. Kurt had tried to be inconspicuous, but obviously it hadn't worked.
"I'm fine," he blew her off, and sat down as he began to feel dizzy. He put his navy blue jacket back on and shivered. He was still cold, even with all of the heavy clothes he had on.
"Are you sure?" Mercedes pestered, poking him. Kurt pulled away.
"Yes," he insisted, getting aggravated. He avoided Mercedes for the rest of the class, and took off for chemistry before she could try to talk to him again.
At lunch, Kurt sat with his friends, but didn't eat. His stomach didn't hurt, but he just wasn't hungry. No one seemed to notice he wasn't eating, which was a good thing. Well, Mercedes noticed, but she and Kurt didn't talk to each other the entire period.
In the afternoon, Kurt got a text from his dad. He told Kurt to pick up food from the store for their Friday night dinner, and that he had to work late and would be home just in time to eat.
Kurt had honestly forgotten about them all having dinner together that night. He was planning on just going right to bed when he got home. He was about to text his dad back and ask if they could just go out to Breadstix or something, but he was counting on him. Kurt couldn't let him down, so he just agreed to cook.
After school, Finn stayed afterwards for basketball practice. Kurt left him to get a ride home from his mom or one of the other guys, and he went to the grocery store. His dad hadn't told him what he was supposed to make, so Kurt didn't know what the heck to buy. He wanted to get in and out of the store quickly; the sooner he got dinner made, the sooner he could go to bed. His energy was quickly running out.
Kurt settled on making grilled shrimp and steamed vegetables. It wouldn't take too long, and was pretty simple. He wasn't sure if cooking was the best idea, though. If he really was sick and contagious, he would get everyone else sick. But he couldn't let his dad down. Once Kurt got home, he scrubbed his hands extra long and got cooking.
Carole got home first with Finn. Kurt was worn out from being on his feet and trying to prepare dinner for four people, but he didn't want to ask Carole to take over. As soon as his dad got home, he could eat and go right to bed.
Kurt had just finished and was setting the table when he heard the garage door open. His dad came in, took off his coat, and stepped into the kitchen.
"Hey, buddy. Thanks for taking care of dinner. Did you have a good day?" he asked.
"Yeah," Kurt said. "Um, it's all ready if you guys want to come eat."
Kurt went ahead and sat down while his dad called Finn and Carole into the dining room. As he looked down at his plate, he realized how unappetizing shrimp sounded. Kurt hadn't eaten since breakfast, which suited him just fine. The only thing that sounded good was a nice, long nap and some Tylenol.
"Kurt, this is very good," Carole complimented him. Kurt snapped back to reality and forced himself to take a few bites so his dad wouldn't ask questions.
"Thanks," he said. "Dad, do you need me to do the dishes?"
"I can take care of them," Carole offered. "You've done enough, honey." Kurt was thankful he didn't have to do anything else. He felt like he had been hit by a bus, and just needed to lie down.
"Dad, I'm not very hungry. I ate a lot at lunch. Can I be excused? I'm really tired," Kurt said.
"You didn't eat anything at lunch, dude," Finn interrupted. Kurt shot him a look.
"You didn't eat? Oh, honey, that's not good, I could have packed you a lunch or given you some money," Carole said.
"It's fine," Kurt said. He had enough money for lunch without Carole's help.
"Are you feeling okay, bud?" his dad asked him. "You sure you're just tired? If you don't feel good then you can take something."
"I'm fine," Kurt repeated. He put his plate in the fridge, even though he had no intention of finishing it later, and stomped downstairs. Kurt changed out of his school clothes and into cozy pajamas quickly. He kicked his shoes off, buried himself underneath his covers, and tried to warm up and relax. Kurt closed his eyes, finally able to take a well-deserved nap.
"Kurt. Honey, open your eyes." Kurt didn't recognize the voice at first, but then he realized it was Carole. He reluctantly forced his eyes open. He didn't remember falling asleep.
"Huh?" he asked, trying to sit up. His muscles were weak and too sore to move, and his head throbbed at every movement.
"No no, lie down," she told him. She was sitting on the edge of his bed, her hand on his knee. Finn stood behind her, and he saw his dad coming downstairs as well.
"Wha's going on?" Kurt asked. He just wanted to go back to sleep.
"You should have told us you were feeling sick, sweetheart," Carole chided gently. "We could have done something about it if you would have said something."
"I'm fine," Kurt mumbled, closing his eyes again. He shivered and covered up more.
"Kurt, you're burning up," she told him. "How long have you felt bad?"
"Since this morning," Kurt confessed quietly. There was no use trying to cover it up anymore. Carole wouldn't buy it.
"Finn, go get the thermometer from the medicine cabinet," she ordered. Finn dashed off, and Kurt felt his dad sit down on the other side of his bed.
"Kurt, you shouldn't have gone to school today. If you would have just been honest we would have let you stay home," he said. Kurt shrugged and turned onto his side, pulling his blankets up to his chin.
Finn returned with the thermometer, and Carole made Kurt hold it under his tongue. The annoying beeping sound rang in his ears afterwards.
"What is it?" Kurt's dad asked Carole.
"102.4. We should probably just give him some Nyquil for his symptoms and let him go back to sleep. Where does it hurt, honey?" she asked Kurt.
"Pretty much all over," Kurt admitted. Carole rubbed his back a little while she sent Finn upstairs again for the Nyquil.
"Do you want something else to eat?" Carole offered. "Some soup might taste good. Or some hot tea or a few crackers. Does anything sound good?"
Kurt thought about it, but decided against it. Eating would require sitting up for an extended period of time, which he really wasn't capable of.
"Maybe later," Carole told him. She helped him take the nasty flavored medicine once Finn came back, and made him drink some water. "Keep drinking that. We have some Gatorade in the fridge, if you would rather have that than water. But you really need to stay hydrated, sweetheart."
"Okay," Kurt agreed. "Water's fine."
Carole and his dad both stood up, and Carole smoothed the covers over him. "There you go. Get some sleep, and if you need anything else just yell for one of us. We'll just be in the living room."
Kurt nodded, and exhaled as his dad turned off his lamp. He heard them all leave quietly, but suddenly he wanted Carole to stay. She was so good at helping him relax, and took good care of him, just like his mom used to when she was alive. After Finn and his dad grew so close, Kurt started to resent her a little bit, but he finally remembered what it felt like to have a mom to fuss over him, and he wasn't about to pass up that opportunity.
Author's Notes:
Ah I just hate it that Kurt's mom had to die when he was so young, but he has a pretty great family, regardless.
Thank you to everyone for the lovely reviews I've been getting lately, and if you've left me a prompt I'm working on it! See you in 2014!