A/N: Obviously every country is handling quarantine differently, so I apologize if things aren't entirely accurate to wait happened/is happening in Germany. I've also been writing this for a while, and things are constantly changing. So, I did my best.

Word count: 3,943

The first time Matteo heard about the new disease that was infecting countless people in China, most people already knew the basics of the situation.

He struggled to stay up-to-date on the news. It wasn't that he was indifferent to current events; he just never thought to check any news sources. Dealing with his own life was usually more than enough for him.

So, whenever he did learn about things, it was usually secondhand from someone else, and that someone else was usually Jonas. His best friend was the exact opposite of him when it came to news-reading habits; Jonas knew everything the moment it happened. Matteo almost envied how easily Jonas conversed about the latest events while Matteo's mind was still scrambling to catch up on all the details.

They were sitting in the park chatting about Jonas and Hanna's apartment search when Jonas pulled out his phone to read a notification that had popped up on the lockscreen. He sighed as he pressed the lock button, watching as the screen went black.

"It really is terrible, isn't it?" he asked Matteo as he waved his phone through the air.

Matteo frowned at him.

"What is?" he asked.

Jonas smiled. He never judged Matteo for being far less informed than he was, and Matteo was certain that was one of the many reasons they were best friends.

"There's a new coronavirus in China," he explained. "A lot of people are getting sick."

Matteo picked at the sleeve of his jacket as he processed the news. How many people was 'a lot of people'? He wasn't even sure what a coronavirus was, let alone what it meant to get it.

Jonas pulled up an article on his favorite news app, something that Matteo would never have thought to download on his own phone, and handed it to Matteo.

The headline at the top repeated what Jonas had already told him, so Matteo quickly scrolled down, skimming the article as his stomach sank with each new detail.

He didn't like it. Though his main excuse for not reading the news was just forgetting to, he also had to admit that most news stories made his stomach feel with dread. Maybe there was some avoidance behind his behavior too.

The story felt like something he should have heard about already. Apparently, scientists and doctors were worried about the disease spreading beyond the province of China where it had originated. It could turn into something their generation had never seen before. The entire story left Matteo overwhelmed. His hand shook as he handed the phone back to Jonas, who offered him a smile as he stored it in his pocket.

"What do you think will happen?" Matteo asked even though he knew there was no answer, only speculation that would make him feel worse.

Jonas was no doctor. He could only parrot back what he had read.

"Who knows," Jonas said, knocking his shoulder against Matteo's. "No use worrying about it now, huh?"

Jonas had only said it for Matteo's benefit. Jonas would keep monitoring the news like a hawk, reading update after update until the situation was over, but he also wouldn't feel the same anxiety rising up in his throat that Matteo did after reading that article. Jonas had always been better at handling the tough stuff like this.

It was the desire to quell his anxiety that led Matteo to nod and offer Jonas the most genuine smile he could muster.

There was nothing they could do, so it was better to forget about it.

In the moment, Matteo felt like that would be difficult to do, but he was wrong.

Sundays were Matteo's favorite day of the week because, no matter what they were doing that day, he and David always did it together.

As their relationship had progressed, their need to be around each other had dulled into a more manageable emotion than it had been at the start. Matteo didn't feel the same drive to constantly be touching or kissing his boyfriend. On top of that, since David had started university, his time had been stretched thin, leaving them with less time to spend together regardless of how they felt, but Sundays were for them, free to do whatever they wished.

Sometimes they spent the time catching up on chores. Sometimes they spent a lazy day at home alone. Sometimes they went to visit their friends. But no matter what, they spent it together.

On one particular Sunday morning, Matteo was happily eating his scrambled eggs and toast, one of the few edible breakfasts that David could make, when David broke the silence.

"I was thinking that maybe we could go to the grocery store today."

Matteo glanced at his boyfriend across the table, scrunching his nose in distaste. He hated the grocery store. Every noise in the place was amplified by the hard floors, and the bright lights hurt his eyes.

"We have plenty of food already," he whined. "I just looked in the fridge."

David nodded. He looked a little worried. It wasn't how he typically behaved when discussing grocery shopping, and it made Matteo pause in his complaints.

"We have food, but I'm not sure how long it would last," David said. "I was thinking we should get more nonperishables. You know, so they can last a lot longer if they need to. Rice, canned vegetables, and things like that."

Matteo's stomach twisted with unease. He was confused, but it was clear that something was happening that he did not like.

"Why?" he asked. "Is something going on?"

The conversation he'd had with Jonas had been forgotten days earlier. He didn't remember it until David reached out to take his hand across the table. Matteo gripped his fingers tightly, dread filling the pit of his stomach.

"Have you seen the news recently?" David asked as he ran his thumb over Matteo's knuckles.

The touch was almost enough to distract Matteo from his anxiety but not quite. At the mention of the news, his conversation with Jonas came flooding back, and his anxiety worsened.

"Not really," he admitted, shifting in his chair. "Did something happen? Is this about that disease?"

David squeezed his hand.

"Yes, it's getting a bit worse. Some people in Germany are sick now."

Matteo froze. He'd been worried when Jonas had first spoken of the disease of course, but he hadn't let his mind fully explore the possibility of it reaching Germany. It hadn't been that long since Jonas had told him it was only in China. Had it really spread that quickly?

"No one knows what will happen," David said as he ran his fingers along Matteo's forearm. "I'd rather us be too cautious than not cautious enough, you know?"

Matteo nodded without processing what he was doing.

"Yeah," he said automatically. "You're right. Shopping would be good."

Their shopping trip that afternoon was little more than a blur to Matteo by the time they made it back to the apartment.

They weren't the only people who'd had the idea of stocking up, and Matteo, who already disliked grocery stores, was overwhelmed by the chaos around them the second they stepped inside. He glued himself to David's side as he navigated them safely through the aisles.

In the end, they found everything they needed, and Matteo was thankful to have more supplies than he'd have ever bought by himself stacked in their apartment.

He only wished that being prepared actually eased his anxiety.

A few days later, David came home from university with a serious look on his face. Matteo smiled as he looked up from the dinner he was cooking, only for his smile to fall when he noticed his boyfriend's demeanor.

"What's wrong?" he asked, setting aside the knife he'd been using to chop up some carrots.

The food would be fine unattended for a few minutes. Hopefully.

"They've canceled classes," David said with a shrug. "Everywhere in Germany, schools are being closed."

Matteo blinked several times as he tried to wrap his mind around it. Nothing like that had ever happened before as far as he could remember, and it made his stomach drop. It shouldn't have been possible. It was as if they'd been transported back in time to the Black Plague. Matteo hadn't known diseases could still be that deadly.

"What will you do?" he asked in a shaky voice.

David smiled and closed the space between them, his arms snaking around Matteo's waist and giving him a squeeze.

"Stay home, I guess," he said with a shrug. "That seems like it's best, and at least we have food."

Matteo's eyes flickered towards the cabinets that he knew to be better stocked than at any other time since they'd moved into the apartment. They had enough to live off of for a couple of weeks, at least, without leaving, that was true, but even though he'd been worried about the situation before, Matteo hadn't expected it to come to this. Not really.

"Staying at home," he repeated. "That shouldn't be too hard."

It's what he'd been doing a lot of over the past several months. Ostensibly, he was searching for a job, but those efforts had been a lot of dead ends and failures that left him feeling more miserable than anything else when he thought about it.

He dropped his head onto David's shoulder and nuzzled into the crook of his neck.

"Maybe now I won't feel as guilty about not finding a job," he mumbled.

David's arms tightened around his waist, and he pressed a kiss to the side of Matteo's head.

"You didn't need to feel bad about that before," he whispered into Matteo's hair. "But, yes, we should both probably stay home if we can. That's what seems best."

Matteo's hands latched onto the bottom of David's shirt, bunching the cloth up tightly in his fists as he used the support to keep himself standing.

"Do you think it'll get bad here?" he asked quietly.

It was silent for a moment as David rubbed his back. Matteo's anxiety rose as he waited for the answer, but he didn't dare interrupt before David could say something.

"I don't know," David admitted. "But we'll do what we can. On the bright side, we'll have a lot of time to spend with each other."

Despite the situation, Matteo couldn't help but smile at the idea of being with David all day, every day. He pressed a quick kiss to David's neck before pulling away just far enough to see his face.

His anxiety eased when David smiled back at him, and he pressed a kiss to David's lips, deepening it until the smell of their burning dinner interrupted them.

Matteo wasn't prepared for how bored he became once he was stuck at home for days on end.

When they'd first realized they wouldn't be going out much, he'd imagined spending his days wrapped up in David, which wasn't a bad prospect even if the reason for it was terrible. He'd almost been looking forward to it considering how busy David had been with school. Having his boyfriend all to himself wasn't the worst thing Matteo could imagine.

But as the days stretched on, the isolation started getting the better of him. They talked to their friends almost daily over WhatsApp or, sometimes, Zoom, but it wasn't the same as seeing them in person. Not even video chats replaced the feeling of lazing around with the boys and talking about the most random shit they could think of.

Matteo did as good of a job ignoring the news as he had before. David checked it once a day, and Matteo was content with the knowledge that David would tell him if there was anything he needed to know. There was no reason for him to check it himself.

Instead, he fixated on Sword Battle, a new video game that he'd gotten through entirely legal means at the beginning of their isolation. With little else to distract him, he played it constantly. It was the most consumed he'd become with a video game since he and David had started dating.

It was addicting; Matteo loved it. When he wasn't playing, the reality of what was happening in the world overwhelmed him, but while playing the game, he forgot everything else.

A hand in his hair pulled him out of his medieval kingdom and brought him back to their apartment. It took several long moments for him to return to reality, but when he finally looked at David, his boyfriend was still carding his hands patiently through his hair.

He smiled when Matteo's gaze focused on him.

"It's time for a shower," he said, tilting his head towards the bathroom.

Matteo huffed, which made David laugh. Matteo couldn't help but smile at the sound.

David pulling Matteo out of his game had also become part of their routine since being stuck at home. Matteo got into Sword Battle to the point of forgetting everything else—eating, showering, sleeping, everything—but David didn't forget. There was no telling what state Matteo would be in without him.

With great reluctance, he saved his game, feeling a bit of anxiety in his stomach about the state he was leaving his kingdom in. But, having returned to reality, he felt the grime on his skin that he needed to wash off. David had only been pushing him to shower once every other day, and he noticed it each time David called his attention to it.

David waited, standing beside the couch, as Matteo took his time standing up. Despite feeling fine while playing his game, his muscles reminded him how long he'd been motionless as he stood, groaning as he went.

David took his hand as if he couldn't find his own way to the bathroom, but Matteo didn't want to pull away.

"I'm sorry," he said quietly to the back of David's head as they walked the short distance across the room.

The silence was heavy as David turned around and raised one eyebrow at Matteo. He used the hand holding Matteo's to tug him closer, wrapping an arm around his waist when he tripped and stumbled into David. His clumsiness made David laugh as he held him tight.

"Why are you apologizing?" he asked, unable to resist punctuating the sentence with a kiss to Matteo's cheek.

"For playing video games all the time," Matteo muttered, picking at a thread on David's—or, actually, his now that he was looking at it—shirt. "It's the only thing I've been doing."

David's smile grew soft.

"Don't apologize," he said with a slow shake of his head. "There's a pandemic happening outside, Matteo. We're all just getting by the best we can."

Matteo shrugged. David's reassurance made sense, but it didn't free him from his guilt. He knew he wasn't supposed to spend days on end playing video games, and whenever he got in those sorts of moods, he inevitably felt like he was failing. There were countless more productive ways he could be spending his time.

"Maybe," he said, drawing the word out. "But I've been ignoring you, and you've been doing everything. Cleaning and cooking…"

"All I've done is heat stuff up in the microwave," David said with a smirk.

He tilted his head to the side, and Matteo couldn't help but giggle. If he was honest, he hadn't been paying enough attention to the food he'd been eating to know how it was made, but microwaved food made a lot more sense when it came to David, who didn't even pretend that he knew how to cook.

Matteo pressed a kiss to his lips and smiled when David hummed into it.

Though he'd been distracted by his game, they'd been intimate during the time they'd been stuck in the house. David always pulled him away from the computer at a relatively decent time for bed, but they didn't usually go to sleep right away, and every morning it took ages for them to actually leave the bed. If one were to compare, they'd still spent more time focused on each other than they'd been doing when David was going to school every day.

But besides that, Matteo had been consumed by his game, and it felt good to deepen the kiss and let himself forget why David had gotten his attention in the first place.

They stood there kissing for several minutes before David pulled away, leaving Matteo with one last peck on the lips.

"You know," David mused with a smile, "our one-year anniversary is in less than a week."

Matteo's eyes widened. He tried to do the math for himself, but he'd long since lost track of what day it was and had no idea how long they'd been stuck indoors. No doubt their anniversary would have passed without him realizing a thing if David hadn't mentioned it, and that made him feel guilty all over again.

As if sensing his emotions, David gave him another lingering kiss.

"We'll be stuck inside," Matteo said as David pulled away. "We can't go out to eat or whatever it is people do for anniversaries."

He'd never made it a year in a relationship before. Hell, he hadn't celebrated any anniversaries with Sara. Not in a way that counted.

David's smile didn't lessen at the reminder of their isolation though. In fact, it grew larger.

"But we'll be with each other," he said.

Matteo couldn't help but snort at the cheesy sentiment, but his smile widened in spite of himself.

"True," he muttered, rolling his eyes to make sure David knew what he really thought about what he'd said.

With a laugh, David pecked him on the lips before tugging him towards the bathroom again.

It was only then that Matteo remembered what he was supposed to be doing. He stripped off his shirt as David turned the water on. Heat from the water was filling the room before David spoke again.

"What if I cooked us dinner?"

At Matteo's questioning look, he continued, "On our anniversary, I can cook us dinner."

Matteo, half-prepared to step into the shower, paused to look at a still fully clothed David.

"You've been cooking dinner every night," he pointed out, his brow furrowed.

David shook his head and fidgetted as if he was nervous.

"No, I mean, like, really cook. Not a frozen meal or anything. I want to make us something nice. Or try to at least."

Matteo felt a warmth that came from inside of him, not the hot water of the shower heating the room. He stepped closer to press a firm kiss to David's lips.

"That sounds amazing," he said. "Even if you wind up burning it."

David let out an offended huff and shoved Matteo away. He did his best to hide his smile by turning his back on Matteo and heading for the bathroom door.

"Enjoy your shower," he said as he pulled the door closed with a bit too much force.

Matteo allowed himself a few moments to laugh before he slipped under the shower's spray.

As soon as the plan was set, David was determined to make it work, including taking his first grocery shopping trip in more than a week to get the ingredients he needed. Because it was meant to be a surprise, he didn't let Matteo come along, but with them in such close quarters, Matteo had seen most of the food before David had it safely stored away in the cabinets and fridge.

What David was making became even more apparent the second he started cooking on the day of their anniversary, Matteo perched on the counter to oversee things despite strict instructions not to lift a finger.

They'd been wrapped up in each other all day, with Matteo not thinking once about Sword Battles.

It was hard to believe it had been a year. Even after all that time, Matteo was captivated as he watched David struggle to make lasagna. His brow furrowed as he analyzed the recipe between each half step to make sure he was following it exactly.

The sight was such a great one that Matteo almost didn't want to help; he could happily stare at David instead. But after a few minutes, he started to worry that David really was going to screw up.

"Are you sure you don't want some help?" he asked despite knowing the answer.

David stopped to look at him with one eyebrow raised until Matteo laughed.

"I've got everything under control," David insisted as he stirred the sauce.

He'd insisted on making everything from scratch except the pasta itself. It was something Matteo hadn't attempted before with lasagna, and he couldn't help but think that it wouldn't end up the way David the Perfectionist wanted it to. But he couldn't say that out loud when he saw how hard David was trying.

He knew David hadn't put enough garlic in the sauce. He also knew he'd eat it with a smile however it turned out. He already felt warm and fuzzy inside from the gesture.

It had been like that all day, with both boys forgetting what was happening in the world outside their cozy apartment.

Matteo's smile slipped as he suddenly remembered it all.

"Do you feel guilty?" he asked.

David turned to him, spoon still in hand. He had his eyebrow raised again, but the look was different from the joking one he'd shot at Matteo less than a minute earlier.

"Guilty about what?" he asked, setting the spoon aside and taking a few steps towards where Matteo sat on the counter.

Matteo's arms wrapped around his shoulders as he got close, unable to stop himself from smiling despite his serious thoughts.

"About being happy," Matteo explained, "when there's so much bad stuff happening in the world."

David didn't respond at first. His face was serious as he considered it. The silence between them was comfortable as Matteo ran his thumb across David's jawline.

"Bad stuff is always happening," David said finally. "It's more obvious than usual right now, but you're never doing something wrong by being happy."

His hands squeezed Matteo's waist to emphasize his words. Matteo nodded and was about to bury his face in the crook of David's neck when he smelled the sauce on the stove.

"The lasagna," he said.

David blinked at him twice before he connected the dots and hurried back to the saucepan.

It wasn't ruined, not even close, but Matteo laughed to himself as David cursed at the stove as if it were at fault.

The next morning, Matteo woke up warm and content while snuggled into David's side. It took him a few minutes to process that David was playing with his hair, but as soon as he did, he pressed himself closer with a sigh.

Even though it was early May, there was a chill in their bedroom that morning, and Matteo was determined to stay under the covers for as long as David would allow it. David giggled when Matteo pressed even closer, with his own arm tightening around Matteo's waist.

"Can we stay in bed all day?" Matteo asked, his voice heavy with sleep.

David pressed a kiss to Matteo's forehead.

"I don't see why not," he whispered.

Matteo smiled as his eyes fluttered shut.

He hadn't forgotten about the world outside, and he still felt guilty for having this when others were struggling so much more. But he would hold onto what he had for as long as possible.