A/N: Finals are just as stressful for teachers as they are for students – well, more like after finals, really. Sometimes, Fred needs to be treated like a kid and taken care of because he won't take care of himself. Tadashi and Fred friendship stuff. Warning for language, but it's just swearing (my mother would kill me if she heard me say that). Also, I'm accepting requests at the moment so if there's anything you want to see be done, I'm your gender-fluid humanoid, wink.

Finals:

"Learnt is not a word in American English!" Fred screeched. "This is the same person that put a space between the words can and not. That's just wrong! That's elementary school mistakes and they're wrong!"

Heathcliff came in at the commotion that Fred was causing while grading his students' papers. Well, technically not his students, but he was teaching the class and doing all the work and next year he would officially be the professor in that class.

"Perfect, get me a sparkling water with lime juice – oh, and a basil lemonade!" Fred barked, marking down the paper that he had in front of him and muttering to himself.

"Master Fred, wouldn't it be better if you went to bed?" Heathcliff asked. Fred snorted.

"After this stack of papers," Fred insisted. Heathcliff decided not to push it and instead went to go and get the beverages that were requested of him.

"Okay… okay, this is just a comment but you could seriously use some more… well, something cooler. More similes and metaphors and stuff like that, oh my god. Okay, I'm done with you – you technically passed, kiddo, but that's it. Okay, now you… oh, good, good starting. Some stuff could be fixed, yeah, but still. I like the references to the elves and the shoemakers. I really like it, actually. And you've only had a couple of mistakes – not even mistakes, really, just a few things are iffy. Oh my god! You were doing so well, but this… no, no! It hurts, stop, no more, no more! I'm so sorry but you're counted down… oh but the rest is chill, that's fine. It's a B. Should it be plus or minus? Hmm… A third of it practically stabbed me in the soul – please don't make something happen to the protagonist but they're not moved. Come on. If you make the character distant then I'll be distant too!

"Oh, thank you, Heathcliff," Fred said when his butler gave him his drinks. Fred drank some of it down quickly before moving on to the next paper, marking the previous one with a B- for lack of proper characterization. Fred started taking off his pants, staring at the paper and reading, criticizing it.

"Okay, makes sense – Heathcliff, could you get me something that'll keep the paper solid? It keeps on swimming. Okay, this paper… it's talking about a curse, it has Latin words with footnotes, good, good… I like it so far. Characterization it good. Ten times more hyperboles than needed, but whatever… good… good… the paper isn't being solid, oh my god. Stop it paper. Stop. Please. I want it to be solid. This is a bad story – it's great actually, but the paper isn't being solid and—"

"Fred, it is time for you to go to school," Heathcliff supplied. Fred nodded numbly, looking down at the mess that was his room. He went for the door, but Heathcliff stopped him and made him put on pants before he went. Fred obliged (though, he put them on backwards), and attended school with his bag that was full of ungraded papers.

When Fred got to school he sat himself in the corner and barricaded himself with papers and a red pen, editing and making suggestions and muttering to himself quietly. He didn't mind the fact that the paper wasn't completely solid, instead putting it on the ground and focusing very, very hard on the paper. He was so focused, actually, that he didn't even notice Tadashi kneeling in front of him, trying to figure out what the English major was doing.

"I mean, I know it's unfair that I don't like self-inserts, and I'm really trying not to be harsh about it or anything, but really? Really? I mean, you're getting ten points off for that but I'm going to nit-pick to figure out where I'm going to pretend to take those points from. Also, you're a college student, I know you're an engineer, but you are a college student. You should be able to stay in one tense…"

"FRED!" Tadashi snapped, getting the tired teen's attention. This wasn't the first time they had seen Fred be extremely tired while grading tests, but this was the most obsessed state that they had ever witnessed the teen get into. It pushed Tadashi into mother-hen mode – he had seen similar situations with Hiro where the kid would only focus on what he was doing or what he needed to do instead of his own basic health. Fred was in the same situation.

"Yeah? God, there are two of you," Fred whispered. "Is my name Fred, or is it really Ben? I feel more like a Ben."

"Are you stoned?" Tadashi asked. It was a reasonable question, but the answer was pretty obvious because Fred didn't like the idea of doing drugs.

"No, I'm not stoned! Are you," Fred asked accusingly. "Whatever, I need to finish grading. Hush your face, Gogo."

"Fred… when's the last time you slept?" Tadashi questioned, taking the pen and paper away from the obsessed teen.

Tadashi had noticed that Fred had a bit of an obsessive or addictive personality, but this was out of hand. "Uh, I woke up the day after finals?"

It was a question, but it implied that Fred hadn't slept for days. He took a gulp from an energy drink, flashing grabby hands for his pen and paper.

"Jesus fuck, Fred, you need to get some sleep," Tadashi gasped, shaking his head.

While Fred was thinking about a reply, Tadashi picked the other up and brought him to a couch in the other room. Fred groaned in protest, but he rested his eyes as he was carried. His eyes had had troubles staying open, and now he was trying to keep himself from passing out in Tadashi's arms.

Okay, he wasn't really in Tadashi's arms. He was more… thrown over Tadashi's shoulder like a sack of potatoes, but still.

Fred jolted awake once again when Tadashi put him down. Fred groan, scolding himself for falling asleep. "I need to grade, but the kid's need their papers, and I need some more graded… I only have a week," Fred whined. His phrases were slurred from tiredness and he was making no sense. Tadashi rolled his eyes and put Fred's head in his lap, playing with the other's hair the way he did with his little brother when Hiro got this way. Fred continued murmuring until he was snoring on Tadashi's lap, storing up on some well-needed sleep.

"Did he finally clock out," Gogo asked. Tadashi nodded, smiling up at the girl. "You know, I love him to death and he tries to take care of us, but he doesn't take care of himself," she sighed. Tadashi nodded in agreement.

"I wish that he would let us help him sometimes," Tadashi said, playing with the blonde's hair. Fred was kind of awake, though, and heard what Tadashi and Gogo were saying. On one hand, he was touched. On the other, he was too tired to care. "I just imagine him sometimes… alone in an apartment with no one making sure he sleeps or eats. It scares me. He's one of my best friends, I want him to be healthy."

Gogo nodded in agreement before getting out a sharpie and drawing a dick on Fred's forehead. Fred smiled in his sleep, but instead returned to his deep slumber on Tadashi's lap.

He was lucky to have such amazing friends that cared about him.

Even though he still had over fifty final papers to grade.

A/N: Foreshadowing for the next chapter! It's a super-secret but I'm not going to say that Hiro isn't getting all friendship-fluffy with Fred. Woo! ^-^