Jacqui didn't even have the strength to complain when she woke up, feeling like crap, and not just because she'd slept with her best friend (again). She legitimately felt like she'd been hit by a bus, and didn't have enough energy to push Cassie, who'd fallen asleep on Jacqui's arm.

Luckily (or unluckily) Jacqui had set an alarm for earlier than usual because she was supposed to meet Takeda. It also happened that Cassie was a light sleeper, and at the first blare of the annoying tone, Cassie groaned loudly.

"Can you turn that off, please?"

"Can't." Jacqui croaked, her throat sore.

"Dammit, Briggs." Cassie muttered, reaching over the bed and grabbing Jacqui's phone. "Why must you get up so early?" She asked as she shut off the alarm.

"I'm sorry I'm a morning person."

"What you're not right now is a healthy person. What's up with your voice?" Cassie asked, voice lace with concern, as she placed a hand on Jacqui's forehead. "And you've got a fever."

Jacqui could have told her that, but was puzzled as to how she'd gotten sick in the first place. No one she was around had been sick recently, except for-

"Fucking Jin." Jacqui said.

"What?"

"Jin was sick a couple of days ago."

"Did he hug you or something? Because Jin's not exactly the affectionate type."

Jacqui laughed at the picture of Jin hugging anyone, and then regretted it as she began coughing.

"No, but the son of a bitch drank from one of the cups. This blows." Jacqui grumbled.

"It's not that bad. You get to stay home."

"Yeah, I guess. I have to call Takeda though."

"Takeda? Why?"

"We were supposed to go over notes together. Guess we can't now."

"You could still. You'd give him the plague or whatever the fuck it is you have, but you'd probably get a good grade."

"You are aware you're probably going to get sick too, right?"

"Whatever you say, Jacqui." Cassie said, stretching as she got out of bed.

"Where are you going?"

"I won't be gone for long. Don't freak out."

As much as Jacqui wanted to argue, she didn't. Cassie was not a morning person by the loosest definition of the phrase, and wherever she was going couldn't be far.

Despite the fact that Jacqui felt like absolute and utter garbage (thanks, immune system) she fell asleep rather quickly.

Sleep was a welcome rescue from whatever virus felt the need to punish her this terribly, which was why she was annoyed when she was awoken by a knock at her door.

"Motherfucker." She cursed, as she climbed out of bed. "Who is it?" She asked, with her voice as loud as it go could without wreaking havoc on her throat (which was not fun).

"Your favorite study buddy!" a familiar voice rang out- Takeda's.

Jacqui cracked the door open with just enough space to poke her head through.

"Hey, Takeda."

"Wow." He said. "You don't look so good."

"These are definitely things people want to hear." Jacqui said sarcastically, before sneezing.

"No, I didn't mean- Cassie told me you were sick and I decided to bring tea for you, to make up for the coffee I promised you." He said, holding out a Styrofoam cup.

It was then Jacqui took notice of several things, all at once. Takeda remembered their study session. Takeda wasn't angry she forgot to call him. In fact, he brought her tea (that was warming her hands currently) once he heard that she was sick from Cassie.

Wait, why had Takeda run into Cassie?

"Thanks for the tea, Takeda, I really appreciate it. But did you say you ran into Cassie?"

"Yeah. I figured it was a big deal since Cassie was up and running at seven in the morning. Speaking of the time, I really gotta go. Feel better!" He called out as he jogged away.

"This all has to be a fever dream." Jacqui said to herself as she walked back into her apartment, closing the door behind her. "I'm actually asleep right now, and I'm not sick, and I'm not sleeping with my best friend."

Unsurprisingly, it wasn't. As Jacqui sat on her couch, feeling slightly better as she sipped at her tea, she heard a key in the door. As it stood currently, only two people aside from herself had keys, and those people were her parents, something they'd insisted on when she moved out.

Which meant someone was confused, or Cassie had taken her keys before she left. It turned out to be the latter.

Cassie, a bag in one hand and Jacqui's keys in the other gave her a confused look.

"When'd you get tea?"

"I didn't. It's here, courtesy of Takeda himself. He said he ran into you."

"He did." Cassie put the bag down on the table. "He was already heading over here. He asked where you were, I told him you were sick, and he said, "Oh, will she be missing class today, and I said, "More than likely," he said thanks, and that was it."

"Are you going to tell me where you went now?"

"I went up to the school to get your work from your teachers, and I got you some soup." Cassie answered, holding up a can.

"How nice." Jacqui said, and despite her best intentions, it came out sounding mean.

"What? Are you too good for some knockoff brand, Briggs?"

"I deserve only the finest." Jacqui answered.

"You do, but we're talking in terms of soup, not life." Cassie responded.

The thing that got Jacqui was the absolute seriousness in Cassie's voice. Jacqui herself had been joking with the "I deserve the finest", but Cassie had agreed.

Did this have anything to do with them sleeping together and why they weren't in a relationship? After the first time they'd woken up next to each other, Cassie had just not talked about it for a week, and after Jacqui came to confront her about it, they agreed to not let it affect their friendship. That was the most likely explanation, but then again, on that same occasion they'd also agreed that it'd never happen again.

This whole thing was making her head hurt, and she groaned as she laid down on the couch.

"Do you have aspirin, by chance?" Jacqui asked.

"I do." Cassie answered cheerfully. "But you shouldn't take any on an empty stomach. Do you want chicken noodle or minestrone?"