The next morning I was awoken rather abruptly by a banging on my bedroom door, followed by Vashyron's voice.

"Zephyr! Are you actually gonna get up today?! It's past noon!"

I reluctantly pushed myself out of the tangle of sheets to find that my muscles were aching and I felt rather light-headed. I didn't think anything of it, and simply put it down to sleeping in a weird position, getting up and making my way over to the bedroom door. It was considerably more difficult than usual, and I had to hold onto the wall briefly to steady myself as a brief wave of dizziness came over me.

There was another loud knock on the door beside my head, and the sound rang in my ears, sending a sharp pain through my head just behind my eyes.

Another migraine?

I took another couple of seconds to steady myself, before tidying my hair, which, annoyingly, was sticking to my skin in places, and opening the bedroom door. Vashyron was standing just outside, leaning against the wall, his hand raised as if he had been about to knock again.

"Sorry...I just woke up. I'm gonna...get dressed..." I mumbled, my voice not coming out how I wanted. Instead it sounded weak and croaky, and when I tried clearing my throat it felt dry and slightly swollen.

Vashyron raised an eyebrow at me, before standing up straight. I noticed that he was dressed more smartly than usual.

"Are you okay? You don't look too good."

I nodded, waving away his hand when he tried to place it against my forehead, but he held my wrist out of the way so I couldn't stop him. His hand felt cold against my skin, and for a brief moment it relieved some of the pain in my head. I found myself leaning into the touch a little. He looked a little concerned.

"Zephyr, you're burning up."

"N...no, I'm fine. I...just need to take a shower."

He moved his hand away from my head and let go of my wrist, and I stepped past him out onto the roof, before another dizzy spell overcame me, and my vision wavered. It took me a few seconds to notice that Vashyron's arm was around my waist, holding me up, and my legs didn't seem to be working properly.

"You're clearly not fine. A shower isn't gonna help if you can't even stand up on your own," he said, keeping his arm around my waist and dragging me back into my room, sitting me on the bed and crouching down in front of me, "Do you think you need a doctor?"

I shook my head, finding myself unable to look at him due to the fact that one of his hands was on my thigh. It didn't help that in my current feverish state my skin seemed to be more sensitive, and there was a prickling heat in the area where his palm was, drawing more of my attention to it.

"N...no...I'm fine. I swear."

As if betraying me, my voice came out extra weak just at that point, and I'm surprised he could even hear what I said.

"Zephyr, look at me."

I reluctantly shifted my gaze down to meet his, finding him watching me slightly sternly, but something about the look in his steely, grey-blue eyes was reassuring.

"You're not fine. You have a fever. Now, we're gonna go downstairs, you're gonna set up camp on the couch, I'm gonna get you some medicine, and you're gonna rest."

I nodded, unable to move my eyes away from his as he continued to watch me, before he chuckled, patting my leg and standing up.

"C'mon."

After practically carrying me downstairs, he forced me onto the couch, before packing various cushions and blankets around me so I could barely move.

"...Vashyron."

"What?"

"...I need to use the bathroom."

He laughed, moving some of the blankets so I could get up.

"Okay. Go. I'm gonna get you something to take down the fever."

He disappeared into the kitchen as I made my way to the bathroom to do my business, before taking a quick look in the mirror. It was quite clear that I was not okay. My hair was damp at the ends and sticking to my cheeks, which had more colour than usual. Aside from that the rest of my face was rather pale.

Great.

I splashed my face with cold water from the sink briefly, brushing my teeth and then trying my best to tidy my hair with my fingers, before returning to the living room where Vashyron was waiting with an array of medicines.

I perched myself on the edge of the couch again, watching quietly as he pushed a small number of different pills into my palm, handing me a glass of water.

"Take these, and drink all of that water. You need to stay hydrated."

I took the pills without question, drinking all of the water, before looking at him, holding out the empty glass.

"...Happy now?"

"Relatively," he chuckled, moving to sit next to me on the couch, "But I wanna check your temperature. If it's really high then we might have to think about calling the doctor."

He held out a small, glass thermometer.

"Open your mouth."

I did as I was told, and he placed the end of it underneath my tongue.

"Okay, leave it there," he ordered, before getting up and going back to the kitchen. When he returned he was holding another glass of water and a small plate of toast. He placed them both on the table in front of me, before pulling the thermometer out of my mouth and looking at it.

"It's a little high, but I don't think we need a doctor."

He handed me the glass of water, waiting for me to drink all of that, too, before motioning to the plate of toast.

"If you're not hungry, then I understand, but you should try and eat something if you can."

"I'll eat it later," I croaked, sitting back against the couch, "I'm not hungry right now."

Nodding, he took the pills and thermometer back into the kitchen, just as there was a knock at the door. As Vashyron was clearly busy with something, I decided to answer it myself, pushing myself away from the nest on the couch and going over, tidying my t-shirt and sweatpants on the way.

I opened the door to find a very attractive young woman with jet black hair which was tied into a loose ponytail over one shoulder. Her eyes were dark green, and she was wearing red lipstick, which I couldn't help thinking was a little bold for this time of the day. She looked shocked when she saw me, and I noticed that she briefly glanced at the outside of the house.

"I'm sorry," she said, "I think I might have the wrong house. Do you know where Vashyron lives?"

I felt my chest tighten uncomfortably, and I must have been staring at her blankly for a long time, because she looked slightly concerned.

"...Are you okay?"

I nodded, finding that my throat was now even drier than before, and it took a lot of effort to form the words 'he lives here'.

"Oh," she chuckled, "I didn't realize that he had..."

Before she could finish her sentence, Vashyron appeared behind me, and I was pushed aside as they started talking, returning to the couch. I sat there in silence as they talked for a good ten minutes or so. I couldn't hear what they were saying aside from the odd few words, but the woman seemed to be laughing a lot.

Every time she did, I felt a strange pain inside my chest.

But it hurt even more when I heard him laughing, too.

When they finally stopped talking, Vashyron came over and sat on the edge of the sofa next to me, but I suddenly couldn't look at him.

"How are you feeling?"

"...I'm...okay..."

"I...forgot that I had a date today," he chuckled, "If you don't want me to go, then I'll stay here with you. Are you well enough to stay on your own for a few hours?"

I nodded, knowing that I didn't really have a reason to make him stay here. After all, I would just be resting even if he was here with me, so he might as well go out. I could take care of myself. I'd been doing it for long enough already.

"Are you sure?" I felt his eyes on me, but still couldn't bring myself to look back at him.

I nodded again, pulling one of the blankets around myself, forcing a smile. It was directed at the coffee table, but he took it anyway, ruffling my hair gently. It must have been because I was ill and he wanted to be extra nice, because I felt his hand linger for a while with his fingers in my hair, and it was much more gentle than usual.

"I'll be back soon, okay? Just try and get some sleep, and eat something."

He pointed at the toast on the table, before getting up and going back over to the door, where I'm assuming the woman was still waiting. I heard them talking for a while; she laughed again and my chest ached, before the voices became quieter and further away and there was a sharp, solid click as the front door closed.

After that I sat in silence for what felt like hours, staring at the blank TV screen, but not having the energy to get up and turn it on. My head was still throbbing. It was nothing like the migraines I usually experienced, but teamed with the uncomfortable heat under my skin and the fact that my whole body was aching; top it off with the fact that my throat was swollen, and to say the least, I felt like crap.

But that wasn't the reason why I felt like this. A fever I could get over; I was even starting to feel a little bit better thanks to the pills, but the horrible, empty feeling in my chest didn't seem like it would ever go.

I knew that I was being selfish, and that the woman seemed perfectly nice, but I couldn't help but start harbouring a strange hatred for her. I'll admit it; I was jealous, and I wanted Vashyron all to myself. That was it.

But before this I hadn't let it bother me. A woman had never come over before; at least, not since I had been here. I knew it was a possibility, and I had been mentally preparing myself for it to happen at some point, but now it had actually happened, it was like reality had just come and slapped me in the face.

Vashyron didn't belong to me. I was just living with him because I had nowhere else to go, and despite how much he cared for me and how much fun we had together, it was nothing more than a friendship; if that. He was my guardian. I knew it would never be more than that, but until now it was like I was living in my own little fantasy where it was just us. Now someone had actually come in and pushed their way between us.

Of course, I wanted Vashyron to be happy. I wasn't going to get in the way of whatever this was. I would just have to pretend to like her; for him.

When I eventually pushed myself out of the huddle of blankets and cushions to eat some toast, I found that it was cold and hard, and I could only manage a few bites. But Vashyron had told me that I had to eat something if I wanted to feel better, and who else could I trust if not him?

Sitting up seemed to have brought back my fever, or angered it or something, because I felt my skin burning again and had to push everything away from around myself so it wasn't touching me anymore. Dragging myself off the couch, I stumbled into the bathroom to splash some more cold water onto myself. After that I spent a while leaning against the sink weakly. It was much cooler in the bathroom and it was a relief.

Then, after a while, I retreated back to the living room and flopped down onto the sofa, deciding to stay there. My eyelids felt heavy. I'm not sure when I let my eyes slip closed, but it must have happened at some point as before I knew it I was asleep.

I was awoken a short while later by a noise coming from somewhere in the house, but it was so brief that I thought I must have imagined it. I kept my eyes closed, snuggling myself further into the mess of blankets. Vashyron couldn't be back yet; it was still too early.

It wasn't until I felt a pressure on the sofa beside me and a hand on my shoulder that I realized I was wrong. Maybe I had been asleep for longer than I thought. I couldn't bring myself to open my eyes in my feverish state; I knew that it would mean I would have to wake up properly, and I didn't want to.

The fact that Vashyron was home made me feel all the more relaxed.

The hand on my shoulder moved, and I felt his fingers brush some of my hair off my face, before the sofa shifted slightly, and I opened my eyes to find him leaning over me, his palm still resting against my cheek.

There was a long silence as we stared at each other, before he finally spoke, quietly.

"Hey. How are you feeling?"

"...Uh...I...w...I'm feeling...okay..."

I paused.

"...Aren't you supposed to be with..."

"Denise."

"...Right. Y...you're back...early."

He continued to watch me for a while, before he sat up properly, smiling.

"Well, I thought about it, and I realized that I couldn't leave you here all alone while you were ill, so I came back."

I couldn't help the smile that tugged at my own lips.

"...You came back? W...wasn't she mad?"

He shook his head, chuckling and getting up, stretching.

"No. Don't worry about that, okay? Now, I noticed that you didn't eat your toast, which is actually good, because I brought you back some stuff. I would've been back sooner, but the store was full tonight. They're having a sale."

He disappeared into the kitchen, coming back with a large shopping back and sitting down next to me, emptying its contents onto the coffee table.

"Okay, I got you some ice cream, to help take down the fever, I got some fruit juice because you always drink cola and I know I'm a hypocrite, but you're gonna end up with diabetes," he chuckled, pointing at the items, before continuing, "I got some fruit, some more bottles of water, some chocolate just because I wanted to and I got us dinner."

He lifted up a paper bag, before opening it and taking out a cheeseburger wrapped in greaseproof paper, handing it to me as I sat upright.

"I know that you probably shouldn't be eating junk food while you're ill, but what the heck?" he chuckled, "I bought a ton of fruit to make up for it. Plus, you should be able to eat your favourite food when you feel like crap. I wanted to cheer you up. Did it work?"

I glanced around at all of the food on the table, before looking back at him, nodding and smiling.

"...I...think it did."

He ruffled my hair, grinning, before taking another burger out of the bag and unwrapping it, taking a bite as he stood up to pull off his jacket.

"Were you resting while I was out?"

I unwrapped the paper from around the burger, the smell suddenly making me realize how hungry I was, and took a bite. It was so much better than the toast.

"...Yeah. I...fell asleep as soon as you left." I lied, pulling my knees up to my chest so he could sit at the other side of the sofa.

"Good. You must've been pretty exhausted. You were flat out when I came home."

"...When did you get back?"

"About ten minutes ago. I didn't wanna wake you up, so I was trying to be quiet," he chuckled, taking another bite out of the burger.

"Oh."

He reached over once he had finished his burger, placing his palm against my forehead gently while I was still eating.

"Do you still feel dizzy?"

I nodded, swallowing my last bite and scrunching up the paper, throwing it onto the table.

"...A little."

He passed me a bottle of water from where all of the stuff from the shopping bag was still on the table, and I drank some of it to keep him happy. I actually felt a lot better. Whether it was from the food or just him being there, I don't know, but the pain in both my head and chest had lessened considerably.

"How about this? You go and take a bath; it'll make you feel better, and I'll clean up in here, then we can watch a movie or something."

"Deal."

After taking a long, hot bath, something I don't normally do, I changed into some clean clothes, drying my hair in front of the mirror. I could hear him moving around in the living room, and just knowing that he was there made me feel better.

At the back of my mind I couldn't help wondering about the woman, who I now knew as Denise, and what had happened. Clearly, Vashyron blew her off to go shopping and then come back here to see me, and part of me really felt good about it, but at the same time I wondered if she was mad or upset. I didn't want to be the cause of something like that, after all.

I tidied my hair with my fingers, before returning to the living room. The bottles of water were still on the table, as well as the fruit, chocolate and ice cream and Vashyron was sitting on the sofa, where the blankets and cushions had been tidied. He was holding the television remote and focusing on the screen, but I'm not sure what he was doing.

As I went to sit beside him he looked away from the TV and smiled at me.

"Do you feel better now?"

"Yeah, I do." I smiled back, pulling a blanket around myself and picking up a bowl of ice cream, watching as he seemed to be struggling to make the TV work properly.

"Piece of crap," he muttered to himself, before we both laughed, and he handed the remote to me, "You're a teenager. You should know about technology. Make this work."

"...Just because I'm a teenager doesn't mean I know how to do this."

"Well, I am losing the will to live," he chuckled, crossing his legs up on the sofa and picking up some chocolate, eating it.

I stared at the remote for a while, not really knowing what to do about it myself, before deciding to take a wild guess and press a random button. It seemed to actually work, and the TV screen, which had been nothing but grey fuzz, flicked to the title screen of a movie.

"Genius!" he laughed, clapping and leaning back.

"...Not really..." I chuckled, pointing out the button that said 'VCR'.

"...Why didn't I see that?" he mused, shaking his head, before taking the remote back and placing it on the table.

I wondered if he actually did know how to do it, and had just used it as an excuse to try and make me laugh.

I'm not really sure how the movie ended, or even what it was about. We spent most of the time talking; mainly Vashyron making jokes about the characters or lines, and I fell asleep about half way through.

My head still hurt, and my throat was still sore, and my muscles ached, but I didn't care about any of that anymore.

The ache in my chest was completely gone.