Happy Thursday, lovelies! This may be one of my favorite chapters I've ever written because it's pure and not full of angst. The angst is taking a smol holiday break. Hopefully. Anyway, enjoy! ~Shaymie

Alex's POV

I quietly walked into Lo's room, frowning as I was submerged in darkness, the only light coming through the window. She was sick. I didn't know what exactly was wrong, but she had been locked up in her room the past few days. She hadn't eaten much of anything lately, only a pack of crackers, and they came back up as quickly as she ate them. I set a cold water bottle on her bedside table and sat on the edge of her bed. She groaned in pain.

"Close the blinds," she muttered, burying her head underneath her pillow. I caught a glimpse of the new jagged scars on her arm and frowned. "Too bright."

I obliged silently and returned to my spot on her bed. The room was completely dark. Light from the hallway flooded in from the crack under the door, but I couldn't do anything about that. Lorin visibly winced every time Dumpling barked outside the door. Laf was yelling at the dog to be quiet, his voice a hushed whisper, but I had a feeling he was only making things worse. The sound eventually faded, and I had a feeling they had gone downstairs.

Lo rolled over in bed and looked up at me, her eyes bloodshot and full of tears. I briefly wondered how much sleep she had been able to get. I could barely see in the nonexistent light, but I could tell that she was terribly pale, her freckles standing out on her face. I hated seeing her like this. She whimpered and moved over to me, hiding her face in my chest. She clapped her hands over her ears and curled into me.

"Lo, do you need medicine?"

"No point," she grumbled, flinching at the sound of her own voice. It was rough and gravelly from all the coughing she'd been doing. "Can't keep anything down."

"You don't have to talk, Lo. It's alright." I kissed her forehead and rubbed her back gently. I had never seen anyone have a headache so bad. Was it considered a migraine at this point? I tucked her into bed when she started shivering and started looking for all the warm things I could find. It was hard in the dark, but I had eventually found the thickest sweater she owned, a pair of fuzzy socks, some gloves, a hat, and a scarf. She scoffed when I finally got everything on her.

"Al-"

"Shh," I cut her off with a kiss and brushed some hair from her face. I opened the water bottle and held it up to her mouth. She drank from it sloppily, some of it dripping onto her sweater. I hoped she'd be able to at least keep that down. "You should rest your voice, sweetie."

"You're going to catch my cooties." She snorted as I laid next to her and wrapped my arms around her waist, pulling her closer. She tilted her head up to look at me, her hair tickling my chin, and scooted back slightly. There was a small frown on her face."You know, I never got to blow you the other day."

"You did get kind of preoccupied with your dog," I sighed, resting my head on her shoulder. She giggled. "And then you got sick. This has been a sucky Thanksgiving break, huh? No pun intended."

Lorin hummed and turned around so that she was facing me, wincing as she moved too quickly. We laid in bed in silence, since I was sure she wouldn't be able to handle much more talking. Her wheezy breathing eventually evened out. I held her close as she slept and brushed some hair from her face. The last time we'd had a conversation that lasted more than two seconds was the one we'd had before… before she had asked me for "help".

Again, I felt like I had taken advantage of her. I don't know what had gotten into me. I just saw how uncomfortable she had looked, and I was willing to do whatever it took to help her feel better. I didn't really care if I got off (which I did eventually, leaving to the bathroom after she had fallen asleep), but I cared about her. And she had been beautiful, the way she rolled her hips into my hand and the damn sexy way she called me Lexy, dropping into her normal accent that I wish she'd use more often. I loved the way she would moan or bite her lip when I nipped, licked, or sucked at her skin. I just loved her. I'd do anything for her.

I left the room silently, flinching as the doorknob slipped from between my fingers. The door shut a bit louder than I'd wanted it to. Hopefully it didn't somehow worsen the migraine, or even worse wake her up. I didn't think I'd be able to handle a tired, cranky post-period Lo with a migraine. She would probably kill me.

I went downstairs and found Laf wrestling with Dumpling, trying to get her into her sweater. He was on dog-walking duty today, which was ironic since he was the only person the puppy didn't like for some reason. She eagerly ran up to anyone else (even Jefferson), but she avoided Laf like the plague. She barked happily and ran over to me, carrying her light blue sweater in her mouth. I knelt down and quickly put the clothing on her, which was slightly difficult with my dominant hand in a cast.

"I still can't believe Lo named you Dumpling of all things," I sighed, scratching her behind the ear. She wagged her tail excitedly and licked my hand. I smiled. I'd never really liked dogs, but this was a cute one… When she wasn't making a racket. "Or as she calls you, Dumplin'."

"I don't think Lorin would appreciate you mocking her accent, Alex." Laf picked himself up from the ground and grabbed the leash from the coatrack. He held it in his hands for a few seconds before handing it down to me. I snapped it onto Dumpling's collar and handed him the leash. He was on his own with this part. "How's she doing? Will she be able to eat dinner with us tomorrow?"

I shook my head. It would be a miracle if she managed to leave her room tomorrow. Maybe I would bring her Thanksgiving dinner in bed. Or we could all eat in her room. It depended on how bad her migraine was. She couldn't even stand the lights being on. Laf sighed and nodded. I waved at him as he walked out the front door with Dumpling. I went back upstairs to work on some homework. I sat at my desk and remembered that my arm was in a cast. I sighed and put my head on the desk. Lo had been writing pretty much everything for me. I'd asked Laf to help me once, and it had been a mistake. His handwriting was unreadable. At least he hadn't written in pen like Lo.

I decided to focus on cleaning my room, which was a mess. Well, at least to me. It only took about ten minutes to clean since not that much was out of place. Until now, I hadn't realized how much time I spent with Lorin. Now that she was sick, I didn't really have anyone to talk to, and it wasn't like I could call anyone. My phone had taken a bit worse of a fall than I thought, and after a week of tiny malfunctions (I had lost track of how many times it had exited whatever app I was using or just shut off completely) I decided to just have it sent in for repairs. It was going to take at least another week to fix.

I sighed as I threw myself onto my bed and closed my eyes. Maybe I'd just take a nap until dinner. It felt like it had been forever since I had gotten a good amount of sleep, and coffee would only take me so far. Lo was always telling me that she didn't know how I managed to function like a normal human. Honestly, I didn't understand either. I pulled my hood over my head and drifted off to sleep. I was woken up by Darcy a few hours later.

"Hamilton, why the hell is my sister dressed like there's a blizzard coming?" I groaned as my light was flipped on. I looked up at Darcy, who was standing in my doorway. She had an arm wrapped around Lorin, who looked a little bit better. There was a bit of color in her face now and she could actually open her eyes without wincing. She had a gloved hand clutched tightly around her sister's arm.

"She was cold."

"You're so whipped," Darcy laughed, walking out of the room with Lo. She looked back at me with a smirk. "Dinner's ready, lover boy. Come downstairs when you're ready."