Sorry for taking so long before publishing this chapter. The past week I've been crazy busy at work and the muse haven't been on her best behavior either. I hope her behavior improves over the coming week - I really hope to get back on my Sunday/Monday update schedule next week.

Thanks for the reviews, follows and favorites. :o)

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Annie or Auggie. Just my alternate universe.

-Chapter 4-

Monday morning Annie was actually early for the Creative Writing lecture and the sight of a familiar head of brown, wavy hair on the back row brought a smile to her face. She quickly headed over to where Auggie was sitting and slipped into the vacant seat next to Auggie. She noticed he inhaled deeply and turned toward her with a smile on his face.

"Good morning Miss Walker," he greeted her cheerily.

"Good morning Auggie, you're in a good mood. I take it you had a good weekend?"

"Excellent! How about you? Did you enjoy spending time with your sister and her family?"

"It was nice seeing them again, but it was pretty hectic. I spent most of Saturday helping my sister preparing the food for the party. I really hope I don't have to prepare crudité trays anytime soon."

"What on earth is crudité?" Auggie asked with a puzzled look on his face.

"Oh, it's really just a fancy word for raw vegetable snacks. Danielle's a caterer and for some reason she likes to make things sound more fancy than it really is."

"Ah, I see! Mom makes those sometimes, but she just calls them veggie trays. But apart from cutting vegetables all day Saturday it was a good visit?"

"Yeah it was. I've missed them more than I thought and it was great seeing my nieces again. I wish I'd been able to stay for their dance recital yesterday afternoon, but I couldn't afford an evening flight. What did you do this weekend?"

"I was at the Tavern with my buddy Stu on Friday and I spent most of Saturday and Sunday at my parents' house. It was my brother Eric's 30th birthday, so we had a big barbecue."

"Isn't it a bit cold to have a barbecue now? I mean; it's late October."

"Well, we do barbecues all year round. We just don't eat outside."

"Ah, okay. So you had a good time with your family?"

"Yeah, a very good time. I finally got to catch up with my brother Eric, which was great."

Further conversation was cut off when professor Davies entered the auditorium and started the lecture.

Tuesday morning Auggie woke with a sore throat, runny nose and a pounding head. He also had a feeling he had a fever. With a sigh he untangled himself from his sweat soaked sheets and padded into the bathroom. He hoped that a hot shower would make him feel better. He was supposed to meet Annie in the library to study and he didn't want to disappoint her by not showing up.

Fifteen minutes later it was clear to Auggie that he should just go back to bed. Although he felt better after showering he didn't feel like leaving his apartment. Instead of getting dressed for school he pulled on a pair of sweatpants and an old Henley shirt and headed over to the kitchen to start a kettle of water. He found the canister in his cupboard that was supposed to hold teabags and sighed with frustration. It was empty. He turned off the kettle and went back to the bedroom and located his iPhone on his nightstand and dialed Annie's number.

"Morning Auggie," she answered cheerily on the third ring.

"Morning. Listen, I'm sorry, but I won't be able to study with you today. I seem to have gotten the flu or a cold or something. I feel like shit."

"Don't worry about studying, just stay in bed, relax and get better, okay?"

"I'll try," Auggie sighed. He paused for a second before he continued. "Could you do me a favor?"

"Sure. What do you need?"

"Well, my cupboards are pretty sparsely stocked and Mom usually does my grocery shopping on Thursdays. Could you pick up a few things for me? I can call Mom, but I don't feel like having her hovering here all week and I know I won't get her out of my hair if she knows I'm sick. Being the youngest means I'll always be her baby and being blind sure doesn't help…" Auggie's voice broke off and he started coughing hard.

"Text me what you need and I'll take care of it," Annie said reassuringly as soon as Auggie's coughing ceased.

"Thanks Annie. I really owe you a huge favor."

"Don't worry about it. Just text me what you need and I'll see you later."

"Thanks again. Later," Auggie said and ended the call.

A couple of hours later Annie had been to the pharmacy to pick up cough syrup and a couple of other things for Auggie and to the supermarket to buy the groceries he needed. She was glad Auggie trusted her enough to ask her for help, even if she'd only known him for a couple of months it was enough to know that he was fiercely independent and didn't like asking for help. The first few times she'd offered him assistance she'd noticed he'd tried to avoid it unless it was absolutely necessary. Lately she'd noticed that he seemed a lot more relaxed around her and he seemed to have realized that she didn't offer assistance because she didn't think he was capable of fending for himself, but simply because she wanted to make his life a bit easier.

"Hi Annie," Auggie croaked out as he slid the heavy door into his apartment open and stepped back to allow Annie to enter. "I really appreciate this."

Annie quickly surveyed him; he was wearing sweatpants and a faded Henley shirt, his hair was a mess and judging from the dark shade on his jaw he hadn't shaved. She also noticed that his eyes were red and a bit glassy.

"Don't mention is. That's what friends are for," Annie said as she walked past him and gave his shoulder a reassuring pat. "Have you eaten anything today?" she asked as she set the bags down on the kitchen island.

Auggie shook his head. "No. I didn't realize how little food I had here until I started going through the cabinets this morning. I'm glad I didn't have to call Mom. She probably would've 'kidnapped' me back to Glencoe." Auggie air quoted kidnapped with a small smile on his face.

"I see where you're coming from. Most of the time I'm kind of glad my parents live in other parts of the country, but sometimes I wish they were closer."

"I totally get that. Would you mind helping me a bit more?" Auggie asked as he dug through what appeared to be a catchall drawer and pulled out what looked kind of like an old label writer, Annie remembered having one as a kid that embossed raised letters into a hard tape.

"What's that?" she asked Auggie.

"A Braille labeler. If you tell me what things are I'll label them so I know what they are. I usually don't have eyes around."

"Oh, didn't think about that," Annie said as she pulled the last box out of the bag and set it on the counter. She surveyed the items in front of her and realized that most of the stuff would be hard to identify without sight. "Okay, first we have a box of oatmeal." Auggie quickly made the label and handed it to Annie, who stuck it on the box. "Next there are four cans of tomato soup."

For the next half hour they slowly worked their way through the groceries and the stuff Annie had picked up from the pharmacy. After they finished the labeling process Auggie carefully put everything away and then he slumped down on one of the stools by the kitchen island. Annie took it as her cue to leave.

"Okay, I think I should get out of your hair and you should go back to bed or at least lay down on the couch."

"Have to admit bed sounds good, but I should eat something first," Auggie sighed.

"What to you want? I'll fix something for you."

"I'll manage, you've already done more than enough Annie."

"Nonsense Auggie. You're sick; I'm not. Sit there or lay down on the couch while I heat up some soup. Tomato okay?"

Auggie nodded. Annie noticed he was shivering slightly and his eyes were glassier than they'd been when she arrived. She spotted a fleece jacket draped over the back of the couch and quickly retrieved it.

"You're shivering," she said in a way of an explanation as she wrapped it around Auggie's shoulders. "It's the fleece jacket you'd left on the back of the couch."

"Thanks Annie," Auggie said with a weak smile as he pulled the jacket on and closed the zipper. Annie got to work on heating up a can of tomato soup and making a grilled cheese sandwich to go with it.

Fifteen minutes later Auggie heard Annie place a bowl and a plate in front of him.

"Tomato soup in a bowl at your six o'clock and a grilled cheese sandwich on a plate at your two o'clock. Here's your spoon," Annie said, tapping a spoon to the back of Auggie's right hand. He grabbed it.

"Thanks Annie," he said and dug in hungrily. It wasn't until he'd had a few spoons of soup he realized just how hungry he was. He polished off his meal pretty fast and as soon as he put the spoon down Annie asked if he was hungry for more.

"No, I'm good. Thanks Annie. I really can't thank you enough. Now, I don't mean to be rude, but I'm not feeling too well and I think I should go back to bed."

He felt a hand on his right upper arm. "I understand Auggie. Do you want me to change the sheets on your bed before you leave?"

Auggie hesitated. He knew the sheets had been soaked with sweat the previous night and going back to bed with those sheets still on it wasn't tempting at all. At the same time he his pride objected letting Annie change his sheets. His pride won out. He was capable of changing the sheets himself after all.

"Thanks for offering Annie, but I can manage that myself."

"I have no doubt you're fully capable of changing the sheets on your bed Auggie," Annie said firmly. "You just figured you didn't feel like making that effort right now."

Auggie sighed and pondered over Annie's statement for a while. He realized that she was being sincere; over the short time they'd known each other she'd treated him like an equal and had never been condescending or made him feel lesser.

"If you really don't mind it would be great if you give me a hand."

"I wouldn't offer if I didn't mean it. Now, where do you keep your sheets?"

Auggie led the way up to the bedroom area of his apartment and headed into his closet to retrieve a set of sheets while Annie pulled the dirty ones off the sheets. Ten minutes later the dirty sheets were in the laundry hamper and the bed was made with clean sheets.

"Okay, I'll get out of here then. Call me if you need anything, okay?"

"Will do," Auggie said with a small smile as he accompanied Annie to the door.

"Good. Now back to bed and rest up. I need my study buddy in top shape with finals coming up. Got it?"

"Loud and clear. As soon as you leave I'm going back to bed. Scout's honor." Auggie said with a small smile. He heard the rustle of fabrics as she bent down and put on her shoes. She gave him a quick hug and then she was gone. Auggie closed and locked the door behind her and headed up to the bedroom again. He quickly changed into clean sleepwear and crawled into bed. He was fast asleep within a few minutes.

That's it for now. Please let me know what you think in a review. :o)