I woke up to my ringtone and jumped up, frantically searching for the thing before coming to the conclusion that it was just in my pocket. I quickly got it out and answered it.

"Alice speaking." There was just breathing on the other end of the line.

"Hello?" I hoped for someone familiar to answer.

"Hello, "Aylee." I recognized Ikki's voice and rolled my eyes.

"You sound… weird."

"Nononono, I don't."

"Yeah you do." I'd heard an accent like this often enough when Waka had had a few too many drinks, that man can't hold his liquor at all.

"Do not."

"Are you drunk?"

"Wha? That's prepost- prepo- that." I sighed.

"Why did you call?"

"I think… I think because something smells fire."

"What? "Something smells fire'? Don't tell me you set something on fire."

"Dunno, light coming fro the kitchen."

"Tell me your address, quickly." He muttered his address after which I heard a loud bash. I figured it was either him dropping his phone, or dropping himself. Either way, I hung up, grabbed my coat and rushed out the front door.

I knocked on the door, hoping he'd given me the right address.

"Ikki, you there?" I couldn't see any fiery light by looking through the small peekhole, but that didn't mean anything. I got no reply.

"Ikki, come on, don't make me break down the door." I threatened. Within seconds the knob turned and the door opened. He was slumped against the wall, a sheepish smile on his face.

"'Aylee!" He yelled as he reached out his arms and practically fell forward. I caught him and pushed him back up as I stepped inside. He reeked of alcohol, I guessed rum, but I couldn't be sure.

"Where's the kitchen? Is there a fire?" I asked as I positioned him against the wall, closed the door and ran to check out said place. Upon entering, however, I found a perfectly clean kitchen.

"Fire? Where'd ya ge tha idea?" He wobbled to his bed and fell down.

"You said… Oh never mind." I knew I should never trust drunk people. I looked around his apartment, it was simplistic, basic, but somehow very cosy.

"I'm lonelyy, come onn to bed!" He said loudly. I turned to find him lying on the bed, the sheets were haphazardly scattered on and besides the bed from his thrashing about. I stood in front of him and sighed.

"You're hopeless, do you know that?" I sat down on the bed beside him and watched as he clutched onto my sleeve.

"I don't mean to be… I just want people to like me." He sounded surprisingly clear all of a sudden.

"Loads of people like you, obviously."

"Not the right people…" He sulked as he looked up at me. "I need you to like me."

"Me? I do like you, you're a good guy." I comforted him with a smile. It was very likely that he wouldn't remember any of this anyway.

"I don't want to be alone…" He muttered.

"I'm here, aren't I? You're not alone." He nodded and without any notice, latched onto me, pulling me down onto the bed.

"Hey! Wait, I-"

"Sleep with me." He whispered in my ear. I shuddered and shook my head.

"That's not going to happen."

It happened. In the end, not even I could break free from his vice grip and I was forced to stay like that for the entire night. In the end I did fall asleep, only to wake up in the exact same position. I yawned and stretched out, careful not to elbow Ikki in the face in doing so. His arms still had me in a death grip and I still couldn't get out. Morning light was peeking through the crack between the curtains, I guessed it was about 10 o'clock.

"Ikki?" I asked as I tapped his arm. "Could you wake up, please?" I heard low growls from behind me. Before I could suppress it, I burst out into a coughing fit. It must"Ve scared him awake, because he practically launched me off the bed. The coughing only continued and I felt my lungs burning in my chest, along with my belly in the lower regions. When it finally died down, I was panting like a hound that'd just chased a fox.

"Alice?" Ikki's voice was rough, he was probably very hung over. I sat back on the bed and let out a deep breath.

"I have no idea what happened, but… were you in bed… with me?" He sounded anxious.

"You called me last night-" I let out another cough to clear my throat. "And you practically said your kitchen was on fire. I came to look, but there was nothing wrong. At one point, you latched onto me and you refused to let go. So yeah, sort of." I explained. He was staring at me with his eyes wide open and his mouth gaping.

"I'm so sorry." He bowed in apology. I waved his guilt away.

"Don't worry about it. I have quite some experience with stuff like this." Waka had done the same thing a surprising amount of times. He looked up at me and frowned.

"You don't look well." He commented as he reached out and laid a hand on my forehead. "You're burning up."

"I think there was a draft from somewhere." I stood up. "Nothing to worry about though."

"No, I'm not letting you outside with a fever like that." He stood as well and blocked my way.

"Come on, it's noth-" I burst out into another coughing fit and reached out to the wall for support as I held the other in front of my mouth.

"You're obviously not fine." He said as he took my arm and steered me to the bed.

I didn't have enough strength left to object and I was in the bed before I knew it.

"I'll make some tea. That should make your throat less sore." He said as he went into the kitchen and put on some water. He'd recovered from that hangover miraculously fast.

"I'm not sick." I squeaked, sneezing immediately afterwards.

"Of course not."

He came back with a warm cup of tea a few minutes later. I sat up and sniffled.

"Here." He handed me the cup and smiled as I took a sip. The flavor was so soft that it was like silk to my throat.

"Is the flavor okay? Not too hot either?" He asked worried.

"It's perfect." I smiled contently as I took another sip.

"That's good." He paused, looking away for a moment. "I'm sorry. It's my fault that you're ill now."

"It's probably just a cold. I was developing one already." That wasn't true though, I was perfectly healthy. He grimaced.

"Honestly, I'm fine." I took another sip and cursed in my mind when I felt it go down the wrong pipe, sending me right into another coughing fit. He quickly took the cup from me before I got the chance to spill all its contents onto the bed and myself.

When that one was over as well after a few minutes, I let out a tired sigh. All that coughing was really tiring.

"Clearly not though."

"Alright, I suppose not." He handed me the cup again and watched as I drank it as carefully as I possibly could.

"You should take some cough mixture. Maybe you'll be able to get some rest then." He said as he stood and took the cup back to the kitchen, coming back with a spoon and a small bottle in his hands. I pulled the sheets up so they covered my mouth.

"No, that's gross." He sat back down and looked at the bottle.

"I think it's strawberry flavored." I eyed him suspiciously. "You'll only benefit from it after taking it."

"I don't wanna." I shook my head. He sighed and poured some of it onto the spoon.

"I'll go first, okay?" I sat up, staring intently so that I could see if it tasted good or bad. He put the spoon in his mouth and smiled before lunging at me. He grabbed my head and tilted it backwards as he pressed his lips onto mine. I felt the liquid pouring in and struggled against him, but I was in no condition to and was soon forced to give up. He finally broke away once I'd swallowed it.

"That was unnecessary." I snapped as I wiped my mouth. He licked his lips and grinned.

"I beg to differ. Why? Was it that bad?" It didn't taste great, but it wasn't like it was that repulsive either.

"No…" I admitted.

"Exactly, now try to get some rest." He stood and sat at his desk, turning on his laptop.

"Mhmm." I yawned as I lay down and closed my eyes, pulling the covers up to my chin.