Gentle Reader,

This chapter is dedicated to my two friends in real life that read for me. I appreciate you guys.

Please keep commenting, I love them.

Love,

RobinDesBois

It All Depends Upon Your Appetite

It is extremely rare to get the flu in June, but William Darcy always prided himself on being able to achieve difficult things.

When the alarm went off that morning, Lizzie's first thought was that she was overheated where they were touching. Her second thought was that he looked paler than he usually did in the morning light. Her third was that he had slept through the alarm, which she had never once seen him do. She gently shook him awake, and he moaned as he ran his hand over his eyes.

"Oh, God, what time is it?" he rasped.

"It's seven, are you OK? You're warm."

"I'm sure I'm fine. I'll take an aspirin or something for this headache and I'll be fine."

"You've got a headache?" Lizzie stroked his bangs out of his face and discriminately checked his forehead to confirm that he had a temperature. He definitely did. He groaned a little as he got out of bed and walked to the bathroom. Lizzie let out a heavy sigh, knowing that he should not be going to work, but also knowing she was unlikely to be able to persuade him.

Until she heard a loud thunk from the bathroom.

Lizzie had just enough presence of mind to knock before entering the bathroom; she was deeply concerned, but she knew that privacy was a huge factor for both of them.

"Come in," William half-rasped, half groaned. She pulled open the door to find him lying on the floor.

"Oh, my God. What happened, Will?" Lizzie knelt beside him and tried to check his head for injuries. Thankfully, he appeared to be fine, aside from the fall.

"Lizzie," he replied with a cough. "I think I'm sick."

She couldn't help but laugh a little bit as she helped him to his feet and back to the bed. She called his secretary and his sister to let them know he wouldn't be in for work, then she called her own assistant to tell her she was taking a personal day, despite William's protests that she didn't need to do that.

"One of the perks of having your own media company, William Darcy, is that you can call off basically as often as you want. I'm surprised you haven't figured that out yet," she informed him, getting the thermometer from the bathroom.

101.5.

"How's your stomach feeling?" she asked.

"That's actually the one thing that feels OK."

"Tell me what's wrong."

"My head hurts, my joints hurt when I stand, my throat hurts. Is it hot in here?"

"No, Imzadi, you have a fever," William started to laugh, but it turned into a hard cough. [1]

"Did you just call me Imzadi? The pet name from Star Trek: Next Gen?"

"Sorry, did you not know that I'm a nerd? Since your stomach is fine, what do you want for breakfast?"

"Something soft, please. The coughing made my throat worse."

"Scrambled eggs and hot tea with honey?"

"You're too good to me, T'hy'la." [2]

"And I'm considered the nerd?" Lizzie laughed as she went to start breakfast.

Ten minutes later, she returned to their room with scrambled eggs, Earl Gray with honey, and his laptop.

"Not for work, for Netflix. You need to rest."

"Fiiiiine."

"Oh, Gigi was right, you do turn into a giant baby when you're sick."

"I do not! I didn't when I had that cold last Christmas!"

"Colds don't count, you don't have a fever or joint pain with a cold. Which reminds me, I think we need to take you to the doctor."

"Ugh, I don't want to go to the doctor."

"I know, Imzadi," she teased. "How about if you're not feeling any better tomorrow, then we go to the doctor."

"Yes, ma'am," she could tell by the goofy grin on his face that he had specifically chosen his phrasing to remind her of their anniversary.

"Eat your breakfast," she laughed. "I'll get you some DayQuil."

Lizzie spent the majority of her morning on her laptop doing work projects-despite the personal day-while William alternatively napped, read, or watched Netflix next to her.

When she finally closed her laptop for the day, he put his arm around her waist and pulled her into his side.

"Will you do something for me, Lizzie?"

"Not if it involves you leaving this bed, I won't."

"It doesn't. I'm just hungry. I'm dying for some of Antone's Minestrone. Can we get takeout for dinner? Pleeeease."

"Of course. Anything else? I'm sure some pasta wouldn't hurt your throat."

"No, I just want a bowl of minestrone."

"Ok, I'll call it in and go get it. But you better not go further than the bathroom while I'm gone. Understood?"

"Yes, T'hy'la." She smiled and rolled her eyes as she went to get their dinner.

When she got back, he had Netflix pulled up on the laptop and The Breakfast Club queued to play.

Halfway through the film, both of their dinners finished, he snakes an arm around Lizzie's waist.

"Did I ever tell you why this movie is my favorite?" William asked, trying to fight the NyQuil Lizzie insisted he should take after dinner.

"No, I don't think you ever have, even though we've probably watched it fifty times."

"When I was little and I would get sick, my mom always stayed home from work. I never thought about how much of a sacrifice that was for her until I was an adult, but she loved working at Pemberley. But whenever Gigi or I were sick, she would take the day off to take care of us. She always made me lie down and watch a movie, but I think she knew that I would fall asleep watching it. So when I did, she turned this movie on and watched it. I would always wake up and crawl up in her lap and we watched the end together. When I got a little older, she did the same thing, but I faked falling asleep. That's the day I finally found out how it starts."

"That's beautiful, William." He nodded and laid down with his head in her lap.

"I think she knew I faked the nap, because when the movie was over, she showed me a box under her bed from when she and Dad were dating, and she had tickets to The Breakfast Club in the box. I think it was their very first date ever."

"And that's why this is your favorite movie?" she whispered, running her fingers through his hair and trying to encourage him to go to sleep.

"Mhmm," he murmured, nuzzling against her leg.

"Goodnight, you sweet little nerd," Lizzie whispered as she shifted his head onto the pillow and let the NyQuil take its course.

She closed the laptop and cleaned up dinner before crawling in beside him and going to sleep.

The next day, William felt even worse, so they took him to the doctor. He was out of the office for a week and a half. Somehow, Lizzie managed to not get it at all.

[1] Betazoid word meaning "darling," Star Trek: Next Generation

[2] Vulcan word meaning "lover" (also "friend" or "brother"), Star Trek: The Motion Picture novelization