Chapter Text
Four immediately rushed inside of the house, panicking. He tried to keep quiet, since X was asleep on the couch. He creeped to his room, and he saw that he was leaving melted puddles of his skin where he walked.
Four cringed at the sight, and closed his room’s door. He leaned against the wall right next to his door, and slowly slid down the wall. He could feel himself dripping everywhere now.
Four simply couldn’t keep his mind on one subject. All he knew is that he was literally melting from his abnormal body heat. Why was his body temperature so high? Why was this happening to him??
It took a while for Four to realize that he couldn’t just continue living like this. And a new realization hit him like a train.
Four was going to die.
“No! Nononononononono! I can’t- I can’t die! X he- what would he do if I died?! I’ve got to be dreaming…” Four muttered to himself.
Four put a hand to his forehead, trying to calm himself down. But when he took his hand away, it turned out that the melting parts of his hand and forehead mixed together.
A long stretch of Four’s melted skin was now connected to his hand and where he had placed his hand on his head. He gasped.
“I’m literally a giant mess… oh algebra, what do I do…?” Four said quietly. He didn’t want to die. Then he heard soft footsteps approaching his room. Four stayed in place.
“Four…? What are these light blue puddles out here?” X asked, his voice tired and sick. Four didn’t know how to respond. So he decided to play dumb.
“What puddles?” Four asked. His voice slightly wavered.
“Oh you haven’t… Well, why don’t you come out to see it for yourself? It’s… weird.” X answered.
“I would but…. I’m not feeling well-“ Four replied, but before he could finish his sentence, X started to bombard him with worried questions.
“Are you alright?! Did you catch a weird cold?? Did you eat something bad? ARE YOU GOING TO DIE?!?” X panicked.
“Woah woah woah! I’m going to be fine, X!” Four said, trying to keep X calmed down.
“Are you sure you’re not dying, Four?” X asked, just slightly more relaxed. Four sighed before answering.
“Yes I’m sure, X. Just… don’t come into my room, I don’t want you catching what I have.” Four said. That was true, he didn’t want X to suffer through this if it was contagious.
“Ok, Four. Just… don’t close yourself out if you ARE dying.” X said. And with that, Four heard X walk away and flop back onto the couch. Four sighed, and stared at the ceiling. Every hour his body kept on getting hotter, which caused him to melt even more.
“I’ll be fine, X.” Four said, and he drifted off to sleep from exhaustion.
Four woke up to the sound of crickets outside. It was the dead of the night, and Four felt as if he was dragged through the sun (multiplied by 1,000) and back.
Four tried to lift his hand by his side, but then he realized that his arm was going to do a cheese pull if he tried to lift it. So he put it back down, to avoid creating a larger mess than there already was.
Four sighed, knowing he might just die and rot in that very spot. He knew eventually X was going to find out, and-
“AGH!” Four nearly yelled from a sudden, sharp pain. It was like he was actually on fire. First it started in his hands, and eventually spread throughout his body.
Four looked desperately for a fire, but he didn’t see one. All he knew is that he could feel it. He tried to retain himself from making any loud noises that could wake X up.
This went on for an hour, of Four fighting for his life while still trying to keep quiet. That was until he heard the doorknob of his room make a clicking sound.
“Four, what’s going… on…?” X said, as he saw the melting figure of Four. X just stood there, staring. Then he exploded into questions.
“WHAT IN THE NAME OF ALGEBRA HAPPENED TO YOU, FOUR?!??” X asked, horrified.
“I don’t know, X! I just hurt!” Four said, exasperated. He winced badly at another wave of scorching pain. He could feel himself melting even more.
“Oh Four… why didn’t you tell me earlier…?” X asked, his voice suddenly soft. Despite X still being sick, Four knew X was going to be determined to make sure that Four got better, no matter the circumstances.
X gingerly sat down next to Four, making sure not to accidentally touch him. He didn’t want to leave his side, no. Not now. Four needed X.
It was morning, and sunlight filtered through the blinds. X had taken every ice pack in their house and applied it to Four.
Seeing that the ice packs would immediately melt once they made contact with Four (and got all sticky), X placed all of the fans in the house next to Four instead.
X hadn’t really slept, and his cold had escalated into a fever. But he didn’t care. Four was closer to death than X was. So all X did was take pain killers.
The pain killers didn’t work. All they did was get rid of X’s sore throat. At least life was more manageable now.
All X could do now was find some other cold things. Four seemed to be far minded, usually taking time to respond to X.
“Four, have you been feeling better?” X asked. There was a minute of silence before Four responded.
“It burns, X. It burns.” Four replied. His voice was barely a whisper.
“I know it burns, and I know it hurts. But does it hurt less than earlier?” X asked, trying to remain calm. Again, there was silence.
“What would you do if I died right here, right now?” Four asked suddenly, shocking X.
“Four! Don’t say that! Please, you’re going to live, ok?!?” X said, his voice trembling.
“I’m not saying I will. Im just asking. What if I did, though?” Four said, more conscient of the conversation now.
“Well, if it’s a ‘what if’ question, then I would cry and cry and cry. I wouldn't be able to bear it.” X answered. He tried his hardest to hold back tears.
X wouldn’t want to lose his best friend. They were really close, maybe even closer than best friends…
“Ah. I’ll try not to die then.” Four said. He went back to staring into space.
X sighed.
“Please do try your best.” X replied.
“I wouldn’t know what to do with myself if you died.” X exhaled.