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"Hey babe, I'm home." Michael walked into his apartment, calling out to his boyfriend.
"Hello, my lovely little boy!" Gavin bounced in the room with a grin on his face, glad to see Michael home.
"Did you get the videos you needed to finish done?" He kissed Michael's cheek sweetly as he asked. Michael had stayed behind after work to finish editing some stuff, since he was behind. (No thanks to the British prick who sat beside him, distracting him from his tasks with his gorgeous smile and cheeky comments.)
"Yeah, I sure fucking hope so. What's for dinner?" He smiled, but immediately wrinkled his nose in distaste.
"Michael?" Gavin knew it wasn't his cooking he didn't like, so there must be something wrong.
"I feel icky." He stuck out his bottom lip and looked at Gavin pathetically.
"Aw, love, are you okay? Is it just now you're feeling bad?"
"No, I haven't been feeling very good all day." He made a pouty face and clutched his stomach.
Gavin furrowed his eyebrows in worry and drew closer to him. "Does your tummy hurt?" He lightly touched Michael's abdomen. Michael hissed and Gavin retracted his hand.
"Are you alright? Do you need to lie down?" Concern flooded Gavin's expression.
"Ah, I might have to." He groaned, reluctantly making his way to the bedroom. Gavin put his arm around him to help him, but mostly to be near him to give him comfort while he was in pain.
They hobbled down the narrow hallway as best they could. "It's a wonder you made it through the day like this." Gavin said quietly. Michael never even let on that he felt bad throughout today.
"I hope it's nothin' more serious than a tummy ache or the flu." Gavin commented, and Michael grunted in agreement as he sat down on the bed. Gav felt his forehead, just to check it. To his surprise, it was scalding hot.
"Michael! Your forehead is burning up!" He said, concern laced in his voice.
"Uuugh, fucking great." He said, annoyed as hell.
Gavin leaned over him and pulled down the covers. He pushed him back onto the bed and tucked the covers around him, but not tight enough to make him more feverish than than he was.
"Do you want some chicken soup? Or do you not feel hungry?" He sat down next to him, putting his hand on his arm gently.
Michael fought the urge to groan again and shook his head. "I'm not hungry."
He suddenly grabbed his side with one hand and his mouth with the other. He squeezed his eyes shut until the nausea passed.
He opened his eyes and looked up at Gavin, his eyes big and round. "I'm scared, Gavvy." Michael said softy. Michael rarely ever seemed so defenseless as he was now. The look made a wave of worry and sadness crash painfully over Gavin. "I don't think this is just the flu." He closed his eyes again and lowered his head.
Gavin leaned closer and put his arms around Michael. "Shh, love. Everything's gonna be alright." Michael laid the side of his face against Gavin's chest as Gavin rested his cheek on Michael's head and stroked his curly locks.
Gavin made comforting cooing noises to soothe him until he felt Michael's breathing slow and heard small little snores escaping his lips. He gently laid Michael back down on his pillows and got up.
As he padded to the kitchen, he wondered what to do about this. It might just be the flu, but it most likely wasn't. He made a decision and reached for his phone on the counter, calling a number he had memorized years ago.
"...Geoff? Yeah, we have a problem. Michael is sick." He elaborated on the predicament further for a while. He could hear the concern in Geoff's voice from his replies, and it was probably how his sounded as well.
"Wait it out until morning. You don't want to bring him to the doctors office and pay a huge ass bill if it's possibly just the flu." Geoff told him a few minutes later.
"Alright. I guess that seems about right. Thanks, Geoff." He said sincerely, appreciating the older man's advice.
"You're welcome, Gav. I hope he feels better soon."
"Me too. Bye, now." He hung up the phone, sighing and running his hand through his untidy hair. He really did hope it was just the flu.
-----
Later that night, he was still awake as he laid next to Michael in bed. He couldn't stop worrying, hoping he had made the right decision. He glanced at the clock, it was 3:30 in the morning.
A small moan interrupted his thoughts. He quickly turned his head to the sleeping form of Michael. He rolled on his side, so he was facing Gavin.
"G-Gavin!" He gasped, and from the low light coming from the window, he could see him holding his side tightly and the sweat beads on his forehead. "My- my side! It hurts so much!" There were tears rolling down his face already. Gavin sat up in alarm, his worst fears confirmed: he had appendicitis.
"Hold on, Michael. Hold on, love. It's gonna be okay." His voice was infected with panic but Michael didn't reply, his white lips clamped shut.
Gavin lept out of bed and hastily grabbed pants and a random shirt and tore across the apartment to the phone to speed dial Geoff. He had previously told him to keep his phone on him in case this happened.
"Pick up, pick uuuuup, come on, come on, GEOFF!" He yelled into the phone when he heard him pick up.
"Okay, buddy, Jesus, calm down! I'll be over as soon as possible!" The line went dead. Gavin's hands were shaking as he shoved the phone into his pocket. He ran back to the bedroom where his boi was.
"Shh, shh, darling, Geoff is coming. He doesn't live far away. We will be there soon. It's gonna be alright." He stroked Michael's hair, trying to quell the whimpers coming out of his boyfriend. He knew the longer it was left untreated, the more it was going to hurt him as his pleas became louder.
"Gav-Gavvy! Help me, it hurts so much." Frustrated tears made their way down Gavin's face as he willed Geoff to get their as soon as possible. It was torture seeing Michael in this much pain.
"I know, hold on, just hold on, it's gonna get better soon, just hold on and wait for Geoffy."
"I don't want to wait." He whispered, his eyes squeezed shut and tears leaking from under his lashes.
"Me either, but all we can do is wait. I promise you, your pain is gonna go away if you just hold on." He said, talking quickly, his voice shaking and breathing becoming harder.
"I'm trying-- it hurts s-so much. Fuck- ah, shit it hurts." He replied through gritted teeth.
"I know, Michael. I'm so sorry I didn't take you last night." He took the hand that wasn't stroking Michael's hair and held on tightly to Michael's hand.
"Ah- shit- you wouldn't have known, babe. It's o-okay." He closed his eyes again, trying to will away the pain.
Gavin heard a frantic knocking at the door and bounded across the apartment to open the door.
"Gavin! Is he okay? Oh my god, I tried to get here as soon as possible--" His panicked jumble of words were cut off as Gavin turned and dragged him to the bedroom.
"Just help me get him to the car, please?" He pleaded, putting his arm around Michael and helping him up. Geoff put his arm around Michael as well and they walked crookedly to the door, where in their unfortunate case, there were stairs to be dealt with.
They hobbled down the stairs as fast as they could without causing Michael any more pain and stopping when he moaned, in obvious discomfort. They slowly moved him to the car, trying to not jostle him too much while still attempting to move as rapidly as possible.
As soon as Michael reached his seat, Geoff was rushing to the driver's door and Gavin was already sliding into the backseat beside him.
Michael smiled weakly as Gavin took his hand and squeezed lightly.
"It'll be okay, love." Gavin whispered, leaning his forehead against Michael's.
"Yeah, I know." He replied quietly.
Geoff raced towards the hospital downtown, not taking much heed of the speedometer. If a policeman were to pull them over, he knew Michael could put up enough of a show to let them off.
They pulled up to the hospital a few minutes later, jumping up and helping him out of the car as soon as they were stopped.
The nice lady manning the reception desk's eyes widened as she took in the sight of two grown men holding up another who's face was ashen and sweaty.
She quickly dialed a doctor [AN: Is that right? It's been a while since I've been to a hospital, so I'm not sure if they call the doctor. Just pretend with me.] and paramedics made their way out with a stretcher. They loaded Michael onto it but he took care to keep Gavin's hand in his. Nothing could ever separate him from his boi.
[AN: Also, the rest of this may be bullshit. I've never seen what people who have appendicitis go through so it's kind of made up, although trust me, I did some research.]
Geoff followed behind them as they wheeled him away, making sure not to get in anyone's way. He grabbed Gavin's shoulder as they took Michael into an operating room, telling him quietly that he can't accompany him there.
Gavin pressed his face against the wall, silent tears now making their way down his face.
Geoff took Gavin into his arms, hugging him tightly. "Shh," He said in his comforting deep voice when Gavin's body shook from racking sobs. He leaned his head on Gavin's, closing his eyes and praying to God, even if he wasn't a religious man.
"Gav, you have to be strong for him. We need to call some other people, like his parents and Lindsay. We can tell everyone else in the morning, though." Geoff stroked Gavin's hair, like a parent would, and they broke apart. Gavin nodded gravely and wiped away his tears.
"I have his parents' numbers if you want to call Lindsay." He replied with a stuffed-up nose.
"Alright, bud, let's go over there," He pointed across the room to a waiting area. "To give them a call."
Gavin shot an anxious glance at the room behind him, but nodded anyway and pulled out his phone.
Geoff put a hand on his shoulder and walked to the other side of the room and dialed Lindsay with his own phone.
Gavin sighed and turned away, walking over to the other side as well. He pulled up Michael's parents' numbers in his contact list and called their home phone.
A few tearful minutes later, Gavin hung up the phone with the promise that he will keep them updated on his condition, since they couldn't abandon everything and come.
He ambled over to Geoff, who had finished his call a while ago and was waiting for Lindsay to arrive. She was Michael's best friend (after Gav, of course) and she had to see him as soon as she heard the news.
A couple painstaking minutes later, Lindsay arrived, out of breath and her hair disheveled. She looked exhausted, but then again, all of them were, it was past 4:00 am by now.
"H-how is he?" She panted. "I ran around trying to find where you guys were." She said, answering the questioning looks she got concerning her appearance.
"Well, he's still in the operating room, but they say he's gonna be fine." Geoff answered.
Lindsay sighed and turned to look at Gavin, who had plopped down in a waiting chair and was resting his head in his hands.
"If the rest of us are worried sick, I can't imagine how he feels." She shook her head sympathetically.
"All we can do now is hope our asses off." Geoff smiled tiredly, running his hand through his hair. "You stay here with Gavin, I'll go see if there's coffee somewhere." Lindsay smiled gratefully and went over to Gav, sitting beside him and putting her hand on his knee comfortingly.
-----
Three hours later and four coffees each, a doctor came out and informed them that Michael was fine and that they had taken him to a new room where he'd stay and could be visited.
Gavin immediately hopped up and followed the man who smiled kindly and led them down the hall to his room.
"He's still under, so he won't be up for a while." The doctor gestured to Michael, who was sleeping peacefully in the hospital bed. Gavin rushed to his side and took his hand, pressing his forehead against it.
"Thank you." Geoff murmured as the doctor left to give them some air.
Lindsay and Geoff sat in chairs beside his bed, leaning close to comfort Gavin.
"It's seven o'clock now, maybe we should call everyone else." Geoff said in a low voice.
"Yeah, and I have to call Michael's parents and tell them he's okay." Gav sighed, not wanting to leave his boy.
"I'll call the office and tell everyone, some of them should be there by now. They can pass the news on to others." Lindsay chimed in.
"Alright, let's give him some space for now."
-----
Two hours later, Gavin was sitting alone beside Michael. Geoff and Lindsay had gone home for a few hours for a nap, promising that when they came back, they'd bring some people from the office for the visiting hours (10:00 - 5:00).
For now, Gavin was just staring at Michael's face, re-memorizing his freckles and picking out his favorite ones. Every once in a while he would reach out and stroke his face, reveling in the smoothness of it.
Michael suddenly stirred, startling Gavin slightly, although took this as a good sign that Michael as awake.
"Hey, Micoo. How are you?" Gavin cooed softly, rubbing small circles on his hand.
"Aaaagh," Michael croaked pathetically. "Ow." He looked around confusedly, wincing as he felt the pain of his side.
"You okay?" Gavin asked him.
"Uuugh." He groaned, putting a hand on his head.
Gavin laughed lightly, alerting Michael to his presence.
"Did the doctor send you?" Michael asked, looking bemused.
"Uh... No?" Gavin replied, not sure why Michael thought this.
"Man... You are eye candy. Woah." Michael said, putting his hand on his forehead.
Gavin giggled, realizing he had that post-surgery anesthesia side-effect the doctor had informed him about: temporary amnesia. But not to worry, the doctor assured him, he would regain his memory.
"You're the hottest dude I've ever seen." He mumbled quietly, fading in and out of sleep for a second. "Are-are you like a model or something?"
"Nah, definitely not." Gavin replied, blushing but laughing all the same.
"Who are you? What's your name?"
"I'm Gavin." He told him, patting his hand. "I'm your boyfriend."
Michael looked shocked, his eyes widened and he gaped at Gavin. "You're my boyfriend?!"
"Yeah." Silent tears were collecting in Gavin's eyes as he held in the laughter.
"Holy SHIT. Fuck!" Michael leaned back, closing his eyes, probably thanking his lucky stars he was dating this man.
"H-how long have we been together?" He questioned, staring at Gavin's face.
"About 2 years now." He replied, and as expected, Michael's reaction was priceless.
"2 years?! Fucking what!?" He exclaimed, looking at Gavin with renewed shock.
"Yup." Gavin chirped.
"Oh man. Oh Jesus. ...Have we kissed yet?" He asked confusedly.
"Yeah, loads of times." He winked, causing Michael to yet again close his eyes and sigh.
"Wow. Shit, babe..." He ran a hand across his face. "Do we call each other babe?" He said, peeking from behind his fingers.
"Sure, I guess." Gavin chuckled, stroking his hand again.
"When- how long have we been dating?" Michael asked again, forgetting he already asked.
"A long time, love." Gavin told him, smiling.
"Wooow. Oh my god. I hit the JACKPOT." He looked into Gavin's face. "Let me- let me see your face." He reached out a hand and touched it, his expression amazed at how flawless it was.
"Woah, you're perfect." He made the okay sign with his finger and looked at Gavin through the gap, observing his gorgeous boyfriend.
He glanced down at Gavin's lower half and made a waving motion with his hand. "Turn around."
"No!" Gavin giggled, knowing what he was after.
"...We're dating?" Michael's voice cracked. Gavin nodded. "Woah..." Michael couldn't get over the fact he had landed such a hot babe.
"Wow... Jesus, that's incredible..." Michael yawned widely, stretching as he did so. "I'm sl-sl-sleepy, Gavin." He said cutely.
"Okay, love. You get some rest."
"Mmmk. Night, babe." Michael mumbled. "Love you."
Gavin kissed his forehead. "I love you too, babe." He smiled as he got up and walked out of the hospital room. He was never gonna let him live this down.
-----
An hour later, Ray, Ryan, Jack, and Burnie were crowded around Michael's bed, but not for long. The nurse was eying them beadily as they all laughed and joked with the patient, making him grimace from the pain in his side occasionally.
The lady who was Michael's nurse ushered them out quickly, telling them that they were disturbing him. It made Michael pout for a little while. he wanted to be with his friends. He hated being treated like he had a mental illness and needed to be taken care of. He insisted he felt fine to everyone who asked.
Gavin, of course, was with him as much as he could. He hadn't gone home yet, he'd only slept sitting next to Michael, leaning his head on his arms when he dozed.
The post-surgery anesthesia had worn off after Michael awoke from his nap. He remembered nothing that he said, much to Gavin's displeasure. He wished he would have recorded it with his phone or something.
After Ray, Ryan, Jack, and Burnie had left, Gavin made the decision to tell Geoff and Lindsay what Michael had said, knowing he couldn't keep it in any longer.
Their reactions were as expected, Geoff had a laughing fit that turned into a coughing fit and Lindsay fell into giggles that lasted during the whole story and continued for a good five minutes after. Even Gavin could barely keep in his chuckles in as he told his tale.
He made them promise not to tell Michael: he wanted that pleasure for himself.
He decided that he would tell him when he got back home to get the best reaction. The doctor told him a few hours earlier that he should be out within a day or two. Gavin was definitely looking forward to his reaction.
-----
Two days later, Gavin was helping Michael out of Geoff's car, against his protests.
"I'm fine, Gavin." Michael snapped, not wanting to be treated like a cripple.
"Oh, shush, love." He was refusing to let Michael brush off his help like usual.
"It's fine." Michael said grumpily, but Gavin chose to ignore this snark.
"Thanks, Geoff!" Gavin shouted over his shoulder. He heard a muffled sarcastic, "Anything for you, dearest!" As they hobbled away.
Gavin laughed lightly, hearing Geoff's car squeal away. He knew Michael still needed some help, so he let him lean on him discreetly.
"Thanks." Michael mumbled, hating that he needed his help.
"So, Michael. I had something I wanted to tell you from when you were in the hospital." Gavin said conversationally a few minutes later as they opened the apartment door and walked through the threshold.
"Which is what?" He asked suspiciously.
"Ah, just a silly little thing you did while you were on that... Y'know, post-surgery painkiller stuff."
"The anesthesia." Michael reminded him.
"Yeah, that. Anyway, it's pretty funny. You might wanna sit down." Gavin said, heading to the bedroom to change out of his sweatshirt.
"Gavvy, come on, I'm tired." Michael whined, using his helpless child voice.
"Micoo, just listen to my story pleeeeease. C'mon, I promise you'll laugh." He insisted, helping him sit down.
"Fine." Michael grumped, plopping down and pretending the movement didn't hurt.
"Alright. How do I start?" Gavin asked, mostly to himself, perching on the edge of the bed. He tapped his chin with his forefinger in thought. "Ah, I know."
His story began, and Michael was not very impressed at first. Gavin started from when he was wheeled into the emergency room but skipped past all the crying and worrying to when the actual fun happened.
As Gavin got into what Michael had exactly said, Michael starting blushing. He wasn't embarrassed, just guilty he didn't say those things in real life more often. But, he did put on a brave face and laugh, because honestly, it was fucking hilarious.
"And then, you just dropped off to sleep. You are the absolute cutest when you're asleep."
"Shut the fuck up." Michael said quietly, turning a slightly darker shade of pink. Gavin just smiled cheekily, leaning his forehead against Michael's.
"My little Mogar." He murmured affectionately.
"The fierce as fuck Mogar." Michael corrected, growling like a bear as they giggled childishly.
"Now, go to bed, my mighty Mogar, you need your rest." Gavin booped his nose and Michael laughed, kissing Gavin sweetly on the lips.
"Night, babe. Love you." He smiled, laying down and settling into the bed covers.
"I love you too, babe." Gavin replied. He was surprised when he found tears welling in his eyes.
Michael reached up a hand and stroked Gavin's cheek, wiping away the small tears making tracks down his face. He caressed it lightly, feeling the baby softness of it.
"I hit the jackpot." He whispered quietly.
Gavin's hiccuping giggles rocked the bed slightly as he laid down next to Michael. They both sighed softly in contentment.
"You're my boi, Michael."
"Yeah, and you're mine too."