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Jeremiah Heere missed the bus this morning. Unfortunately for him, it’s the middle of a wet and cold New Jersey December, and his dad isn’t home to drive him to school. Jeremy scowled at the fast paced sleet falling from the sky and started out of his house.
Before long, the sleet had soaked his hair and freezing water was seeping through his clothes and down his thin frame. He crossed his arms over his chest, but it was a useless attempt. He groaned in annoyance and kept walking.
Jeremy walked into the school ten minutes before the homeroom bell rang. He went to the staircase where he and Michael usually sat in the morning, and by no surprise, found Michael sitting there, headphones on, blasting music so loud Jeremy could hear it.
“Hey, Mike,” Jeremy said, gently poking Michael on the shoulder. Michael looked up, not even startled by Jeremy’s sudden appearance.
“Hey, Je- holy shit dude. You’re dripping wet, what the fuck?” Jeremy gave a shaky shrug.
“I missed the bus and my dad wasn’t home. So I had to walk.” Jeremy said trying to hide his shivering and remain nonchalant.
“Jeremy, you are literally dripping everywhere. You know it’s December right?” Jeremy shrugged again. “Jesus Christ, you’re shivering,” Michael said as he put his hand on Jeremy’s shoulder. His mouth dropping to a worried frown. He pulled his hoodie over his head and threw it at Jeremy. “Put that on before you get sick, you dumbass,” Michael sighed. “Did you really not think to bring a coat or something? I mean, really, Jeremy. You’ll catch the flu if you’re not careful.”
“Michael, you know you can’t actually get sick from being cold...” Jeremy sighed, wiping his nose on his sleeve.
“Of course I know that. My main source of entertainment is Discovery Channel documentaries. But I do know, that being cold and wet will weaken your immune system, which is already shit,” Michael said, looking Jeremy up and down. “Not to mention it’s easy enough to get sick now. Everyone in this building has some sort of bug.” Jeremy was still shaking violently despite putting Michael’s warm hoodie on.
“Well, sorry,” Jeremy said half-heartedly, teeth clacking together.
“No, don’t be sorry. Let’s just get you warmed up, okay?” Jeremy nodded.
Jeremy changed into extra clothes Michael had in his locker and he kept Michael’s hoodie on, but he still couldn’t shake the chills wracking his body.
At the end of the day, Jeremy was still shaking violently. His nose was running and he was sniffling constantly and he felt his throat starting to become sore. He planned to avoid Michael as to not get caught, and then go home and sleep this off. But things don’t often work out for Jeremy.
He had his head down as to not draw attention, causing him to collide with Michael, the one person he didn’t want to see.
“Shit I’m sorry I- Oh, Jeremy! Hey! I’ve been looking for you! I barely saw you today! You barely said anything at lunch and then I couldn’t find you after that. A-are you avoiding me?” Michael hadn’t even realized he was rambling. The question caught Jeremy so off guard that he could only stutter as a response. “I have Red. Do you need it? That thing isn’t controlling you again is it?” Michael asked, his eyes becoming alive with fear and what Jeremy assumed was anger.
“Wha-! Uh, no! No it’s just uhh- I wasn’t trying to avoid you I just-“ Jeremy said, waving his hands around awkwardly. “I was just lost in thought I guess.” Jeremy said shrugging.
“Thinking, huh? Well, don’t hurt yourself,” Michael said snickering. Jeremy rolled his eyes, but couldn’t stop the smile growing on his face. “You wanna come hang out at my place? My moms are upset because they haven’t seen you in a while.”
“That’s because they like me more than you,” Jeremy said with a smirk. Michael gasped, putting his hand to his heart, feigning offense, before dropping his hand and giving Jeremy a very serious look.
“Honestly, you’re right.” Jeremy snorted at this, firing up an itch in his nose. He rubbed at it as an attempt to get rid of it. Jeremy’s lips bent into a tight frown.
“I’m sorry, Micah. I just. Can’t today,” Jeremy said, sniffling against the itch. “My dad is e-expecting me h-home.”
“Oh. Well I could go back to your place if that’s better?” Michael asked, seeming to not notice Jeremy’s breath hitching.
“I d-dunno. I think m-my da-ad wa- hold on-“ Jeremy said, giving into the itch and dissolving into a sneezing fit.
“Bless you,” Michael said patiently.
“I think my dad wants us to hang out or something tonight,” Jeremy said, which was a complete lie. In fact his father told him he wouldn’t be home until late. Michael opened his mouth to reply, by Jeremy cut him off with three more sneezes.
“Bless you again. Dude are you allergic to something?” Michael asked jokingly, but then his face dropped to an expression of concern. “You’re not getting sick, are you?” Michael asked pulling a hand out of his pocket and dropping it on Jeremy’s shoulder.
“What? No! No, I’m fine!” Jeremy replied, probably a little to quickly. Michael pursed his lips in disbelief.
“Yeah. Okay. If you say so. Well. If you can’t hang tonight, that’s cool. I’ll text you later, ‘kay?” Michael asked pulling his hand back.
“Yeah, I’ll see you later, Mike,” Jeremy said before waving and walking away. He puffed out a breath he’d been holding in. Now he just had to get home and sleep.
Jeremy collapsed on the couch and pulled a blanket over himself. The walk home had turned the small chill into a cold ache. He was starting to really not feel well, and the headache he had was begging him to sleep. Curling in on himself, and shivered as he dozed off.
He woke up two hours later to the sound of his phone ringing. It was now 5:15 and he was getting a call from Michael. He declined the call and saw the 15 missed messages he had from Michael.
To Michael: holy shit dude, calm down
From Michael: where the hell have you been? i've been trying to get to you for an hour and a half
To Michael: i fell asleep, like, the second i walked into my house.
From Michael: whatever. anyway, are you free after school tomorrow? i was thinking you could spend the night here. play some video games. maybe smoke a bit.
Jeremy looked at his phone and smiled. He loved spending time with Michael. They've been having Friday night sleepovers for over a decade now. But he wasn't sure about tomorrow. He wasn’t even one hundred percent sure he'd be able to go to school tomorrow. So he just decided to give as vague an answer as possible.
To Michael: sounds fun
They texted for a while longer before Michael had said he needed to leave to eat dinner and then do homework. Jeremy sighed before pulling his legs up to his aching chest and falling asleep.
Jeremy woke up again around 8 P.M. feeling slightly nauseated. His head pounded and his throat felt like it was bleeding. Jeremy came to the conclusion that this bug was not something he'd be able to sleep off, and Michael would find out eventually. Huffing, he looked around the room and found that his dad wasn't home yet, seeing how all of the lights in the house were still off. He stood from the couch on shaking legs and grabbed the blanket, heading up to his bedroom.
Jeremy awoke to the sound of his alarm. He felt around for the clock before flicking it off and recovering his eyes with his arm. He was suddenly aware of how he was breathing through his mouth as a result of his hopelessly congested sinuses, causing his throat to hurt more. He was sure that if he tried to talk it would come out as nothing more than a hoarse whisper. He was also fairly convinced he had a fever due to his eyes watering and the sweat clinging to his forehead. Nonetheless, he stood up and began to get dressed. He stumbled down the stairs trying to ignore the way his entire body ached and the way his stomach churned worryingly. He made his way out to the front of his house and made the bus.
Arriving to school, Jeremy was shivering violently and was constantly muffling congested coughing into his shoulder. He saw Michael waiting for him by the entrance. He wasn't sure if he was relieved to see him, or panicked. But before he could decide, Michael had already seen him and was walking towards him.
"Hey, Jer! You're actually on time today!' Michael said grinning widely. Jeremy wondered how he did it. How he always had that same dorky, and incredibly contagious smile on his face. Jeremy only hummed in reply, too tired and out of it to reciprocate the smile. He reached up and swiped at his nose, sniffling wetly. Should he just tell Michael he was sick? Then maybe Michael wouldn't be too hard on him. But at the same time he didn't want him to find out at all. "Is everything okay?" Michael said, brows creasing in concern. His first thought when he got a good look at Jeremy's flushed cheeks and glassy eyes, was that he'd been crying. "Is something wrong?" Jeremy was quick to shake his head no, which only worsened the spinning of the room. "Why aren’t you talking?” Jeremy didn’t answer. “You’re scaring me, what’s wrong Jer?” Jeremy was suddenly overcome by vertigo and he had to lean on Michael for support. He tried to play it off, but before he could stand himself back up he sneezed painfully into Michael’s shoulder. Jeremy pushes himself back harshly.
“Sh-shit, sorry, M-ike-“ Jeremy stuttered before sneezing again twice more. Michael looked Jeremy up and down, now recognizing the pink on his face as the flush from a fever. He noticed how he swayed on his feet dangerously and shivered violently.
“Forget that. Jesus Christ, did you get hit by a train on the walk here?” Jeremy shrugged and sniffled thickly.
“Caught a cold or somethin’.” Jeremy mumbled. Michael’s brows creased in worry as he looked at Jeremy’s slouched and miserable form. He gently pulled Jeremy into his chest and cupped a hand over his cheek.
“You feel really warm. You’ve got more than a cold I think,” Michael said pressing his lips to Jeremy’s forehead for confirmation. “C’mon. I’m driving you home,” Michael sighed guiding Jeremy through the clumps of teenagers and out the door. Reaching outside, Jeremy began shivering harder, so Michael pulled him closer. Jeremy rested is head on Michael’s shoulder.
“You’re not mad?” Jeremy asked cautiously. Michael scoffed.
“Mad? Why the hell would I be mad?” Jeremy looked away, suddenly embarrassed.
“For not wearing a coat...” Jeremy mumbled so quietly Michael wasn’t even sure he said anything. Michael snorted a quick laugh.
“No, I’m not mad about that. Not at all. Although, a coat would be a good idea.” Jeremy nodded burying his head in Michael’s shoulder.
“‘Kay.”
“But now that you mention it, I g-“
“Shut Up. You said you weren’t mad so take me home.”
“Okay, okay, you dork,” Michael laughed. “Let’s stop and pick up some meds first though. I think you’ve got the flu.” Michael said. Jeremy only hummed in response as the got to Michael’s car. Michael felt slightly guilty for making Jeremy believe he’d be mad. Jeremy obviously felt like he needed to hide it from him. He spared a glance at Jeremy, who had laid his fevered head on the window. Michael was gonna care the fuck out of that boy.