Chapter Text
BEEP-BEEP-BEEP!...BEEP-BEEP-BEEP!
You opened your eyes to the sound of your alarm clock going off. Groggedly, you reached over and hit the snooze button. Blinking the sleep from your eyes, you tried to make out the time. 7:00am. You let out a groan. I don’t want to get up yet. But, it was your daily routine, so you threw your legs off the bed and sat up. It took you a few minutes, but you managed to get out of bed and shuffle into the kitchen for some nice, hot coffee. You leaned against the cold counter as it brews, and the scent of coffee filled the air.
I wonder what I should do today? I’ve got the next few days off. You let out a small hum. The coffee machine beeped, and gurgled the last bits of water and steam out of its system.
“Finally.” You stood up straight and reached up to the cabinet. You went to your usual mug, but your eyes locked onto a special one. It was a novelty mug your neighbor gifted to you - it had the molecule symbol for caffeine printed on the front. You smiled and grabbed it instead.
You finished preparing your coffee - just the way you like it - and leaned back against the counter. As you drank your coffee, you put more thought into your plans for the day. A lot of horror movies were coming out as Autumn and Halloween crept around the corner. Maybe a movie? You thought. Suddenly, a small rapid knocking came from your front door.
"Coming!" You shouted from your kitchen, and set your cup down.
As you walked over to the front door, you tried to fix your hair a bit and smoothed out your t-shirt. T-shirts and sweatpants made for great pajamas, in your opinion. You opened the door to see that standing there were your neighbor's kids. Dib and Gaz Membrane.
You had moved next door to The Professor Membrane™ about a year ago. It wasn't really intentional, the prices were good and you wanted a fresh start. You didn’t realize who exactly you were going to be living next to, until you were already there with the rental truck. The man himself had come up to you as you were unloading boxes, and welcomed you to the neighborhood. It was quite a shock, but he was incredibly kind to you. He - along with his kids - had even helped you move the rest of your stuff inside! After that day, you quickly developed a friendship with the Membrane family. The explosions from failed experiments, having to patch up Dib after he fought with the strange green boy down the street, playing games with Gaz - it all became part of your daily life.
So you weren't surprised to see the kids at your front door.
"Hey you two! What brings you by so early?"
"Uh, well, we were wondering if you could help us out with dad?" Dib asked, with a forced smile.
You let out a sigh. "Did he blow up the kitchen again?"
"No that's not it-"
Gaz cut her brother off. "He's sick and is refusing to take care of himself. We thought maybe YOU could convince him to stay home."
"Sick? And here I thought he couldn't get sick." You let out a small laugh. “Yea, let me grab some shoes.”
You threw on some slip-ons and walked over to the Membrane house with the kids. Dib held the door open for you and Gaz. As soon as you stepped in, you heard something clattering from the kitchen.
"Ugghh... DAD! I TOLD YOU TO STAY IN BED!" Gaz shouted as she stomped into the kitchen.
"Gazlene… please don't shout. I was just making tea." Membrane groaned. You could hear the raspiness in his voice.
Dib walked past you and motioned for you to stay put. He leaned his head into the kitchen. "Hey Dad, I hope you don't mind but we invited (Y/N) over!" Dib then quickly waved you over.
You peeked into the kitchen and. Oh my goodness. You saw something that you never thought possible. A disheveled Professor Membrane, with a 5 o'clock shadow and no goggles. He had a bad case of bed-head, but his prominent cowlick was still there. All he wore was his science themed pajamas and a fuzzy robe.
He snapped his head around to look at you and his cheeks turned red. "AH! (Y/N), wh-what are you doing here?" He quickly grabbed the counter and pulled his robe closed with his free hand.
"Oh-uh-um!" You stuttered and looked away. "The kids said you weren't feeling well, so I, uh, wanted to check up on you! If that's okay."
Membrane let out a sigh. "There's nothing to worry about. Honestly I'm fi-" Before he could finish his sentence, he started to cough. He bent over and put a hand over his mouth. It looked like he was about to fall over. Both kids rushed to their father’s side, and honestly you wanted to as well.
"C’mon dad, you shouldn't even be out of bed." Dib said, putting a hand on Membrane's arm.
As soon as his coughing fit ended, you quickly walked over and helped him stand up straight. Gaz and Dib backed away a bit.
"Hey, your kids are right. You look pretty bad right now."
You reached up and put the back of your hand on his cheek. Membrane flinched a bit at the sudden gentle touch, but he didn’t pull away. You grimaced a bit. "Plus, you’re really warm. You might have a fever."
Membrane looked between the three of you and let out a sigh of defeat. “Alright, alright. I’ll go lay down.”
You smiled, and put your hand on his back. “Come on, big guy.”
“Oh, Gaz?” You turned back to look at her. “Could you get me a thermometer and some cold medicine, please?”
“Yea sure.” She walked passed you and Membrane and went on her little quest to get supplies.
“And I’ll make your cup of tea, Dad!” Dib looked up at him and smiled. Membrane smiled back and ruffled Dib’s hair.
“Thank you, son.”
The two of you walked upstairs slowly. You had never seen Membrane look so tired before. During the summer, you had caught him taking little power naps - but even then he always wore his goggles. Despite the dark circles, you noticed that his eyes were a beautiful dark amber color. You almost missed a step because of it, but you caught yourself from stumbling face first into the staircase.
“Are you alright?” Membrane asked, giving you a worried look.
You quickly looked away and tried to avoid eye contact. “Yep! Perfectly fine!”
The two of you made it to the second floor, and you opened the door to Membrane’s room.
It was surprisingly minimalistic, considering the “chaos” you’d seen from his lab. He had a queen-size bed with simple dark blue sheets and a comforter to match. The head of it was placed against the middle of the back wall, with two small metal nightstands on both sides. There wasn’t a dresser, so you assumed all his clothes were in his closet somewhere. However, there was a work desk, covered in papers. You could make out some equations, mechanical drawings, and a few other things.
You snapped your attention back to Membrane. Gotta get him to bed. You pulled back the covers and helped him sit down. He was a bit reluctant, but you successfully managed to get him to lie down. He plopped his head down onto the pillow and let out a groan.
It was strange to be in his room, alone with him. Both the kids were still busy. It was just you and him, alone . Wait- Why was it bothering you so much? You had been alone with him before. Was it always this awkward to be around him? Or was it because of the situation? You felt yourself tense and your face heat up.
Membrane broke the silence. "I apologize that the children dragged you here. You don't need to stay."
You looked over at him and gave a warm smile. "Hey, don't apologize. You're my friend, and I want to make sure you're okay." You said as plopped down on the edge of the bed.
Membrane looked away. His cheeks were still red. He must really have a bad fever. You thought.
Gaz pushed open the door with an arm full of cold medicines. "Hey." She dumped the pill boxes and bottles onto her dad's desk. "Oh, and here's the thermometer." She said as she threw it at you. You caught it and looked back up at her.
"I uh, don't think we'll need all of those, Gaz."
She shrugged. "Didn't know which one would help. As long as he gets better."
You couldn’t help but smile at that. Gaz wasn’t the type of person to show her emotions, but after spending a year with her, you knew the cues. You knew she was worried about her dad. You uncapped the thermometer and turned over to Membrane.
"Here." You held it out for him.
This was already embarrassing for him, so you wanted to let him do it himself. Membrane looked up at you before taking the thermometer and putting it in his mouth. He huffed and closed his eyes.
"Dad rarely gets sick." Gaz started. "I think he's only gotten sick like this once before when we were a lot younger."
"Really?" You looked back over at her. She nodded.
She crossed her arms. "He tries to push through it, but I knew this was gonna be bad. It was about time anyways."
Before you could ask what she meant, you heard Membrane clear his throat. "It's really not that bad." He muttered out. "Honestly, I'm fine."
"And yet, you nearly fell over in the kitchen, and-"
The thermometer beeped and you pulled it out of Membrane's mouth. You looked down at the digital numbers. 102.5 degrees Fahrenheit.
Your eyes widened. "And you have a fever of 102.5! Yea no, there is no way I'm leaving you by yourself." You looked at him with determination. “Not until you’re one-hundred percent better!”
Membrane knew he had no real say in this anymore. He rubbed his face and let out another sigh of defeat. "Okay."
Dib had come in with his dad’s tea while you went through the medication Gaz brought. There was a lot, from name brand cold medicines, acid reflux pills, cough syrups, and more. You grabbed a bottle of ibuprofen, and some honey-flavored cough drops.
“Okay, I think this is all we’ll need, medicine wise that is.” You muttered to yourself. Maybe some homemade soup, or comfort food would be good. What does Membrane even really like to eat?
Before you could think more about it, Gaz had grabbed Dib by the collar and started dragging him out of the room. “C’mon, we’re gonna be late!”
You looked up at the clock. 7:49am. Oh! That’s right, the kids have school today. No wonder why they wanted someone to look after their dad.
“Bye dad, we love you!” Dib yelled.
Membrane called out. “I love you too, stay safe!”
The kids grabbed their backpacks and ran out of the house. As the front door slammed shut, you suddenly realized the situation you were now trapped in. You were going to be taking care of a sick Membrane, in his room. Just the two of you.