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When Eliott wakes up in the middle of the night, he notices three things. The glowing red numbers on their alarm clock, letting him know it’s four-thirteen in the morning. Then, he shivers violently, realizing that Lucas has stolen all of the covers again— really, Eliott is here almost every night of the week, Lucas should get some more blankets— and Eliott is left with a sliver of a sheet to keep him warm. And last, his head is fucking pounding.
It’s not a sharp pain, focused on one part of his head. He feels a dull throb, circling his entire skull, and he winces at the sensation. The clock reads four-fourteen now. Eliott knows he won’t be able to fall back asleep, not when it feels like his head is about to implode on itself.
Maybe he’s being a little bit dramatic. But it’s four in the morning and he and Lucas were up late doing a Harry Potter marathon, and Eliott has work in the morning. He can’t afford to lose any more sleep.
He slowly pushes himself up to a sitting position on the side of the bed, looking over his shoulder at Lucas’ sleeping form. It should be considered a work of art, how Lucas has managed to get every last bit of the covers wrapped around him. He’s curled up into a tiny ball, and Eliott can only see the very top of his head where spiky bits of his hair stick out. Eliott smiles. It sends another ounce of pain through his head.
He sighs, standing up and walking out of Lucas’ bedroom into the bathroom, in search of some pain medicine. Eliott opens up the cabinet, rubbing his eyes to see better in the dark. There’s an extra tube of toothpaste, about five bottles of Mika’s facial serum, some cotton balls, and…no pain medicine.
“Shit,” Eliott mutters under his breath, taking another look through the cabinet to see if he could have missed it, but it’s nowhere to be found. He pouts, squeezing his eyes shut and rubbing his fingers along his temples to try and soothe the ache.
He returns to the bedroom, where Lucas is still fast asleep. Eliott really doesn’t want to wake him up, but Lucas could be keeping the pain meds somewhere else Eliott doesn’t know. And Eliott is getting desperate.
Eliott kneels on the floor on Lucas’ side of the bed, feeling guilt already flooding his insides. Lucas’ face is smushed into his pillow, his mouth halfway open, and Eliott cringes as he brings his hand under the covers to shake Lucas gently.
“Lucas,” he whispers.
Nothing.
“Lucas,” he whispers again, with a bit more force behind it.
Then, Lucas stirs. “Ungh.”
“Lucas, baby?” Eliott pulls the covers back slightly to see Lucas’ face better, and Lucas’ eyes flutter, blinking a few times before they open.
“Eliott? What are you doing?” Lucas is barely awake; his words run together like molasses. Eliott would revel in how cute he sounds if it weren’t for how bad he feels about waking him up.
“I, um…I’ve kind of got a really bad headache and I—“
Lucas’ eyes widen immediately and he throws the covers further down. “Shit, are you okay?”
“I’m fine, it just— it hurts pretty bad and I can’t find any pain meds in your bathroom where they usually are. Do you have them anywhere else?”
Lucas stays under the covers for exactly one more second before he throws them off his body, getting off the bed to crouch down in front of Eliott. He takes Eliott’s face gently in his hands. “Fuck, Eliott, we don’t have any left. I told Mika to get more when we ran out a few weeks ago, but I guess he just forgot.”
Eliott’s heart sinks as he looks down. It’ll be three hours of sleep for the night, then.
“Okay, that’s. That’s okay. I’ll be fine, I’ll just—“
“I’ll go out and get some more.” Lucas stands up abruptly, marching towards his dresser, immediately throwing on a pair of sweatpants.
“Lucas, what—“ Eliott stutters as he stands, too quickly, receiving another rush a twinging pain to his skull. He sits down on the foot of the bed. “You don’t have to. Please, I’ll be fine. Let’s just go back to sleep.”
“Eliott,” Lucas stubbornly retorts, “you and I both know you won’t fall back asleep.” Lucas steps into his sneakers, simultaneously pulling a hoodie over his head. “There’s a twenty-four hour pharmacy down the block. I’ll be right back.”
Lucas steps forward, pecking Eliott on the lips before Eliott can even say one word in protest. And then Eliott is left alone.
He crawls back under the covers, sitting up against the wall, closing his eyes. He takes deep breaths, trying to will his headache away with just the force of his mind alone, but it’s no use. He counts the minutes until Lucas returns, and it isn’t longer than the twelfth minute before Eliott hears the front door squeak open. He smiles gently as he hears Lucas’ gentle footsteps padding through the apartment until he reaches the bedroom.
Lucas reappears, slightly winded, like he’s been running. He holds up a small plastic bag. “Okay, I’ve got three boxes of pain meds. I figured I should stock up.” He kicks his shoes off, coming to sit on the edge of the bed next to Eliott. He empties the contents of the bag onto Eliott’s lap. “I also got melatonin, in case you still can’t fall asleep. And some snacks if you were hungry.”
Eliott stares at him, stunned. He can’t do anything but take Lucas’ face in his hands and kiss him, pressing everything he feels into Lucas’ lips.
“You...you didn’t have to, Lucas. You didn’t have to do that,” Eliott whispers.
Eliott lowers his head, but Lucas won’t allow it, taking his chin and tilting it back up. “Eliott, I love you. That’s what I’m here for.” He gets up again, stripping himself of his hoodie and sweatpants. “Now take the medicine, I’m gonna spoon you like you’ve never been spooned in your life.”
Eliott giggles, reaching for the glass of water on the nightstand and ripping open the box of pills. He swallows one down, and he swears he can already feel his headache going away. He sighs, content.
“Feel better?” Lucas asks, crawling back into bed, clearing the rest of the pills and snacks from Eliott’s lap onto the floor instead.
“I don’t think the medicine actually works that fast, but I feel a lot better now that you’re back.” They both lie down, facing each other, and there’s a soft smile on Lucas’ face. “Thank you,” Eliott whispers into the darkness, watching Lucas’ eyes shine. “And I love you too.”
Lucas grins, reaching his arm out to push on Eliott’s waist. “Roll over, now. I’m tired as fuck, I ran to and from the pharmacy.”
“Lucas!”
“Oh, calm down,” Lucas chides, and Eliott reluctantly turns over, feeling Lucas’ warmth cover his entire back. “Get some sleep, my love.”
When Lucas wakes up two weeks later with an upset stomach, Eliott’s halfway dressed and ready to go to the pharmacy before Lucas reminds him that he doesn’t need to.