Work Text:
There was a loud thud from the apartment upstairs.
Flynn was lounging on the couch in her apartment. Julie, her roommate, was at work, and Flynn had been enjoying having an evening to herself. She’d finally managed to start the Katherine Johnson autobiography she’d been dying to read, but the thump had broken her concentration.
She looked up at the ceiling, wondering what she’d heard, then smirked. She was literally waiting for the other shoe to drop. She waited a moment longer, but whoever had dropped the first one had probably been more careful with the second. It was quiet.
She turned back to her book and had read two more sentences when there was another thud from upstairs. Another. quieter, thud followed it, like someone was picking up the same shoe and dropping it over and over again.
Flynn gritted her teeth. Julie had said new neighbours were moving in upstairs. She’d held the elevator for one of them. Apparently, his name had been Luke and he was pretty cute.
But dumping shoes on the floor multiple times was not cute. Flynn was already annoyed with Luke et al. and she hadn’t even met them.
Silence descended again, but now Flynn was too tense to read. All her senses were attuned to whichever idiot upstairs was going to do more shoe dropping.
There was a loud crash and Flynn jumped. “That’s it!” she growled. She got up from the couch, grabbed her keys, toed on her flip flops and was out the door in the next second. She stalked to the stairwell and went up one flight, then stalked down the hall to the offending apartment. She banged on the door with her fist.
There was no answer.
Her eyes narrowed. They’d interrupted her precious reading time, and then were pretending they weren’t there? She smacked the door with the flat of her hand. “I know you’re in there!”
She heard the unmistakable click as the door was unlocked, and then it opened. A man was standing on the other side, leaning heavily on the door frame. He had straight brown hair brushed back from his forehead and dark shadows under his green eyes. His chest was bare and his white skin was very pale. Except for the fact he seemed really hungover, Flynn would’ve thought he was one of the best-looking guys she’d ever seen. No wonder Julie had been smitten. “Are you Luke?”
“I’m Reggie,” the guy said, then coughed into his elbow. It was a hacking, wet sound and Flynn took a step back. Hot guy wasn't hungover; he was sick. “I guess you’re here about the noise?”
“Yeah,” Flynn said, pulling her thoughts away from both how sick and hot the guy was back to her righteous anger. “I was trying to read.”
“Sorry.” He gave her a small smile. “I didn’t mean to bother you.” He coughed again and listed further against the door, like his legs weren’t able to hold his weight.
Flynn’s anger disappeared. Something was definitely wrong. “Are you okay?”
“Just a little cold,” Reggie gasped, then coughed again. “It’ll pass.”
“Maybe you should be sitting down?”
“Probably,” Reggie agreed. He let Flynn loop one of his arms around her shoulder.
“Whoa, you’re hot,” Flynn said as she led him back into the apartment. It was the same layout as hers and Julie’s, only in Reggie’s apartment, there were boxes piled everywhere. One of the boxes was lying on its side, broken dishes spilling out onto the wooden floor. That definitely would explain the loud crash.
He smirked, then coughed. “Thanks.” His voice strangled on yet another cough. The boy couldn’t go more than a few seconds without coughing.
She scowled at him as she dumped him on his couch. “I meant your temperature. I think you have a fever.”
He collapsed gratefully, gasping and coughing. Apparently, walking made him short of breath. “Give me a sec and I’ll go put a shirt on,” he wheezed. He didn’t make any move to get up.
“I don’t give a shit about that.” Flynn put her hands on her hips. “What’s wrong with you?”
“Just a cold. It’s going away though.” He coughed wetly, his back heaving.
Flynn shuddered at the sound. “That does not sound like ‘just a cold’. How long have you been sick?”
“About two weeks?” Reggie said sheepishly. He coughed again and lay back on the couch. “Fuck, that hurts.”
“I’ll bet,” Flynn murmured. The boy looked like shit. “Are you cold?”
“Yeah,” he panted, like it was a terrible thing to admit. “I kind of fell trying to get myself a hoodie?”
“Those were the thudding noises I heard?” Flynn asked, aghast. “You falling?”
“Just a couple of times,” he huffed around the words. “But I’m okay. It was only when I tried to use the boxes to pull myself up off the floor—”
“You couldn’t get up off the floor?” She looked around the apartment. “Where the hell is Luke?”
“Working. Alex is out with Wil—“ Reggie choked and then coughed again, back heaving.
He literally looked like he was dying right in front of her. She reached to her back pocket and winced. “Where’s your phone?”
Reggie’s green eyes met hers. “What do you need my phone for?” Each word required its own breath.
“We need to call your friends so they can come back and take care of you. My phone’s downstairs.”
“You live downstairs?” Reggie grinned, clearly excited despite his illness. “Are you Julie’s roommate?”
Flynn nodded. “Can we talk about it after we get you help?”
Reggie ignored her. “She’s all Luke’s been talking about. I think Luke should ask her—“ His chest spasmed with his coughing.
This was bad. Flynn’s pulse leapt into her throat. “Phone, now!”
“On my nightstand,” he forced out.
Flynn started down the hallway. “Which room is yours?”
“Star Wars poster,” he panted, then coughed again.
There was indeed a framed poster for A New Hope hung tastefully on the wall. She grabbed the phone off the nightstand and a hoodie she found on the floor and ran back to the living room. It took her a moment to get it over his head and on his arms. His skin was warm all over.
She focused on his phone. “What’s your code?”
“Star Wars,” he whimpered. His face was ashen.
Boy was a little obsessed, but Flynn could deal. She keyed it in and pulled up his contacts, but there wasn’t any "Luke". “What’s Luke’s name in your contacts?”
Reggie opened his mouth to answer, but coughed instead. It was long and so intense Flynn wasn’t sure he actually drew a breath in between bouts. He finally sucked in a wheezing breath before turning and puking on the floor.
“Fuck this,” Flynn muttered. She dialed 911.
When Reggie woke up in the hospital, Flynn was sitting beside his bed.
She looked worn and tired and a bit rumpled, like she’d been sitting there for a while. “Oh, hey, neighbour.” She smiled and gave him a small wave.
“Hi, Flynn,” he said, surprised and happy she hadn't left. He’d fallen asleep after a nurse had given him an IV of antibiotics, still flowing into the back of his hand. “I didn’t think you’d still be here.” His voice was rough. He coughed again and grimaced.
She shrugged. “And miss out on all of this real-life hospital drama? Not a chance.”
Reggie laughed, which made him cough, long and hacking. He moaned. His back was aching.
Flynn stood up. “Are you in pain? Because if you’re in pain I can get the nurse—”
“It’s okay. I’m just sore.” He smiled at her.
She smiled back. “Can I get you anything?” she asked after they’d held each other’s gaze a little too long. “Some water? A magazine? I think they have magazines here…”
“Water would be great,” he said. The air was still wheezing through his lungs, but the constant pain in his chest had lessened. He wondered if the antibiotics were working already.
“Water, coming up.” Flynn pressed a button to raise the head of his bed, then took a large plastic tumbler from his bedside table. She held the straw to his lips.
He peered at her through his lashes as he drank, admiring her. He loved the way her hair showed her natural curls; the way her eyebrows curved over her gorgeous eyes; the sharp edge of her cheekbones. His heart fluttered. She was one of the most beautiful women he’d ever seen. “Thank you,” he murmured. “For the water… and for being here.”
“I couldn’t figure out who Luke or Alex were in your contacts.” She held up his phone for him to see, then gave a small shrug. “And I didn’t want you to wake up alone.”
He blinked. The fluttering in his chest turned into an entire flock of birds. “That’s… the nicest thing anyone’s ever done for me.”
“I doubt that.” Her cheeks darkened with her blush, and his face heated, too. He was so affected by this girl and he barely knew her. She put the water on the table and sat back down. Their eyes met again.
He cleared his throat and looked away before she could see too much in his eyes. “So, pneumonia?” He remembered getting a chest X-ray, and then the doctor's urgency when she'd told him the diagnosis. They’d given him antibiotics really fast.
“Pneumonia,” Flynn confirmed. “The doctor even showed me the white patches on your X-ray. She assumed I was your girlfriend and told me everything, and I didn’t correct her because… Well, I didn’t. I hope that’s okay?”
I’d love you to be my girlfriend, Reggie’s mind supplied helpfully. “No, it’s fine. Totally fine,” he stammered. He took a breath to calm himself down, which made him cough, then wince.
“The doctor said your muscles were going to be sore for a while,” Flynn said sympathetically. “She was also not impressed with how long you’d waited to get medical treatment.”
Reggie blushed again. “I didn’t think it was that bad. At least not at first.”
“I get that. But around the ten-day mark? When you’re not feeling better? Usually a good time to see a doctor.” Her smile took any bite out of her words.
He smiled back. “I will take that under advisement.”
“You’d better. I’m not a fan of scraping you off the floor.”
“Not a big fan of being on the floor.” He grinned. “Being upright is so much better. Ten out of ten. Would recommend.”
She grinned back. “Some things are better lying down,” she said casually, but the blush was back in her cheeks. She gestured at his phone. “What do you call Luke in this thing?”
“Rockstar,” Reggie said, “and Alex is Drummer Boy, and Willie is Later Skater.”
Flynn chuckled. “I bet there’s a story behind all of those.”
“Not really?” He shrugged, then coughed, then grimaced. “Me, Luke and Alex are in a band, and Willie skateboards.”
“Not the cool story I was expecting,” Flynn agreed. “Do you have a group chat?”
“Disturbance in the Force,” Reggie said.
Flynn laughed and shook her head. “Boy, you are obsessed. She bent over his phone. “Found it. Luke say’s he’s working late, and apparently Alex is coming back late from his date with Willie?” She raised her eyebrows. “Do we approve of Willie?”
Her question made him laugh. It hurt and he grunted from the pain. “Yes, we approve.”
She grinned. “Lucky for Willie. I’ve told them you’re in hospital and to be careful of the broken dishes on the floor. Your phone should be blowing up any second.” She typed something else into his phone. “I’ve added myself to your contacts—” she pressed a few keys. “—and now I have your number. I’m Flynn Taylor.”
She wants my number! Reggie couldn’t help beaming at her. “Nice to meet you, Flynn Taylor. I’m Reggie Peters.” He put out his hand.
She took it, and he tried very hard to ignore the way her touch lit a string of fireworks all along his arm. “Nice to meet you, Reggie Peters. Although pneumonia is kind of a dramatic ice breaker, don’t you think?”
Reggie chuckled, then coughed, which made his back hurt again. He groaned. “Don’t make me laugh.”
“Don’t think I’m funny.” She winked at him, and he laughed again, even though it still hurt.
“You’re seriously going to kill me,” he groused, but he couldn’t stop smiling.
She smiled back at him and their gazes locked. This time she was the first one to look away. “I probably should let you sleep,” she said with a sigh. “And it’s after midnight, which is well past my bedtime.” She licked her lips, as if she were suddenly nervous. “Is it okay if I come see you tomorrow?”
The flock of birds in Reggie’s chest soared. “I’d really like that.”
Flynn’s stunning mouth turned up in a slow smile. “Good. I’ll come before my shift.” And then, to Reggie’s shock and delight, she leaned over and kissed him on the forehead. “Stay out of trouble,” she said, and sashayed out of the room.
Reggie lay back against the pillows, dopy smile on his face. He might’ve just had an ambulance ride to the emergency room, but Flynn was coming back to see him tomorrow. His life was perfect.
He closed his eyes.
His phone immediately vibrated where Flynn had left it on the edge of his bed. He cracked one eye open and looked at the screen. It was a message from Rockstar.
WHAT THE FUCK?
END