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Ethan tends to get himself into some very dangerous situations. Half because all those situations involve supernatural creatures, half because Ethan is a total idiot. A more recent example, volunteering to get mauled by the vamp-mobile. But just because Ethan’s an idiot doesn’t mean Benny’s not above admitting to his own idiocy, like right now.
Joining the hockey team seemed like a smart idea, and it would’ve been if there wasn’t a crazy coach trying to harvest Ethan’s brain for hockenstien, but now he knows it definitely wasn’t one of his greatest plans.
After defeating Boltz in his greatest show of athleticism ever, all he had to do was follow the scream of terror he knew belonged to his best friend. No matter how many times he’d been in situations like this, Benny is positive he’d never get rid of the anxiety that courses through him when he knows one of his friends is in danger. Except when it comes to Rory. Benny’s pretty sure the only person in their group who really cares about Rory is Ethan.
“Ethan! Where are you!?” Benny raced down the hall, running even faster now that the screaming has stopped.
“We’re in here!” Sarah’s voice did nothing to quench the fear in his stomach. Where is Ethan?!
Seeing Ethan getting helped out of a very scary looking ice bath by Sarah did ease his worries about a dead Ethan, but now he’s more worried about a hypothermic Ethan.
“Hey B-Benny,” Ethan stuttered with a nervous smile. “I think I’m gonna quah-quah-quit hockey.”
And then he passed out.
Benny barely stopped Sarah from dropping Ethan’s dead weight on the concrete floor. He’d just managed to pull Ethan up by his armpits and hold him in a one sided hug when Rory and Erica burst through the door. Rory visibly breathed a sigh of relief at the sight of Ethan with his brain intact, and while she tried to hide it, it’s obvious Erica's relieved too.
“Is nerd #1 okay now? We still have to clear Sarah’s name and I have to get that sewer taste out of my mouth.”
“Yeah, I've got it from here. I’ll take him and see if grandma has any hypothermia remedies in all those potions of hers.” Sarah looked like she wanted to protest, but with a look from Benny and a tug from Erica, she relented.
“Alright, make sure he’s warm, and give him a lot of canoodling.” Sarah winked and Erica snorted before the three zoomed out of sight.
“Welp, just you and me now, Buddy.” Benny looked down at Ethan, his body limp and head sagged forward onto Benny’s own shoulder, seemingly snoozing peacefully. “Fuck.”
…
After a long car ride with the heat blasting and Benny’s grandma scolding him for being stupid, he was finally sitting next to an awake Ethan on the couch.
“This sucks B!” Ethan threw his head back in frustration, causing Benny to look up from his “how to treat hypothermia” research on his phone.
“I know dude, but this website says you should be fully recovered in about 24 hours. It also says you’re lucky to be alive, so stop complaining and drink your hot chocolate.” Benny gently handed Ethan his still steaming mug, but the sick boy thrusted it away, opting to bury his head in the five blankets forced upon him by Benny and his grandmother instead.
“I don’t want hot chocolate, I just want to sleep!”
“I know E, but google said you’re not allowed to sleep with hypothermia, so we’re not sleeping until your lips aren’t blue,” Benny explained empathetically. The website he read also told him to handle people with hypothermia gently, and he’s taking that to mean physically and emotionally.
Ethan uncovered his face, glared at Benny, and proceeded to take small sips of his hot chocolate, his body relaxing more into his blanket armor.
…
As the night proceeded, the two best friends did everything they could to stay awake. They watched Star Wars while taking turns poking each other when they noticed the other nodding off, played Mario Kart, but had to stop when grandma yelled at them for being too loud, did homework, gossiped about people at school, and ended the night by sitting under the lukewarm water of the shower together, laughing mostly from the loopiness caused by sleep deprivation.
After grandma scolded them yet again for wasting her water, the three of them sat down for coffee. Grandma weir mostly watched in amusement as the two boys downed their warm, caffeine filled beverages, both practically falling out of their chairs from exhaustion.
Sarah and Rory came by later in the day to help the boys stay awake. It quickly became Rory ignoring the fire out of a tired Benny, and a desperate Ethan begging Sarah to let him fall asleep.
After a few hours of this, a very annoyed, and partially jealous, Benny kicked both vampires out of the house. Then it was back to video games and coffees on the couch.
…
Ethan was looking better as it neared the 24 hour mark. He said he didn’t feel nearly as cold as he should under his blanket fort, and Benny was pretty sure the shaking had less to do with his temperature and more to do with the excessive amounts of coffee they’d drained.
“Benny?” Benny turned towards his adorably sleepy friend, face flushed from his returning body heat and hair messy from his blankets.
“Yeah E?”
“Can we sleep now?” Benny checked his phone.
“Finally,” he exclaimed as the clock told him that a full 24 hours had passed. “Yes E, we can sleep now.”
“Perfect,” Ethan yawned as he flopped down onto Benny’s lap, stretching out like a cat and almost immediately falling asleep.
Benny huffed and shuffled them around. Ethan squirmed in protest as Benny situated them so Ethan was laying on top of his chest, the pile of blankets surrounding them. Ethan sighed as Benny carded a hand through his sweaty, messy hair, softly scratching his head and playing with his curls.
“Thanks B,” Ethan said softly as he buried his head into Benny’s collarbones and placed a barely there kiss on his skin.
“Anytime, E.” Benny reciprocated by placing a soft kiss on the top of his best friend's head, both too out of it to care much about the show of affection.
…
When she got home, Evelyn Weir found her grandson and his best friend cuddling on her couch. This wasn’t the first time she’d found her two boys doing something she’d consider ‘couple-y’, and she’s sure it wouldn’t be the last.
Choosing not to disturb them, she called Ethan’s parents to tell them that he'd be spending another night, turned the lights off, and retired to her own room for the night.
When the boys eventually woke up, they’d have to shower off their stale couch smell, maybe confront their respective feelings for each other, and definitely take care of Ethan’s impending cold, but right now, they were perfectly content dozing in each other’s arms.