Chapter Text
"Wait, is the equinox always sweater day?" Izzy leans against in the doorway of Madeline's room, watching her pull the long plastic bins out from under the bed.
Madeline grins. "Yup! A little…" she waggles her fingers to indicate magic. "To mark the occasion."
"I love all your sweaters." Izzy steps into the room. "They're always so soft."
"You should borrow them!" Madeline's already digging through the bin, pulling out a few to hold up in Izzy's direction to check the color. "They'd look so good on you."
She smiles up at Izzy, warm and soft and full of sunshine, and Izzy's heartbeat is suddenly loud in her chest and her ears and her throat.
"Thanks," she says, trying like hell to sound like she's not in love with her friend who is also her roommate. Talk about a bad idea.
(Madeline just keeps smiling, so she's pretty sure she pulls it off.)
"Alright, let's see the first sweater of fall!" Lia says when they come back out into the kitchen, and Ryann gestures for Madeline to twirl like she's in a fashion show.
"Ooh, very nice." Lia points at Izzy with the wooden spoon she's using to stir cookie batter. "And look at you! Bonus sweater!"
Madeline leans in to Izzy and says, "See? Told you it would look good!"
Izzy blushes madly and tries to ignore Lia's knowing look. "Did everyone else know this was an annual tradition?"
"I mean, I got told that in week three of freshman year," Ryann says.
"Unfair advantage!" Izzy protests. Ryann and Madeline had been assigned as freshman roommates and had been lucky enough to hit it off. Izzy hasn't seen her freshman roommate since move-out day at the end of their first year. It's for the best. They… really were not compatible. She'd met Lia in the back row of biology class and Lia had met Ryann through intramural lacrosse, and two years later here they all were in an off-campus apartment that was cheap but well-decorated. The latter thanks to Ryann. And Madeline.
"Yeah, it always has been." Madeline smiles at her again. "Just one of those things."
Just one of those things. Like the way Madeline talks very seriously about astrology but is completely unbothered when other people don't believe. The way she hangs crystals from the window frame and glows with delight when she catches a rainbow in her palm.
The way her hair looks like sunshine in the golden hour as they walk back to their apartment together every afternoon.
Yeah.
Fuck.
. . .
"You haven't borrowed any sweaters yet!" Three weeks into the fall. "I meant it. Come here and pick one out." Madeline's sweater today is soft yellow and cable-knit. It might be Izzy's favorite.
They're all kind of Izzy's favorites.
"Okay." She doesn't mean it to sound so flat, but she woke up with a dry throat that's turning into a sore throat and a headache that hasn't gone away.
Madeline frowns. "You alright?"
A resigned sigh. "I think I'm getting a cold." She rubs at her throat. "Maybe I should wait. Only cough on my own stuff."
Madeline waves her off. "Sweaters are the best when you don't feel well. And mine will be a little big on you, so. Extra comfy. Room for another layer, if you want." Madeline's shorter than Izzy by a couple of inches, but a few sizes larger, all round features and soft curves.
Izzy gestures at the ratty hoodie and old pj pants she's still wearing from bed. "These are pretty comfy."
"Looking better makes you feel better."
"Is this a Southern thing or a self-help thing?" Dubious of both.
"It's a true thing. Here." Madeline holds up a thick sweater in forest green. "This will keep you warm."
Izzy has some gray pants that are one step up from leggings, so. Those, and thick sock to wear under her warm boots, and a long-sleeved black shirt under the oversize sweater. When she emerges from her room, Madeline hums in approval and then hands her a beanie and gloves as well. Izzy smiles her thanks and laces up her boots, then grabs her bag to head to campus.
"Hang on, I'll walk with you."
"Wait, isn't your first class not until later, though?"
She shrugs. "Company's nice."
Yes, it is.
Madeline looks her over, and frowns at her bag, which looks the same as every other day. "Hey, did you pack anything for your cold?"
"…No?"
"Tissues? Cough drops? More medicine?" She cocks her head at Izzy. "You did take some medicine, right?"
"Um." It had been hard enough to get ready on autopilot. She hadn't even considered adding extra steps. "I guess not. To, uh. All of it."
"Alright, sit down, hang tight." Izzy sits down in the kitchen chair and watches Madeline move back and forth through the apartment until there's a small pile of sick-day supplies on the kitchen table. "Okay, what medicine do you want?" There are four different choices on the table, leftovers from the last time each of them had been sick.
"Oh. Um. Just painkillers, I guess." Her nose hasn't started running yet, although it's got that ominous feeling like it's going to start the moment they step out into the slightly chilly air.
"Hmm, okay. Bring the cold medicine with you, then. You'll want it later, and everything is so expensive at the campus store." She pauses. "Sorry, I'm not trying to be bossy." Her voice softens. "Just want to make sure you're okay."
Izzy huffs a quiet laugh over the warmth in her chest at the words. "I'm okay." She takes the painkillers and puts the tissues, cough drops, and meds in her bag, then checks her watch. "If we're going, we'd better go."
. . .
She makes it through her first class okay. Her second class is a steady stream of cough drops and tissues. By the time she gets to the on-campus cafe where she's agreed to meet Madeline, everything feels raw, and the last damp, crumpled tissue is holding out for the moment when she can grab a stack of napkins from the cafe.
"Oh," Madeline breathes when she sees her.
"Yeah. I know. I'm a… h'hhh…" With her tissues gone, the only option is her sweater sleeve. "hh'-TSCHmph!" She swipes at her running nose with the cuff. "I'm a mess. And I'm making a mess of your sweater, I'm so sorry."
"Bless you. And the sweater will wash."
Izzy nods, trying not to sniffle and failing.
"Here, let me get some—" She's up before Izzy can say anything, but it's just as well because Izzy's nose is betraying her again.
het-CHMM-chiu! heh…. heh. ih. hh…. HET'CHOO! She comes up panting a little, eyes watering. The painkillers from this morning have definitely worn off.
"God bless you. Here." Madeline sets down a stack of napkins, then leans across the table to feel Izzy's forehead and cheeks. Izzy's taken by surprise enough that she doesn't find herself blushing until Madeline's already sat back. "You're a little bit warm. Not really a fever, I don't think. We'll keep an eye on it."
Izzy looks up in exhausted, hopeful surprise, and Madeline rubs her arm. "Did you order?" Izzy shakes her head. "Okay. Soup and tea, coming right up."