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Chase squinted at the numbers on the digital thermometer. 101.2, definitely still a fever .
He flopped back down in bed with a groan. He and Hunter were supposed to go scope out an allegedly-haunted theater tonight, but there was no way he could ghost hunt like this , with coughs and chills plaguing him.
He pulled out his phone and shot off a quick text to Hunter: hey dude, ‘fraid i gotta cancel tonight. got a cold or smthn :/
Hunter: damn, that sucks
Chase: yeah :/
Chase: try again next week?
Hunter: 👍
With that done, Chase turned his phone off and set it back on the nightstand. He would’ve preferred to spend a little more time bugging Hunter, but the cold medicine he’d taken earlier was already starting to kick in, and his eyelids were growing heavy. He rolled over and pulled the blankets up over his shoulder, then closed his eyes. Maybe a nap will help.
…
…
…* KNOCK KNOCK*
Several hours later, Chase blearily opened his eyes. He’d forgotten how disoriented he usually felt after naps, like time was just soup. He shook his head to try and clear away the feeling and wow , was that a bad idea; the headache he’d slowly been nursing was back in full force now.
“Ah, damnit…” He reached over and grabbed the bottle of ibuprofen sitting next to his phone, then frowned when he registered how light it felt. Sure enough, when he opened it, there wasn't a pill inside. He’d have to get up and search for more, because that just seemed to be the sort of day he was having.
Not wanting to aggravate his head any further, Chase slowly stood up and took a few small steps towards his kitchen. Despite his efforts to be careful, each movement made the pounding in his brain a little worse. His neighbors knocking on the walls certainly wasn’t helping, either.
He frowned again. Wait, no, that wasn’t his neighbors. That was his front door.
He walked over and looked through the peephole. Standing there was Hunter , of all people, holding… a large thermos?
Chase opened the door and gave him a tired smile. “Hey man, you’re a sight for sore eyes.”
Hunter gave him a quick up-and-down look, taking in his disheveled state. “Shit, were you asleep?”
“Nah, don’t worry about it.” Not that that phrase had ever stopped Hunter from worrying about anything, but Chase could at least try. “Whatcha got there?” he asked, gesturing to the thermos.
“Oh, uh… just some soup. Thought it might help, since you’re sick and all,” Hunter replied, face curiously red. He held the thermos out for Chase to take.
Holy cow, Hunter had gotten him soup? Good-quality soup too, judging from the aroma that wafted out after Chase unscrewed the lid. He gave Hunter another, slightly more energetic smile. “Thanks dude, this is awesome. Wanna come in and split it?”
Hunter made a face. “Absolutely not, I’m not catching whatever virus you’ve got.”
Ah. Right, that was totally fair. “Oh, yeah, that would be bad. Can’t have our head chef getting sick, now can we?” he asked with a wink.
Hunter spluttered indignantly, then huffed and looked away. “I’m not- it’s just something I threw together, it’s not that special…”
God, he’s cute when he gets all flustered , Chase thought as he watched Hunter mutter-
…Wait.
Oh god, he’s cute . Fuck, how was he just now realizing this? That he had a crush on his best friend? And at the worst possible time, too - hard to be flirty and charming when you were desperately trying not to cough up a lung. Well, that’s okay. Hunter’s adorable enough for both of us.
Speaking of Hunter, he’d stopped his muttering and was now giving Chase an odd look. “You alright? Kinda spaced out for a second there.”
“Huh? Oh yeah, I’m fine,” Chase replied, “just a little groggy from taking some cold medicine, you know?”
Hunter frowned, but thankfully didn’t push any further. “If you say so. Just… take care of yourself, okay?” Without waiting for an answer, he turned and took off back down the hall.
As soon as Hunter was out of sight, Chase closed the door and leaned back against it, slowly sliding down until he was sitting on the floor. “ HolyfuckingshitIhaveacrushonHunter .” Hoo boy, leave it to him to go and develop feelings for quite possibly the single most emotionally-repressed person on the planet. Hunter was already weird about casual hugs, he’d probably disintegrate on the spot if Chase tried flirting with him.
…Not that that was going to stop Chase from trying.