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Waking up sick was not what Aaron planned today. Especially not when he had an exam in the morning and a match this evening.
Kevin was already up, as he probably went for a run before the gym practice, but Aaron did not wake up when his boyfriend left the bed, so either he was sicker than he thought, or Kevin finally learned how to get out of bed quietly. Kevin had a lot of qualities but waking up without making it everyone’s business was not one of them. He usually groaned for at least five long minutes after his alarm rang, and never left without pressing a few loud kisses on Aaron’s face.
He sighed and decided to shower, hoping it would wake him up a bit more. Today was going to be very hard if he was about to spend it with this kind of headache. But the shower actually didn’t do anything except make him realize that he was also nauseous.
Just great.
He didn’t even take breakfast before heading to his classes, knowing too well that it would just make him feel sicker.
He knew that he had a match after his classes, and even though it wasn’t a championship match, he still had to do his best. Because even if he was Kevin’s boyfriend, his team would still be mad at him if he doesn’t play well enough. Also, exy was making Kevin happy, and Aaron wanted to see Kevin happy.
It took him almost his whole energy to stay awake and focused during his exam, and when he was finally done, he immediately headed to the cafeteria. He realized in front of the food that he wouldn’t be able to eat anything for lunch either without throwing up. Even the smell of the coffee was giving him nausea. It was stupid not to eat, but right now his brain was not thinking about logic or health but more about surviving when his body was feeling so hot and so cold and the same time.
Kevin had sent him a few messages asking how the exam was, and Aaron answered him with a short message before heading to the Court.
It almost felt like his skull was compressing his brain. Obviously, Aaron was premed; he knew it was not possible at the moment, but he didn’t care.
When he arrived at the Court, he ignored everyone and just focused on putting on his gear and trying to feel a bit more awake for the match. But even dressing up was a struggle when his hands were shaking like crazy. He was breathing hard and didn’t hear someone getting close to him until a familiar hand ran through his hair: “Are you okay, baby?”
“I’m fine,” almost snapped Aaron before sobering up: Kevin didn’t do anything wrong, and Aaron was the first one complaining about Josten’s overuse of the word “fine”.
“Sorry. Could you help me with my gear? I’m struggling a bit.”
Kevin was looking at him with worried eyes but didn’t say anything. He gently helped the smallest boy to dress before pressing a chaste kiss on his lips.
“You look tired, sweetheart,” he mumbled. “You know you don’t have to play if you don’t feel good. Coach can find you a replacement.”
Coming from Kevin, this sentence was an important proof of love, but Aaron shook his head: “It’s okay, I can play.”
“Fine. But don’t push yourself. If you start not feeling good, just say it.”
Aaron didn’t protest and let his boyfriend guide him to the bench where the Coach was talking to Andrew and Renee about the enemy strikers. Renee was nodding enthusiastically while Andrew had his usual bored expression.
The whole team seemed ready to give their best, and Aaron started feeling terribly guilty about being sick and not being able to give his best.
He took a deep breath, not even drinking water as he was scared he would throw it up, before taking his place in the Court.
The first half wasn’t that bad. Well, it was bad, but not that bad. Aaron spend all the moments when the strikers weren’t on him to breathe through the pain and nausea. His head was killing him.
Sitting on the bench during the break was a mistake. His head was swimming, and he didn’t even register what Kevin was telling him. He could feel his boyfriend’s hand running down his spine as he was trying to convince him to see Abby.
“M okay, Kevin,” he finally mumbled. “I was fine the first half, I can finish the match.”
He knew Kevin cared about the match, he knew he wanted to win the match, and Aaron was stupidly in love with this adrenaline junkie and was ready to do pretty much everything to make him happy.
He noticed Kevin and Andrew whispering and looking toward him, but he decided to ignore them. He could do it, he was fine.
He was exhausted and very thirsty, but even thinking about drinking water was making his stomach turn.
He took place at his usual spot and shook his head to clear his vision from the black dots. Which was a mistake since it only amplified his headache.
Great.
He realized after ten minutes in the second half that it was a bad idea. His legs were visibly shaking at this point, and his vision was so blurry he couldn’t even understand what was happening in the court.
He vaguely noticed that he dropped his racket, but his whole body was focused on not throwing up, and staying upright.
He felt a hand on his back and recognized immediately his brother’s gloves since the goalies’ gloves were larger than their own.
But Andrew was supposed to be in the goal, what was he doing here? Did Aaron accidentally step into the goal at some point? He somehow understood that Andrew was speaking to him, but his breathing was so loud in his ears that he couldn’t hear anything else.
Andrew’s hands suddenly gripped his waist and it took Aaron a second to understand that his legs had buckled beneath him. He tried to warn his brother as his vision went black, but didn’t have the time before promptly passing out.
The first time he opened his eyes, Andrew was above him, trying to take off his helmet.
Andrew looked angry, and Aaron felt immediately guilty. Andrew and himself were finally getting closer, and he felt like he had ruined everything once again. He had also ruined the match. Aaron wanted to reach for his helmet to help him, but he couldn’t feel his body and let his eyes close again.
The second time, he was woken up by the feeling of being weightless. It took him a moment to open his eyes, but when he did, he realized that he was being carried away from the court. He didn’t even need to turn his head to know that Kevin was holding him. He could recognize his arms anywhere. He felt even more guilty. Kevin cared about the match, Kevin wanted the Foxes to win, and Aaron had ruined it. He tried to move and pretend he was fine as if it would erase the past minutes, but his head swam violently and he blacked out once again.
When he regained consciousness for good, he was in the infirmary, laying in the bed Abby had placed in case a player needed to rest. His head was hurting a bit less, and he could feel a hand slowly massaging his scalp, easing the migraine. Kevin was sitting next to him, holding his hand in his own.
“Wh—
His first word was cut by a rough cough, and Kevin immediately brought him a bottle of water, before raising Aaron’s head and helping him to drink.
Thankfully, the water didn’t make him more nauseous, and instead calmed him a bit of his headache.
“Dumbass,” said Andrew, and Aaron noticed that his twin was the one massaging his scalp.
He didn’t look angry but worried. Well, Andrew’s face was always neutral, but Aaron had somehow learned how to guess his expression.
“What happened?” Finally murmured Aaron. His voice was rough and his throat hurt, but it was better than before.
“You passed out during the match,” said Kevin, who went back to holding his hand. “We took you to the infirmary and Abby took your temperature. You played with a fever of 104°.”
Oh, Kevin looked upset.
“Dumbass,” repeated Andrew above him.
“I’m sorry, I… I didn’t know it was that bad. I thought it could handle the match. I’m so sorry I ruined it. I’m sorry, Kev,” he babbled.
“It’s okay, love. The match is still going on, and we’re already two points ahead of them.”
Kevin was visibly trying to reassure him, but all Aaron could think was that the best striker and the best goalkeeper of the team were here with him instead of playing.
“The match… Kevin, the match! You need to go back to the match.”
“You’re more important than the match,” answered Kevin easily, and Aaron’s heart might have skipped a beat at that.
Andrew rolled his eyes but did not move from his seat, nor did he stop massaging his brother’s scalp.
The massaging did help a lot, and Aaron dozed off the rest of the match, knowing that his brother and his boyfriend would protect him.
He must have fallen asleep since Dan’s happy scream as the team returned to the changing rooms woke him up. A few minutes later, Nicky and Neil entered the infirmary: Neil to check on Andrew, and Nicky to check on him.
“Hey, how are you doing kiddo?” whispered Nicky, unusually very calm as he approached the bed.
“Better,” answered Aaron honestly, and his cousin nodded emphatically.
“Let’s get you back to the dorm so you can sleep it off,” he said, and Aaron couldn’t agree more.
He complained loudly as Kevin carried him all the way to the Fox Tower, but he felt immensely grateful to be back in their bed. Andrew and Neil had disappeared, probably smoking on the roof, but Kevin took off his shoes and coat and curled up against Aaron, covering them both with the blanket.
“I’m sorry for the match,” mumbled Aaron once again, but Kevin shushed him easily, pressing a soft kiss on his lips.
Aaron fell asleep feeling loved and warm, and even if his whole body hurt and his head was killing him, he was almost happy.
The fever, unfortunately, didn’t break during the night, and Aaron woke up completely delirious and drenched in sweat. A fresh hand was pressed on his burning forehead and he almost moaned in relief. He could hear a few people talking around him but couldn’t understand whatever they were saying, he just wanted them to make the pain go away. The hand left his forehead but was replaced by a wet cloth, and Aaron sighed. He felt someone —probably Kevin— pressing a kiss on his cheek before the lights were turned off and the door closed again. He wanted to tell them to come back, and that he couldn’t sleep with this pain, but he only let out a moan before someone next shushed him. In his delirious state, he didn’t even notice that his brother was still in the room, sitting in the beanbag next to his bed.
“Drew?” he mumbled, hoping that his brother would understand what he was trying to say.
“Go back to sleep, Aaron,” said Andrew in return. He didn’t look angry, or even annoyed by the fact that he had to take care of his brother, only playing on his phone with the lowest luminosity and with the sound turned off so it wouldn’t disturb his twin.
Aaron wanted to say that he wasn’t even tired, but he did actually fall asleep a few minutes later.
His fever made his dreams confused and scary. He couldn’t understand if he was really awake or not, and he was feeling like his body was burning up. He tried to pull away the covers but someone pulled them back up to his chin.
Aaron let out a pathetic whine, he was delirious and couldn’t even tell if this was a dream or not, nor if Andrew was still there.
“P-Please… Please I’m burning…”
The covers didn’t move, but he felt the person changing the wet cloth on his forehead, replacing it with a cooler one. Aaron continued to whine, probably. He couldn’t really remember what happened during that day, but he knew what he was saying was completely incoherent at some point, and that the person with him was shushing him gently. He was fed some soup and they made him swallow a few pills before letting him fall back into a restless sleep.
When Aaron woke up, it was probably the next day. Kevin was spooning him and a few pills and a glass of water sitting on his nightstand. He could vaguely recall a very blurry Andrew telling him to take them if he was feeling sick again. Thankfully, it seems like his fever broke during the night, and he could finally think clearly. Kevin must have heard him wake up because Aaron felt a few kisses being pressed on the back of his neck.
He turned around so he could face his boyfriend: “Hey.”
“Hey,” said Kevin in return. “You look better.”
Aaron nodded and let his boyfriend kiss him again.
“I feel better,” he agreed. “I think the fever broke during the night.”
Kevin took a thermometer that Abby had probably left for them to take his temperature.
“It did. You're still a bit warm, but it’s almost gone.”
Aaron let out a content sigh and buried his face in his boyfriend’s neck, letting Kevin run his fingers through his hair.
“Gave us quite a scare yesterday,” Kevin murmured. “You were burning up and completely delirious. Andrew stayed with you the whole day. I don’t think I saw him so concerned about someone’s health before.”
Aaron made a surprised noise.
“I don’t remember much about yesterday.”
“I think you had some nasty nightmares. At some point, Andrew just held your hand for a few hours and refused to let anyone come near you. I thought he was about to murder Abby when she arrived with meds.”
Aaron was strangely touched by his brother’s actions. He usually reserved this kind of aggressively protective behavior to Neil, and hearing that he did the same for Aaron was proving that Andrew cared.
Generally, Kevin would get up early to practice or go to the gym, but he was still there, in their bed with Aaron. They stayed like that for a few dozen minutes, Aaron happy to let his boyfriend pet his hair and kiss his face, until someone knocked on their door, and Nicky’s voice announced that he made breakfast and that it would be better for Aaron to eat something.
Aaron sighed and Kevin dropped a few more kisses on his forehead before helping him out of bed.
Aaron decided to take a quick shower before breakfast, to wash away the sweat of his illness away. Even though he could have stayed an hour in the shower, he was also starving, so he dressed quickly and joined his family in the kitchen. Andrew who was standing in front of the counter with Neil immediately moved in front of his brother when he saw him arrive and pressed a hand on his forehead as if he wanted to check his temperature by himself. He seemed satisfied with what he got because he gave a sharp nod and returned to his place next to Neil. Nicky however, did not stop fussing over him. It was understandable, his cousin has been taking care of them for years, and even though he was a funny and easy-going person, he always took his job as their guardian very seriously. He made sure that Aaron ate enough and drank plenty of water.
“Katelyn told me that she would send you her class notes and that you don’t have to come back until you’re fully healed,” he said as he was making more coffee for himself.
Aaron nodded, making a mental note to thank his best friend when she will bring him her notes.
“It’s fine. I can go to class today, I already feel better.”
“No,” said Kevin, Nicky, and Andrew simultaneously.
“This is probably the first time in a while you’re allowed to skip practice and rest at home,” said Kevin. “Just enjoy it and keep resting so you will be back to your normal self very soon.”
Aaron was touched, knowing how strict Kevin was about practice, to know that his boyfriend preferred Aaron to rest and take care of his health than push himself too soon and get sick again.
“I could stay today if you want to,” said Nicky, but Andrew cut him: “I don’t have any classes today. I’ll stay.”
Nicky nodded absentmindedly: “There is Tylenol in the bathroom closet if the fever goes back up, try to eat healthy today, and if you have nausea again, take some soup instead.”
The three men were ready for their day, and Andrew kissed Neil softly before letting them go. Neil could drive the Maserati, and they didn’t have many classes anyway, due to their five-year arrangement with the university.
Aaron sat on the couch as his brother put a random series on the TV before sitting next to him.
“Thank you,” said Aaron. He wanted to show his brother that he was touched by how Andrew took care of him the previous day.
“Next time you’re sick, you don’t pretend that you are fine. You say it, and you rest.”
“Sorry I scared you,” answered Aaron, and Andrew sighed before gesturing his own shoulder: “Come here,” he said.
Aaron took a few seconds to understand, but when he did, he carefully placed his head on his twin’s shoulder, letting Andrew place a warm plaid around them both. In just a few minutes they were both fast asleep on the couch.
When the others came back from classes, they didn’t dare say anything. Kevin took Andrew’s place on the couch when Andrew left to have a smoke with Neil, and Aaron went back to class the next day, feeling well-rested and energized like he hadn’t felt in a while.