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Charlie wrapped his arm around his middle, feeling it grumble beneath his hands. He had thought he would be fine, it was only nerves, every thing would be fine. But now he was regretting his decision to eat the school lunch.
He normally made his own lunch or went out to eat, he didn’t trust the school that was for sure. He was always careful of what he ate, he absolutely hated getting sick, especially when it affected his stomach. But today, he had forgotten, not only to make it and to bring his wallet, but to eat breakfast. He hadn’t eaten since lunch the day before and he had been starving. So Felix and Theo only had to nudge him a little for him to get something from the cafeteria.
Of course, since he had been late, the only things left were wilted looking chicken fingers. He had been so hungry he had completely ignored it.
And now he had to pay the price. In the middle of a history test that he had absolutely not studied for.
His pencil clattered out of his hand much louder than he would have liked, bouncing across his desk and falling to the ground, coming to a stop at his feet.
The kid sitting beside Charlie, Lincoln he thought, looked over at him, annoyance crossing his face.
Charlie would have snapped at him, even during a test, but his stomach was starting to cramp worse. He gulped as Lincoln looked away and slipped his other hand below his desk to clutch his stomach.
Charlie was trying to be discreet, trying to quiet the sickly grumbles that were starting to get louder. He just had to eat that chicken didn’t he?
He glanced across the room at Theo, his twin was frowning at his paper, clearly confused. He was glad Theo was sitting so far away, he didn’t need any of his sympathy.
Charlie’s stomach spasmed beneath his hands and he gave up on massaging it, instead fully wrapping his right arm around his middle.
A painful cramp tore through him and he stifled a whimper, curling his other arm around his belly and hunching over until his head was just hovering above his desk.
If any one had been looking, they would be able to tell something was definitely wrong. Quiet gurgles were rumbling from his stomach and tears were brimming in his eyes. Charlie was overcome with a sudden urge to vomit, only intensified by the anxiety he felt at the mere prospect.
Charlie knew they weren’t allowed to leave durning a test, but perhaps if he went up to the teacher and asked? If he even could stand.
He could feel his stomach cramping and spasming under his arms, the noises starting to get louder and more sickly, Lincoln’s head turning to the side slightly as if to look up at him. He stifled a wet burp, feeling acid shoot up his throat.
That was it. He forced himself to his feet, gulping back the acid, and hurried up to the teachers desk.
“What is it, Mr. King?” The teacher asked boredly, not looking up from the papers she was grading.
Charlie swallowed thickly, “Uh, ma’am, may I please use the restroom?”
“No,” she said simply, turning the page of the packet.
“Ma’am-“
“You heard me at the beginning of the test, you should have gone before we started.”
Charlie opened his mouth to argue but was cut off by a rush of liquid. His hand leapt instinctively to his mouth, balling into a fist and covering it, throat muscles working desperately to keep his food down.
He gulped, “Y-yes, ma’am,” he stammered, rushing back to his desk where he fell into his chair and wrapped both arms around his frothing stomach.
Charlie stifled another wet burp, squeezing his eyes shut and letting his head rest on his desk, arms massaging his cramping belly, trying to calm it.
It was not working.
He pressed his mouth to the fabric of his shirt on his shoulder, stifling another burp and gulping back a wave of bile, desperate not to puke.
Beside him, Lincoln got up to take his test to the teacher’s desk. He stopped beside Charlie’s and leaned closer, whispering mockingly, “Feeling sick, King?”
Charlie didn’t even look up, he didn’t have time to. The moment Lincoln’s breath, still smelling of lunch, reached his nose he pitched forward. His stomach lurched, leaping into his throat and digested food streamed from his mouth.
Vomit splashed all over Lincoln’s shoes, he leapt back, stumbling over the rows of desks.
The teacher sprang to her feet as her class was thrown into disarray, Charlie’s retching in the center of it.
He clutched his stomach, sickly gurgles coming from it as his digestive system expelled whatever had upset it. The hot liquid streamed from his mouth until he hung over his chair, arms hugging his belly, wet burps coming from his mouth as bile dripped from his lips.
“Charlie!” Theo’s voice reached his ears.
A groan escaped his mouth as his stomach cramped again, sending yet more acidic liquid shooting up his throat.
“Ma’am, I need to get him-“
“Yes! Yes! Do it, get hm out of the classroom!” The teacher cried.
Theo rushed over and Charlie felt his arms wrap around him, strongly lifting him to his feet.
“Don’t touch me,” He choked out weakly, but he didn’t fight back, instead letting his head fall into his twin’s chest, allowing him to lead him across the room.
“Dude, why didn’t you tell me you wern’t feeling well?” Theo asked gently when they had reached the hallway.
Charlie groaned, hunching over, his belly starting to cramp again, grumbling ominously. Theo gripped his shoulders leading him firmly to the restrooms, saying “You can stop when we get to the bathroom, we’ll get in huge trouble if you’re sick all over the hallway.”
A wet burp escaped Charlie’s mouth again. “This has to be the worst possible time for me to get sick,” Charlie whimpered.
Theo rubbed his back, “Don’t say that, it’s only a test. It’ll be fine.”
“Yeah, a test that I need to pass to keep my grade above and F. Mom’ll-“ he was cut off but a splash of acid spewing suddenly out of his mouth. Charlie lurched forward, Theo’s arms wrapping around him and keeping him from collapsing.
Charlie gagged, digested food overflowing from his mouth and spilling onto the hallway ground. He made a sound somewhere between a whimper and a sickly burp, covering his mouth.
Theo sighed, hauling him to his feet. He flinched as he watched his twin struggling to stand even with Theo’s help, acid dripped down the front of his shirt. But Theo was determined to get him to the restrooms before he could make any more of a mess.
“Come on, lean on me. There you go,” Theo dragged him to the restrooms.
By the time they got there, Charlie’s belly was emitting the worst noises Theo had ever heard. His arms were clutching it tighter than Theo had thought possible.
The moment they reached the stall Charlie collapsed in front of the toilet and gagged up a stream of milky-white liquid.
His breaths came in ragged gasps as he leaned away, his hands clawing at his abdomen in a vain attempt to calm its churning contents.
“Theo,” he gasped, his head rolling to the side to look at his twin.
Theo dropped to one knee beside him, setting a hand on his shoulder. “It’s alright,” he pulled him into a hug, wrapping his arms around his shaking body.
He felt his shirt soak through with tears, Charlie’s body shaking with sobs. “It hurts, Theo!” He cried, hugging himself and rocking back and forth even in his brother’s embrace.
“I know buddy, I know,” Theo drew away as he heard a sickly gurgle. “What do you think you ate?”
Charlie shook his head, groaning and pressing his head to his knees. “The chicken,” he choked out, gasping with each shuddering breath.
“Shh, it’s alright,” Theo moved closer, sitting beside him and wrapping his arms around him, “You just have to give you’re stomach time to calm down. It’s likely expelled everything it needs to.”
Charlie shook his head but didn’t say anything.
The two sat like that for a while before Charlie finally said something, “Theo?”
Theo turned to look at him, “You feeling better?”
Slowly, Charlie nodded, “I-I think so.”
“Okay, you wanna go back to your dorm?”
Charlie shook his head, “I have to-“
Theo cut him off, “You are not going back to class,” he said firmly.
The rebellious light died from Charlie’s eyes, he let his head fall to rest on his brother’s shoulder, “Yeah, okay,” he whimpered.
. . .
When Felix walked into the dorm he knew full well what to expect. Theo had filled him in on what had happened to his friend.
He tossed his bag by the couch and walked farther into the dorm, entering Charlie’s room.
The boy wasn’t there, but Felix heard the horrible sounds of unproductive retching coming from the restroom.
He quickly hurried to the door, noting that it was locked.
He set his hand on the door handle, cringing as he heard Charlie retch before the sound of sobbing.
“Char? Hey buddy, it’s me, Felix. Could you let me in?” He rattled the door handle
He was met with silence, then the sound of someone shuffling to their feet. Charlie opened the door, he looked ragged, his hair dripped with sweat, his eyes were clouded with pain, and his entire body was shaking.
The arm not holding the door open for Felix was clutching his belly, he was half hunched over and leaning heavily on the door.
“Oh, Charlie,” Felix crooned, stepping forward and wrapping his arms around his friend, guiding him to the ground.
He didn’t flinch away so that was a start. Of course, it could also mean he felt so ill he was okay with the physical touch.
Felix rubbed his back, “Theo told me what happened, guess we shouldn’t have convinced you to eat, huh?”
Charlie shook his head, rocking back and forth, head pressed to his knees, arms wrapped around his belly. “My fault, I should have remembered my wallet.”
Felix looked at him in surprise, “What do you mean?”
“I don’t eat at the school, I go out. Forgot my wallet this morning,” he muttered.
Felix’s mouth formed an O shape, “Oh, that make sense, I always wonder where you go during lunch period. I had my wallet, you could have asked me.”
Charlie hummed and shook his head again, “I thought it would be fine.”
Felix grimaced sympathetically, watching was he turned paler and paler, his arms wrapping tighter and tighter around his churning belly.
“You okay?” He asked gently, leaning closer to him.
Charlie shook his head, “No… I-I’m gonna-“ he was interrupted by a horrible retch causing vomit to stream from his mouth. Charlie leaned to the side, puking out the rest of his meal all over the bathroom tiles.
A sickly burp exploded from his mouth, bringing with it another wave of digested food and stomach acid. He lurched over, hands pressing on his stomach so hard Felix was afraid he would bruise himself.
Felix was starting to feel sick himself as he busied himself with rubbing his friend’s back as he emptied his stomach. Trying to say something that would comfort him, but everything he could think of sounded stupid to him. So he stayed silent, quietly rubbing Charlie’s back, his face set in a stoic grimace.
Charlie ended up curled on the bathroom floor, tears streaming from his eyes, arms digging into his belly in a desperate attempt to stem the cramping agony.
“Felix!” He cried, curling up even tighter, eyes shining with tears Felix never through he would see.
All he could do was continue to rub Charlie’s back, wishing he could do more.
Luckily for Charlie, it didn’t last long. His body, having rid itself of whatever had caused its turmoil, finally left him alone.
He allowed Felix to practically drag him to bed, wrapping him with blankets and setting a bowl beside his head.
Charlie curled into a tight ball, trying to force himself to drift into the comfort of sleep, his stomach still sore from retching.
. . .
Charlie woke with start, sweat pouring down his face, his stomach grumbling and cramping angrily. His first instinct was to curl into a ball and try to ignore it to the best of is ability.
But it quickly became clear that that ability had run out.
Charlie threw the blankets off and staggered from his room, stumbling out the door and trying to stay upright.
He felt his stomach cramp and he had to stifle a cry of pain, staggering to a stop just outside the main room.
Looking through the tears clouding his eyes, Charlie could see Felix gaming on the couch, playing legends of Zelda.
“Felix!” He called out to him, his voice barely above a whimper.
But he heard him. Instantly he leapt from the couch and rushed over to him, leaning against the wall, arms wrapped around his cramping belly.
“Charlie! I thought you said you were feeling better?” He gasped, cradling the younger boy in his arms.
“I-I did,” he panted, “My stomach really hurts, I don't think I can make it tonight,” his eyes swelled with tears. Just the fact that he was, once again, allowing Felix to hold him was a testament to how bad he felt. Now he was admitting it?
“O-okay, uh, what do you need?” Felix asked, hating how helpless he felt.
Charlie shook his head, “I don’t know. I-it just hurts,” he whimpered.
Felix nodded, “Okay, uh, I can ask Theo to go out and get medicine of some kind?”
Charlie nodded desperately, “Y-you think that’ll help?” He stammered, his breaths starting to come faster.
“Yeah, yeah, it should,” Felix quickly fished his phone out of his pocket and tapped on Theo’s icon.
“Hey, can you go out and get medication for Charlie? Something over-the-counter.” He said hurriedly
Theo’s voice broke through the line, “He’s not any better?” He sounded worried.
“No, he’s not.”
Felix heard Seb’s faint voice on the other end before Theo came on again, “Yeah, I can do that, it’ll be a few minutes.”
“Thank you,” Felix heard Theo hang up and turned his attention back to Charlie, slumped in his arms.
“Hold on, Char, you’ll be okay.”
Charlie didn’t even comment on the nickname, his eyes were misty with unshed tears.
Felix started to rub his back, brushing a strand of brown hair from his eyes and hugging him closer. He guided the two to sit against the wall, leaning into each other.
Charlie melted into him, his head resting on his shoulder, his body pressed closely against Felix’s.
He felt oddly flustered. Now that Charlie wasn’t puking his guts out, Felix realized what was happening. The two of them were sitting so close to each other they may have been siblings. He was sitting so close to a boy who would, under normal circumstances, never have gotten anywhere near this close to him.
And he found himself loving it.
The way the dim light from the other room reflected off of his face, making him look peaceful, despite how much pain Felix knew he was in.
Charlie wasn’t asleep, more in-between sleep and wakefulness, but his breaths had slowed and his eyes were pressed close. His chest rising and falling in rhythm with his breaths.
Felix smiled, running his fingers through his friend’s hair and finally able to whisper soft words into his ear.