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I ring the doorbell of Nick's house. He and I are going together to Tao's birthday party and Mrs Nelson is dropping us off. Nick opens the door and I can already tell that something's not right. He looks really tired, like really exhausted, and his cheeks are kinda pink. 'Hi, Char." Nick says, giving me a far less excited smile than normal, and no cheek kiss. "Are you alright?" I ask as I step into the house. "Yeah, I'm good." Nick says, and I can practically hear the denial in his voice, and see it on his face. "Are you sure? You seem exhausted." I ask, trying to coax a more truthful response out of him. "Didn't sleep very well last night, is all." he says, and I can see him gritting his teeth to try and hide the fact that he's lying. "That might excuse the dark circles under your eyes and the lack of energy, but it certainly doesn't explain the fact that your cheeks are red. You look flushed." I reply, my concern for him growing in my voice. "Got sunburnt yesterday." Nick says shortly. "Nick, it's the middle of autumn." I remark, raising an eyebrow at his obvious lie. "People can still get sunburnt in autumn!" Nick protests, then he coughs a little, and this is when I really start to think he might have caught a cold or something. "You sure you feel ok enough to go to Tao's party? I really don't mind if we just stay here and do something a little more relaxed if you're not up to going out." I tell him. "Charlie, I'm fine. And besides, Tao would be so pissed off with you if you ditched his party for me." Nick says. "You think Tao still hates you?" I ask. "No, but I think- cough -he's still a little jealous that we hang out so much." he replies, coughing again. I sigh. I can tell he's not feeling well but I know I'll never be able to get through to him. "Fine, then. You'll just have to suffer in silence, Nick." I tell him, to which he replies with, "Shut up! I told you, I'm fine, now let's go.".
The whole ride, Nick didn't say a single word. I noticed he was trying to sit as far away from me as possible, as if he was worrying that he'd get me sick if he sat too close to me. At some point, his arm brushed against mine, and once he'd realised, he shuffled away from me and looked out the window. I'd noticed how warm his arm was, it was way warmer than usual. Again, this concerned me. The whole car ride was so awkward, I did NOT enjoy it, and it didn't look like Nick was enjoying it either.
We got to the arcade and I was instantly hit with the loud noises coming from various arcade games. I put my noise-muffling headphones on and almost immediately felt relieved from the sensory overload. Nick blinked a few times then placed his hands over his eyes for a moment, as if he was trying to stop himself from developing a headache. I saw Tao, Elle and Aled sitting at a small table together, and ran towards them, Nick following slowly behind. "Hi, Elle, Aled, Tao! Happy birthday, Tao!" I exclaim as we sit down at the table. "Thanks, Charlie." Tao replies. "Tara and Darcy are over there." Elle says, pointing to Tara and Darcy standing in front of a claw machine. Darcy seems to be talking animatedly about something, and Tara looks like she's trying not to laugh at how silly she sounds. "Nick... sorry to intrude, but... are you feeling alright? You seem... off today." Aled asks Nick. "Why does everyone keep asking me that?!?! First my mum, then Charlie, then you! I'm fine, honestly!" Nick snaps, and we all go silent.
Tara and Darcy come back to a dead silent table. "What's up? You all look so sad." Darcy asks, breaking the silence."Nicholas Nelson just officially ruined my birthday party." Tao snapped. "Tao! You don't just say that!" Elle told Tao, causing him to blush and say, "Sorry...". I'm pretty sure everyone in our group knows about Tao's crush on Elle, even Elle does, but she doesn't like him back so it's awkward as hell. I look at Nick. Tears are poking at the edges of his eyes, threatening to fall down his red cheeks. I look at him sympathetically. "Do you want to go home?" I ask him. He shakes his head. "We aren't going home because if we do then Tao will be even more pissed off with me for 'stealing' you." he replies, wiping the tears from his eyes. He coughs again.
Tara, sensing the awkwardness in the air, changes the subject. "Y'know, we should probably go and start playing some arcade games. Isn't that what we're here for? Darcy was just telling me all about how claw machines are rigged, so I suggest none of you waste your money on that." she says, and everyone gets up and heads off to the games, leaving Nick and I alone. He slowly places his head on the table and sighs. He mumbles something along the lines of "I feel dizzy...", and then my concern for him absolutely peaks. "Nick... be honest with me... do you need to go home?" I whisper. "N... no... 'm f... fine." he stutters in response, shaking slightly. "Oh, Nick..." I sigh, gently placing my hand on his forehead. It's hot. "Ok, we definitely need to go home, you're really hot. Like, temperature-hot." I tell him firmly. Nick slowly lifts his head from the table and then immediately flops it onto my shoulder. "You're right, we should go home, I feel like I'm going to pass out." he sighs. "Shit. Do you want to go sit outside? It might make you feel a little better. It is kinda stuffy in here." I say. "You're gonna have to help me get up, I still feel dizzy." Nick replies. "Oh... ok." I say, and then I stand up and help him up. Slowly and steadily, we make our way outside, but are briefly stopped by Aled, who asks us where we're going. "Nick and I are just going to go sit outside for a bit, it's pretty hot in here and Nick isn't feeling great so we're just going to go get some fresh air." I explain, and a wave of concern washes over Aled's face. "I hope you feel better soon, Nick." they say, before turning to me and adding, "Are you going to call his mum to take you both back to his house?". I nodded. "That's the plan. Tell the others Nick and I are probably going to be leaving soon." I reply. Aled nods, then they head back over to the group. We finally make it outside and we both sit on the steps. "I'm so sorry..." Nick says, looking at me with wide eyes. "It's ok. All I would've preferred was if you'd told me earlier so we didn't come here. You know I wouldn't have cared if Tao got mad at me, as long as I could be there for you." I reply, pushing some stray hairs out of his face. "I just didn't want to ruin things for your friendship with Tao more than I already have..." Nick mumbles, tears slowly falling down his red cheeks. "Nick, it's not your fault. People get sick sometimes, that's normal. And I'm allowed to comfort you if you aren't well." I tell him, kissing his cheek. "You're definitely going to get my cold now, Char." Nick sighs. "Whatever, I don't care. Now, let me call your mum to take us back to your place. You need to get some rest." I say, then I pick my phone up and call his mum.
Soon enough, Mrs. Nelson comes to pick us up. At some point, Nick falls asleep on my shoulder, and I run my fingers through his ginger hair. He looks so peaceful asleep like that. We get back to his house and I have to shake him awake. "Mmmmm... I don't wanna move... noooo..." Nick mumbles, nuzzling into my shoulder a bit more. "We're at your house. If you get up, we can go in and we can go and cuddle on the sofa or in your bed." I tell him. He grins when I say "in your bed". "You do realise how sexual that sounds, right?" he says, looking up at me, the grin on his face juxtaposed with his tired eyes. "FUCK! Nick, don't say that, we are definitely not doing that until we're BOTH of age!" I reply, causing Mrs. Nelson to raise an eyebrow. "Are you two coming?" she asks, already standing outside the car. "Yeah, we're coming!" I reply, then I nudge Nick to try and get him up. "Come on, sleepyhead, let's go." I say, holding his hand as I step out of the car. Nick slowly follows suit. We walk into the house and head upstairs to Nick's bedroom. He flops onto his bed. "I am so tired!" he sighs, pulling the blankets over himself. "I don't blame you. I'm not sick, and I feel tired. Parties are exhausting." I reply, sitting down on the edge of his bed. "I honestly can't say I agree, but I guess I'm just not an introvert like you-" Nick says, then he has a 2-minute coughing fit. "You good?" I ask as he finally stops coughing. "Y...yeah... 'm good." he says hoarsely. "Come on, let's just cuddle for a bit. You look like you need it." I tell him, snuggling under the covers next to him. "We probably shouldn't be doing this..." Nick says. "Why not? It's not like my mum's going to show up and tell us that we're not allowed to lay together in bed." I reply, causing Nick to laugh a little. "She really thinks we're fucking, doesn't she?" he says, and I roll my eyes. "I really wish I could kiss you right now..." I whisper. "Char, that's not a good idea, I'm definitely going to get you sick if we kiss." Nick replies, although his eyes suddenly look toward my lips. "You want it, though." I say, "You want it just as much as I do.". "Shut up, you bitch!" Nick exclaims, trying to hide the fact that he's laughing. "Awww, love you too." I say, then I give him a quick peck on the lips. "Charlie!" Nick snaps, "When you get sick, don't say I didn't warn you.". "Whatever. You know I'd rather get sick after kissing you than not kissing you because of a little cold." I reply.
We stay like this for at least another hour before my mum ruins it by texting me to come home.
Fuck you, mum.