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Craig huffed through the school hallway, sniffling as he felt each step against the tiles reel a bit too hard, a bit too there.
Craig wasn't fully sure on how he got it, or from who. He ran through his day; his kiss with Gabriel earlier or maybe him and Max getting lunch together. But those suspicions bore no fruit and all Craig could do was grit his teeth and exhale slowly as his tired eyes look through the school hallway.
Craig wasn't a fan of being sick. To be fair, who wasn't? Craig never really saw any positives in it. Sure, he did technically get work off, but then it'd pile up on the day after and he would just effectively have two bad days in a row.
So he goes to school, his head throbbing, everything brighter than a candle feeling like a flashbang. He feels like he's been walking forever, but when he turns back it's only been a quarter of the way to the stairs.
And he'd have to go up, then walk the same length of hallway, because the school thought it was a good idea to have the stairs all the way at the end.
If Craig could find the architect, he would throw him in the Pacific with lead boots.
As Craig practically trudged towards the halfway mark, he felt someone tap at his shoulder.
Any other day, Craig would whip his head around and wave, and spend the next 30 minutes talking. But Craig was definitely not himself when he was sick, and as his shoulders tensed, he had to fight the voice in his head telling him to turn and swing.
Craig turned slowly on his heel. "Hey," He huffed, forcing a smile, sending a mild pain in the corners of his teeth.
Shit. Right. Craig's teeth tended to press a bit too hard whenever he forced smiles.
"H-Hi, sir," the young, barely pubescent preteen hummed. "Do you know where the lab is?" He rolled on his feet, fidgeting.
In this moment; Craig understood all of his elementary teachers whenever they said they felt dizzy when kids were in the front swaying and fidgeting and looking around.
"Which lab," Craig huffs. His tone starts to morph from exasperated to acidic, and he furrows his brow. "There's 4 kinds of labs."
"I-I dunno," The kid stammers. "The teacher never told us." He states, and just by the tone of his voice, Craig can tell that their teacher did in fact tell them, but this kid didn't listen.
Before Craig can tsk and ask additional details, the tween gulps, squeaks out a "nevermind," and runs off.
Confused but not minding it further, Craig turns on his heel, only to be jolted with an unexpected presence.
"Jesus fucking- Hank, what the hell?!" Craig sighs. At least, this time, it's someone he likes. "The hell, how long were you there?"
"About like 5 seconds," Hank shrugs casually. "You looked like you needed him out."
"Yeah, I did," Craig chuckles tiredly. "Thanks, man."
"Don't mention it." Hank shrugs. "Anyways, you don't look so good."
"Damn headache, don't know where it's from."
"I know where," Hank hums, crossing his arms. "You fell asleep on the couch and you were practically sweating a flood," he hums, tsking playfully at his roommate, "and you went straight to your room with AC on."
"Fuck, I'm an idiot..." Craig sighs, mildly disappointed in himself at not thinking about it.
"Don't give yourself shit," Hank hums, starting to walk. "You had a long fucking day yesterday. I'm surprised you even had the energy to get to the couch," Hank jests, a smirk creeping at his lips. Craig looks at the smile forming, and smiles himself. It's hard for him, heck, hard for anyone to smile when Hank smiles.
Hank doesn't really smile anyways. So when he does, it's a sight to see.
"Yeah, I guess," Craig hums.
He's thankful to have a friend; a friend in Hank. He looks at Hank one more time, and the two burst into laughter when the gaze lingers.
"We should get to class," Craig huffs; his headache surprisingly lighter, the tension in his scalp loosened.
"Yeah, we should," Hank chuckles. "It's the last one. After you can sleep on the couch again."
"Ehh, feel more like sleeping on the kitchen counter," Craig chuckles, and Hank can't help but burst into a snicker.
It's nice. It's nice having a friend.