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The moment Leon wakes up one morning and feels his throat is scratchy and it hurts to swallow down his saliva, he knows he’s fucked. Still, he holds onto the hope that maybe it’ll pass and go away in a few days. Well, a few days pass and suddenly it’s not just a scratchy throat he has to worry about. It’s a runny nose, a mild headache, a cough that seems to rattle his bones every time it escapes. To put it lightly, Leon feels miserable.
It somehow gets worse at night when he’s trying to sleep and ignore how terrible he feels. No sleep position feels right, and he ends up tossing and turning so much to the point a sleeping Luis grunts and rolls away from him. A more healthy Leon would probably get a little upset at that, but he’s actually glad Luis isn’t instinctively wanting to cuddle with him in his sleep. First of all, Leon’s body feels sticky with a sheen of sweat covering it, and the last thing he wants is to have Luis’ body heat enveloping him. Secondly, he doesn’t want to burden Luis with his illness when Leon is supposed to be the one taking care of him.
Leon has spent these last few months helping Luis recover from his stab wound and the trauma that came with not only his injury but losing his childhood home and the people he once knew. Of course, Leon isn’t stupid; he knows he has his own shit to deal with, but that’s just it. They’re Leon’s problems. He doesn’t want to worry Luis, not when Luis already has to deal with his own issues. Leon can’t bear the thought of unloading all his problems, no matter how inconsequential they may seem, onto Luis and have him realize that maybe a relationship with Leon isn’t what he wants after all.
So, Leon decides to bite the bullet and deal with this sickness by himself. He tries to ignore the way he can’t breathe through one nostril which makes him panic a little bit because it feels like he’s suffocating. He holds back the coughs that so desperately want to leave his throat, but he can’t afford to wake up Luis. By this point, he’s kicked off all the blankets that were on his body and curled in a fetal position to hopefully help him fall asleep. This trick somehow works as he feels his mind slip away into a somewhat deep slumber.
That is until he’s woken up by himself coughing up a storm. Leon jolts up from the bed, trying to control the coughing fit to no avail. He can feel his face turn red from the sheer force of the coughs and his abdomen begins hurting from how much he’s been coughing. The nail on the coffin to Leon’s misery is when he hears the covers rustle and the weight on the other side of the bed disappear. Leon can’t even tell Luis to just go back to sleep because he’s too busy coughing his lungs out.
Eventually, Leon sees Luis approach his side of the bed with some new things in his possession. The first thing he hands Leon is a cup of water that Leon takes and chugs graciously. Luis stops him before he drinks the whole cup and passes him a pill. Leon looks up at him questioningly.
“It’s acetaminophen,” Luis offers when he realizes Leon is looking for some kind of explanation.
Leon frowns and shakes his head. “I’m fine,” Leon rasps out. The look Luis gives me tells him he isn’t buying his bullshit. Still, Leon presses on. “I’ve handled worse.”
“I know you have,” Luis replies with a tone akin to a mother consoling their child. “That doesn’t mean you have to deal with the more mundane illnesses on your own. Besides, you know what they say, Sancho…in sickness and in health.”
Leon scoffs. “We aren’t married.”
“Well maybe we should get on that,” Luis says in a lilting voice, wiggling the pill in front of Leon’s face.
With a grumble, Leon takes the pill and passes it down with the rest of the water in the cup. He’s fully prepared for that to be it, but then he notices the other thing Luis is holding. It’s a small blue container with a teal top which Luis twists off. When Luis takes two fingers to scoop up whatever is inside and moves it near Leon, Leon flinches away with a sudden apprehension.
“What is that?” Leon questions, slightly wary for a reason he can’t pinpoint. He knows Luis is only trying to help, but a part of him is programmed to be paranoid about everything and everyone.
Luis doesn’t take any offense to Leon’s wariness. Instead, he tilts the container toward Leon so he can see what it is. “It’s VapoRub,” Luis answers with a matter-of-fact tone. “It’s to help with your sore throat and cough.”
Leon relaxes, probably thanks to a mix of how understanding and caring Luis is right now and just his mere presence. When Luis moves again to put the ointment on him, Leon is more helpful by tilting his head back so Luis has better access to his neck. Luis hums in approval and puts a generous amount of VapoRub on his neck and chest. Once he’s satisfied with what he’s done, Luis twists the lid back on the container and places it on the bedside table. Next, he moves his hand to press it on Leon’s forehead and cheeks.
“It doesn’t seem like you have a fever,” Luis relays once he’s assessed Leon’s temperature. “It’s probably just the common cold.”
Great. So it’s just a cold but Leon’s acting like he’s about to keel over and die. Leon grunts in response and lays back down. “I still feel like shit.”
Luis laughs and brushes Leon’s hair away from his forehead. “I know, amor. I’m sorry. Do you want me to do anything else for you?”
Leon shakes his head as a wave of exhaustion suddenly hits him. He tilts his head in the direction of the bedside table to see what time it is on the digital clock. Bright red numbers focus into view. 3:26. That only makes Leon more sure that he just wants to let Luis sleep even if Leon probably won’t be able to.
“Just go to bed, Lu,” Leon urges his boyfriend who only stares at him with uncertainty.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes. Just go back to sleep.”
“...Are you one hundred percent positive?”
“Luis,” Leon calls out firmly. “Go to bed. I’m fine.”
With a sigh, Luis finally listens to him and crawls back to bed. In typical Luis-fashion, he quickly buries himself in the covers before pausing and turning to look at Leon. “Do you want to cuddle?” He asks with the gentlest tone that almost makes Leon cave in.
It’s cruel that his body is making him feel so icky right now because Leon knows cuddling with Luis would make him feel so much better. Leon is also afraid he’ll end up getting Luis sick, but he knows if that were to end up happening, Leon would take care of Luis without a second thought.
“Mm, I feel gross,” Leon mumbles against the pillow. “I’m sorry.”
“Why are you apologizing?” Luis questions with only his head sticking out the top of the covers. “It’s not your fault you’re sick. How about I run you a bath after we get some sleep?”
Leon can only hum in agreement as he closes his eyes, hoping he can actually get some sleep this time around. Somehow, his insistence on not being helped had dissipated the more he felt Luis’ genuine concern. Leon had never felt this sure of something, despite his paranoia sometimes getting the best of him, but he was sure of Luis’ love for him just as he was sure of his love for Luis. Leon knew that if he was somehow fortunate enough to build a tangible future for himself, he would only be content as long as Luis was by his side. It made Leon feel lighter knowing that Luis felt the same way.
In sickness and in health.
Now his brain won’t let him go to sleep until he hears Luis say those words again.
“Luis,” Leon calls out in a soft voice. If Luis is already asleep, he doesn’t want to wake him for a question that isn’t urgent.
His boyfriend, who probably wasn’t even trying to go to sleep until he was sure Leon was asleep first, peeks his head out from under the covers. “Si, mi vida?”
Leon lets out a breath before twisting his body so he can see Luis better. “Did you mean what you said earlier? About marrying me?”
Even in the darkness, Leon can clearly see the smile that spreads on Luis’ face. Leon probably already has all of Luis’ features memorized. The darkness doesn’t impair him in the slightest, but he still loves the way Luis looks when the light hits him. If there were angels on Earth, Luis surely had to be one of them. It’s the only explanation Leon can come up with for Luis’ undeniable beauty. It is downright unfair how pretty Luis is. Leon even wants to start believing in reincarnation and soulmates because he must be one lucky bastard to end up with Luis in every lifetime.
“Of course I meant it, Cariño,” Luis murmurs as he inches closer to Leon. Now with their noses touching, Luis gives Leon a quick peck. “It’s only you for me. Quiero ser tu marido.”
“I want to be your husband too,” Leon responds with all of the fondness he can muster past how sick he still feels. It isn’t too hard to convey his love, not when it’s Luis. “So you better get used to me being like this when I’m sick.”
Luis lets out a breathy laugh as his hand moves from under the covers to cradle Leon’s face and trace circles on his cheek. “I said it before, didn’t I, Sancho? In sickness and in health. I’ll love you through it all.”
Luis’ doting makes Leon forget all about his prior stance on cuddling as he moves to bury himself under the covers with Luis. The Spaniard quickly moves to make space for him and opens his arms wider to let Leon into his embrace. Leon wastes not another moment and sinks into Luis’ arms. It might be the pill he took, the VapoRub, the placebo effect, or maybe Luis himself, but Leon doesn’t feel like complete shit anymore. Actually…it’s definitely all because of Luis. Finally, Leon feels like can drift off to sleep in Luis’ embrace. Right before sleep claims him, Leon mumbles one last sentiment into Luis’ chest.
“Marry me.”