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“I think I’m gonna head up to bed, darling.” Stevie mumbled sleepily as he lifted his head off of Grace’s lap. Grace pouted and pulled her hand back from where it had been stroking his hair.
“Really? It’s only just gone seven. Are you still feeling rough?” She asked quietly, aware that a headache was one of the symptoms of his man flu – he’d been suffering pretty badly, and she was starting to worry it was something more serious.
“Yeah, feeling like crap. Still got a headache, a bit dizzy, body hurting like I’ve run a marathon, really tired… freezing cold too.” He answered as he stood up. He leant down and kissed the top of her head.
“Okay, well, I might as well come up now. I wouldn’t wanna wake you if I came up later.”
“Nah, it’s alright.” Stevie smiled softly as he shivered slightly, followed by a cough to clear his throat. “I was thinking about going in the spare room anyway. Don’t wanna keep you awake with the coughing and also risk passing whatever this is on to you.”
“I’m pretty sure the germs were already in your system when we were sharing a bed this morning.” Grace told him matter-of-factly. “Plus I’m not going without our morning cuddles if I don’t have to.”
Stevie chuckled and shook his head slightly, not surprised one bit by Grace’s attachment to their morning routine of coffee, kisses and cuddles.
“Okay. If you’re so sure. But don’t worry about accidentally waking me up. I’m pretty sure I’m gonna be out for the count as soon as I get into that bed. I probably won’t even notice you.”
“Not even notice me? Outrageous!” She teased with a smirked before shaking her head. “I’m certain, sweetheart. Go and get some sleep and shout me if you need anything; I’ll probably finish this episode, and then I’ll be up.” Grace told him.
“Okay, love you.” Stevie smiled at her before making his way to the stairs.
“Love you too, Stephen.” Grace called out to him, knowing that calling him but his full name made him laugh when he wasn’t expecting it.
“No! Not the government name.” Stevie laughed before wincing at the pounding in his head.
He climbed the stairs and went straight into the bathroom. He quickly brushed his teeth before going through to their bedroom, changing into his pyjamas and climbing into bed.
He knew now was the only time he could take advantage of Grace not being on the other side of the bed and fighting for the duvet, so he pulled it fully around himself, willing it to warm up quickly so he could go to sleep as comfortably as possible.
Sleep soon took over as he was surrounded by the warmth of the duvet as well as the exhaustion he had been struggling with all day.
About 20 minutes had passed, and Grace was making her way up to bed. She had tidied up the living room and put away the washing up from dinner before ascending the stairs to their bedroom.
As she entered the room, a small smile formed at the sight of her boyfriend so soundly asleep, curled up in their bed. She felt her heart ache at how adorable he looked in that moment, even if he was extremely ill.
She pressed a kiss to his forehead before going through to the bathroom to take off her makeupand brush her teeth. Once she returned and changed into her pyjamas, she came to the realisation that the duvet was not going to be shared that night. With a soft sigh and a small smile, she found the throw blanket that usually lived at the end of the bed – that would do the job for tonight, especially as Stevie had turned the heating up so high in their bedroom.
Grace managed to fall asleep quite quickly, shuffling towards Stevie and wrapping an arm around what seemed to be his torso - she couldn’t be certain as the duvet created so much padding around his body.
The next morning, Grace woke quite early. The room was quite a bit colder than it was last night, but it didn’t bother her. Stevie was still fast asleep beside her; his hair was messy, and his cheeks were dusted pink with blush – just another sign that he was as ill as he made out. In Stevie's defence, he didn't get ill often, so she knew it wasn't an overreaction.
She slipped out of bed and headed downstairs to make coffee for them both as well as to get some painkillers for her boyfriend – she knew he’d need to take some as soon as he woke.
She walked back into the room to see that he was awake; however, he was still wrapped tightly in their thick duvet, and his arms were wrapped around her pillow.
“Do you wanna take any more of my half of the bed? You’ve got my half of the duvet and my pillow.” Grace laughed.
“Nope, I can cuddle you now that you’re back.” Stevie smiled sleepily, watching her round the bed to deposit his coffee and painkillers. “Thanks, love.”
She returned to her side of the bed, leaving her coffee on the bedside table before lying back down beside him. It was no time at all before Stevie shuffled closer and wrapped his arms around her waist and snuggled into her side.
Stevie was cuddly, but he was never usually this clingy in the morning – it was normally the other way round.
“Morning, you.” Grace grinned at him, enjoying how comforting it was to have him beside her.
“Morning, sweetheart. Did you sleep okay, or did my coughing keep you awake?” He asked quietly. Grace smiled down at him and stroked his hair.
“I hardly heard you cough at all. You hogged the duvet all night though.” Grace chuckled softly, causing him to look up at her.
“Did I?” He asked quietly, and Grace nodded with a smile. “You should’ve woken me up or stolen some of it back.”
“I couldn’t do that! You looked so comfortable. Plus, you’re ill; you need all the sleep you can get.” She told him quietly. “You had the heating up high; it’s not like I got cold.”
“Sorry, love. Welcome to my world though, you’re always hogging it.” Stevie chuckled softly. She rolled her eyes playfully and shook her head.
“Shush. You’re being ridiculous, you’ve got nothing to be sorry about. Anyway I never steal it.” She grinned, knowing for a fact that she was lying.
“You’re sure?” Stevie asked with a worried look on his face, ignoring her defence about her own blanket hogging habit.
“Of course.” Grace laughed as she ran her fingers through his hair. He chuckled softly and relaxed back against her. “I love you. I could never be mad at you, not properly anyway. You might wind me up but not enough to make me angry at you.”
Stevie perked up and looked up at her with a wide smile.
“I love you too.” Stevie grinned.
“You look surprised, you eejit.” Grace giggled as she leant down to kiss him.
“No! You’ll get sick.” Stevie said as he backed away slightly. Grace rolled her eyes and leant closer to kiss him.
“Worth it.” She smiled as their lips brushed against one another. Within seconds, Stevie relaxed again.
“Definitely worth it.” Stevie mumbled against her lips with a smile.