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“Thank you,” is all I can muster because between the butterflies and my nausea, there’s a probability that I’ll throw up again.
He leaves my room, leaving my door slightly ajar. Bubbles, Buttercup, and Blossom saunter in, and jump up on the bed to cuddle up alongside my entire body. I hum in appreciation for their presence, stroking their furs as I slowly drift back to sleep.
I stir awake a few hours later. Rolling over, I check my phone and see that it’s nearly four. I’ve been asleep since Elio got back from class, which was around eleven.
I check in with my body, noting that my fever seemed to have come down, the sweating replaced by chills. My head is no longer pounding, but my body still aches. My stomach is no longer nauseous, but rather ravenous now.
I push to sit up, throwing my legs over the side of my bed so that I can get up. I feel groggy, but I need to get up and move my body. I grab a throw blanket from my chair and wrap it around my body to warm me up. I then walk to my door and pull it open to see Elio sitting on the floor across from my door, his laptop on his lap.
His eyes flit up to mine, his jaw clenching when he takes me in. “I told you to call me if you need something.” He stands up, snapping his laptop closed and putting it under his arm.
“I need to get up and move my body. I feel so lazy,” I try to explain, rubbing at my tired eyes.
Those forest-green eyes soften as he frowns at me. “Resting when you’re sick isn’t lazy. You deserve rest, sick or not. Are you cold?”
“Y-yes,” I chatter, wrapping the blanket even tighter around my body. “I came to get a bowl of the soup you made. I’m starving.”
After putting his laptop on the floor, he steps toward me and picks me up into his arms once more. “I’ll get you a bowl of soup while you lie back down.”
I want to fight him on it so that he doesn’t catch on to the fact that I like being in his arms, but I don’t. I let him lay me back down gently, his fingers lingering on the sliver of bare skin showing on my shoulder.
I inhale sharply, and he notices, pulling his hand away immediately. He goes into my bathroom for whatever reason, then comes out with nothing in his hands seconds later. “I may have snuck in here to set up your towel heater. I put some towels on it now so that you can warm up.”
Wait, what? Did he seriously buy me a towel heater?
“Why did you do that?” I ask, sounding puzzled.
“Because you were shivering that night you got out of the hot tub, and you mentioned that you’re always cold. I don’t want you to be cold,” he explains, putting his hands in the pockets of his joggers.
My cheeks are warm despite my freezing body, a small smile on my lips at the fact that he remembered something like that and bought me a damn towel heater. He’s more thoughtful than I ever could have imagined. It’s messing with my head and heart.
“Stop being so nice. I’ve hit my quota of thanking you today,” I tease.
He rolls his eyes at me while shaking his head. “Brat.” He chuckles, then strolls out of my room.
He returns with a bowl of soup and crackers, along with a fresh glass of water. After placing them down on my nightstand, he sits at my bedside once again and passes me the bowl of soup.
“It’s pastina, my nonna’s recipe.” He smiles at the mention of his grandma. “There’s chicken, pasta, and vegetables in there.”
I take a spoonful of it to my mouth, and the flavors burst on my tongue. “Mmm,” I hum. “This is delicious.”
Elio’s eyes darken, his jaw ticking as he watches me. I don’t shy away. Instead, I hold his gaze as I eat. Dipping a cracker every once in a while.
“Don’t you have something better to do than watch me eat?”
“I want to make sure you don’t get sick again,” he states, making me regret being a smart-ass. Here he is being kind and thoughtful, and my brain is on autopilot, pushing him away.
I don’t respond, finishing up the soup and crackers. I down the glass of water too, feeling sated. “Thank you for making that. It was perfect.”
“No problem. It was good to see you eat. Are you feeling any better?” he asks, a pinch between his brows.
“Yeah, a bit, but I think I need to sleep it off some more. My body still feels like crap,” I huff, shifting so that I’m lying down once more.
“Sleep. I have practice tonight, but I’ll text you to check in.” He rises from my bed, taking my dirty dishes with him. He stares at me from my door, looking torn.
“I’ll be fine, Elio. Go coach and kick ass or whatever it is that you even do.” I try my best to muster up some enthusiasm.
He cracks a smile at that. “I’ll try. Seriously, text me, okay?”
