Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Prompt list:
Fever
Headache/migraine
Contagious
I’m not sick
Quarantine
Sneezing
Sick at school/work
Strep/laryngitis
Missing out
Seasonal/pet allergies
Care package
Common cold/flu
What happened to your phenomenal immune system, huh?”
Hiding an illness
Sick and injured

*these will not be done in any particular order*

Chapter Text

Ginny shouldn’t have come to school today. Her head was pounding, her throat hurt, and based on the fact that she was so cold, despite the thick sweats she was wearing, she’s pretty sure she has a fever. Ginny knew she could easily call Georgia and get a ride home. Ginny didn’t want to go home though. She knew if she did Georgia would be there trying to attend to her every need and all she wanted was to be left alone. With a sigh, Ginny slowly started walking towards her English class, dreading seeing Marcus while she was in this state, especially after their recent breakup.

As soon as Ginny walked in Marcus could tell that something was wrong with her. She was dressed in sweats and her hair was up instead of styled down like she normally wore it. Ginny looked exhausted, and was shivering slightly, despite the clothes she was wearing and the fact that the heater was on in the classroom. Marcus watched as she sat down and laid her head on the desk. Marcus knew that Ginny needed to go home and rest, but he also knew she was too stubborn to do that without a push. So that’s exactly what Marcus was gonna do.

Ginny only realized that the class had ended when she saw others around her starting to gather their things to leave. She had been too busy trying not to cough and keep herself awake to pay much attention in class. She slowly got up and grabbed her backpack, which was already packed since she didn’t get any of her things out before class, and walked out of class. Ginny heard Marcus calling her name from behind her. she knew she shouldn’t turn around, based on the recent events, but she was too tired to fight it. She turned to face him without saying a word, and then he came up to her and put a hand on her forehead.

As soon as she turned to look at me I placed a hand on her forehead to see if she had a fever. “Ginny, you’re burning up, come on we need to get you home” I said to her. “Marcus, we’re not together anymore you don’t get to tell me what to do” she replied gently pushing my hand away from her face. I can’t help but smile a little, even sick she’s still so stubborn. “Fine” I say, “I’ll go get Max, she can make you go home.” “No” Ginny says, “don’t tell her, I don’t need anyone else worrying about me.” “Fine” I say, then let me take you home.” With a resigned sigh she agrees, and I lead her out the door and towards the house.

Marcus walks me into my house and up the stairs. I’m vaguely aware of how heavily I’m leaning on him, the fever making it hard to keep myself upright. Marcus puts me into my bed and then disappears down the stairs. My first thought is how can he just leave me here like this, but then he reappears with a glass of water and some pills. “Here, take these” he instructs me. I’m too tired to argue or ask questions, so I just obediently take the medicine, washing it down with a small sip of water. “Marcus” I croak out, “Will you stay? I mean just for a little bit. I know we’re not together anymore but my mom’s at work and I don’t want to be alone.” “Of course” he responds softly, lowering himself into the bed beside me. I’m not sure how long we lay like that before I drift off into sleep. When I wake up a few hours later he’s gone, and so is the fever.

Chapter Text

Steve felt like shit. His throat was sore and his nose was running a bit, courtesy of his springtime allergies, damn you hay fever, but the worst symptom he was feeling at then moment was a headache. He could feel his temples pulsing with his heartbeat and the overhead lights from the video store piercing into his skull via his eyes. No matter how bad the pain felt however, he couldn’t let anyone else know how he was feeling. One reason for this is that Robin force him to leave work early to go home and rest, and Steve couldn’t do that, he needed the money. He only had an hour and a half left into his shift anyways, “I can last that long and then go home and crash”, he thought to himself. The other reason he couldn’t let anyone know he wasn’t feeling well was because of Eddie. If he found out that Steve wasn’t feeling well Eddie would take it upon himself to nurse Steve back to health. For anyone else this might sound nice, having their boyfriend nurse them back to health, but to Steve this sounded like a nightmare. This is because Steve hated feeling like a burden and being seen as weak more than anything, and that’s exactly what him being sick and Eddie taking care of him would mean. Steve was determined to not let Eddie know, Robin had other plans however.

Robin knew something was up with Steve. He was too quiet, and didn’t seem quite as interested in her stories as he normally did. She watched him across the store as he shelved the videos that had been returned today. He was going slower than usual and was squinting a little as if the light was hurting his eyes. Robin knew Steve well enough to know that he was sick, and that he was going to try his best to not let anyone see it. Robin wanted to tell the older boy to go home early and sleep it off, but she knew that there was only one person he would listen to and it wasn’t her. She picked up the phone on the desk and made a quick call.

Eddie arrived at the video store about 30 minutes later. When Robin called and told him her suspicions he immediately got in the car and drove over. Eddie knew that Steve would hate that he was there, and that it would be hard to get the boy to admit that he wasn’t feeling well, but if anyone could do it, Eddie could. Eddie walked into the store and immediately spotted his boyfriend. He walked up to the boy and tapped him on the shoulder. “”What are you doing here?” Steve asked. “I’m here to take you home” Eddie replied. “My shift doesn’t end for another hour” the boy protested. “I don’t care,” Eddie said, “you’re sick. We need to get you home and into bed.” “I’m fine,” Steve promised, even though he obviously wasn’t. “Steve, you are not fine. You’re squinting like it hurts to have your eyes open and I can tell that the noise in here is bothering you.” Steve opened his mouth to argue, but didn’t bother trying when he saw the look on Eddie’s face, he knew it was no use. “How’d you even know I was sick?” Steve asked Eddie on their way out the door. “Robin called.” Eddie replied. “Now come on let’s get you home.”

Eddie ushered Steve into the house and forced him to lay down in the bed. Steve hated feeling this way. He hated that Eddie was doing all of this for him, but he had to admit, it was nice that someone cared. Growing up Steve never got this kind of attention from his parents, so it was strange to be receiving it from Eddie now. Eddie brought Steve the bottle of Advil, a glass of water, and the box of tissues from the coffee table in the living room. Along with the headache Steve’s runny nose and sore throat was getting worse. Steve snatched a tissue from the box just in time to catch a trio of sneezes, grimacing from the pain radiating in his skull when he did so. “Bless you baby,” Eddie replied “ now here, take these” he said as he passed Steve a few pills from the bottle and the water glass, “and then we can cuddle, I’m sure that will make you feel better.” Steve couldn’t help but smile, he was glad Eddie was there to take care of him.