“You’re being dramatic,” Vicky says as she adjusts the covers just a little.

  Tyler shakes his head, pulling a chair. “Maybe, but the sentiment still stands. Do you need anything other than the water?”

  “No, I’m good.” A pause. “Actually, could you pass me the tissue box behind you?”

  “Of course.” He did notice her starting to sniffle some time after he got there. He’d just been a little too distracted to think any further.

  “Thanks,” she says with a small smile that has one of his own forming.

  Taking a look along the walls, he sees it mostly bnk save for a weekly pnner beside her desk. However, there are a lot of open boxes on the ground filled with things he can’t make out. He assumes they might be posters of some kind going by the shape, but he can’t be sure from this distance.

  Briefly, he considers going over and taking a closer look, but soon decides against it. That would actually be snooping. Not that he was all that against the idea, but this just wasn’t the time or pce for it. Maybe some other time.

  His attention was drawn back to the bed by a few loud coughs. He frowned when he saw her eyes were barely staying open, concern marring his face. That couldn’t be good.

  “Maybe you should get more rest,” he says.

  She blinks. “With you here?” Her lips purse. “Besides, Jade had me sleeping all day, I’m getting very sick of staying here.”

  Tyler’s frown deepens. “You haven’t been out of here at all?”

  “Nope,” she takes another cautious sip of water. “Something about immune systems and familiar environments…Speaking of which,” she narrows her eyes at him blearily, “you shouldn’t be here.”

  “I am here.”

  “You know what I mean,” she huffs. “You should probably go. If you stay any longer, you might get sick too.”

  “Unlikely,” he grins, “I have a pretty strong immune system.”

  Her lips twitch into a smile before she smothers it. “Even still, you should get out of here to be safe.”

  “No can do,” he purposefully widens his grin, “Jade’s out to get groceries, so I’m not going anywhere.” At the very least until she got back. Leaving a sick person all alone didn’t sit well with him, so if she really wanted him to leave, she’d have to wait until then.

  “Tyler,” she says it in a tone that almost has him jump, but he manages to hide it just in time. It sounds a lot like a exasperated reprimand. Honestly, he’s a little impressed she can manage it whilst being sick.

  “Vicky,” he tries for the same tone, but he’s pretty sure he fails. Even still, he doesn’t back down from the staring contest that ensues straight after.

  “Fine!” She huffs and flops back onto the bed, “Have it your way.”

  Grinning in victory, he makes to stand up again. “Good. I’m gonna go get themedsJade left in case of a headache.”

  Vicky moves her arm away from her face, squinting at him suspiciously. “How do you know I have a headache?”

  “You’ve been moving your hand to your forehead every so often.” Not to mention how easily she backed down from that staring contest when he knows full well how stubborn she is. He doesn’t wait for a response, mind set on his mission.

  Tyler didn’t have to rummage through the drawer too long before he found them. By which he means thepanadol. There’s a bunch of antibiotics around it, but he doesn’t think they’re good for a fever. Halfway through walking away, his gnce meets the fridge, stopping him in his tracks.

  Wouldn’t she be hungry right about now? She said she’d been in her room for most of the day, so he’d bet she hadn’t eaten much. His mother had said it was easier to recover from being sick when you had food. It took him only another gnce towards her room to make up his mind.

  Pcing the water bottle and medicine his hand to the side, he opened the fridge. He had to stop himself from ughing as he saw a lot of pink sticky notes on each container. It was cute. Made even more so by the fact herecognisedmost of them as Vicky’s handwriting.

  He pulled out the container of soup Jade hadbelledas being for Vicky, eyes running over the instructions written. Mostly just to reheat it and give it to her in small amounts to see how much she could digest. That was doable enough, considering the microwave was right there.

  And it meant he didn’t have to use his admittedly limited cooking skills to make something. He paused in the process of getting a bowl and dle out. Maybe he should learn to cook more. It was obviously useful and he enjoyed doing it. Only…he had never really considered it before.

  Not to the extent he was considering it now that had him seriously considering lessons or a new cookbook. It had just been a casual way to pass the time. But the more he thought about it, the more appealing it became.

  Yes. He was going to do this. But obviously, it couldn’t be right this very second.

  When he walked back into her room, it was while bancing a tray with both the container, some bowls and the water bottle. He’d tested it, so he knew it was safe to put down over her covers. However, that would require her to sit upright.

  “Room service,” he says as a joke.

  Her brows furrow as she sits up and lets him pce the tray in front of her. “What’s this?”

  “Soup,” he says, dling a little into the prepared bowl. “I thought you might be hungry.”

  “I thought you were just going to get thepanadol?” A spark of mischief enters her eyes. “You were gone so long, I’d started to think you’d done what I said and left.”

  “Nah,” he waves it off, “And I did get that too. But I thought about it and it’s probably not good to eat it on an empty stomach. Or some sh-Er. Some nonsense like that.”

  Vicky gives him a strange look before leaning over to sniff at the soup. The wrinkling of her nose as she pulls back tells him all he needs to know, even without her pushing away the bowl slightly. It makes him huff a ugh as he takes a seat on the bnket.

  “You have two options,” he tells her, “either you eat this all on your own or…I feed it to you.”

  She blinks at him blearily, before narrowing her eyes at him, pushing he blonde hair back as straightens slightly. “What if I don’t want to eat it?”

  “Too bad,” he shrugs, “it’s non-negotiable. Now,” he grins, “What’llit be?”

  Tyler has a brief moment to register he’s talking to her in an overly familiar manner before she shoots him another gre. Instead of saying anything else, she turns her face away with a huff. It’s sort of cute how grumpy she looks right now, the way she turns her face away.

  Not that he’ll say such aloud. He doesn’t have a death wish. “Hand-feeding it is.” He takes care to cool the soup before bringing the spoon up, “Open up.” When she doesn’t immediately move to eat, he gives her his best stern look.

  It doesn’t works. She gives him an unimpressed gnce and huffs a ugh. Alright, it wasn’t very stern considering the smile he feels pulling at his lips. But still! Tyler tries to make another effort but…

  “Come on, you have to eat something,” he tells her, caving immediately, “It’s not good for you to eat that,” he tilts his head towards the table, “on an empty stomach.”

  “Mother hen,” she mutters, before moving her head forward to eat it.

  Triumph soars in his heart at the movement. Yes! He can only smile as she blinks at the first taste. “Now was that so bad?” Judging by the food Jade packed st time, he’d wager it tastes pretty good.

  “You don’t need to be so smug,” she says in a huff. The grin widens and he brings another spoonful up to her lips. Something warms when she doesn’t hesitate to eat it this time.

  After a few zy spoonfuls, she blinks, eyes widening. “You don’t need to hand-feed me, I’m not so weak that I can’t eat on my own.” A blush overtakes her cheeks, which is promising indeed. Still…

  “I know.” He shrugs, bringing another spoonful up to her lips, “But I want to.” Tyler finds himself enjoying it.

  A part of it my be due to not having anything else to do, but the rger part is that it’s oddly satisfying. And a little validating to know she trusts him this much. Vicky sighs but lets herself be fed like a baby bird until the bowl is empty.

  Putting aside the tray, he leans over and passes her the leaflet along with a bottle of water. “Here you go.”

  Already she doesn’t seem to be in much pain, so he has a feeling hunger may have had something to do with her headache. But he’s not a doctor or anything of the sort. Besides, it wouldn’t hurt to take some medicine for the fever.

  “Thanks,” she says as she passes the bottle back, eyes half-cast.

  “No problem,” he replies, moving his hand forward with a frown. Again, he waits until she moves forward to make contact. The frown disperses a little when it doesn’t feel quite so burning. Still warm, but not dangerously so. Simple tiredness then.

  Moving off the bed, he collects the bowl and pces it back on the tray. He gives her a smile as he moves to hold it. “I’ll let you get some rest now, call if you need anything.” She gives him a small smile before waving him away.

  In the kitchen, he notes there are still some dirty dishes in the sink. Not having anything else to do, he decides he may as well wash them. Jade hadn’t asked him to do it, but considering how busy she sounded, he thought this might help her even if just a little.

  Washing his hands and drying them, his eyes wandered back to the clock. Jade was probably on her way back now. He wondered whether there was anything else he could help with to thank her for letting him come over. A quick search didn’t show anything, so he decides to check on Vicky again.

  “Can’t sleep?” He grins when she jumps and turns to shoot him a gre, hiding the book under the covers.

  “I’m sick of sleeping, so no.”

  “Okay,” he shrugs, taking a seat on the chair again, “What’s the book about?”

  “It’s…” she sighs, “It’s not really important.” Her head tilts, “Wait. Where’s Jade?”

  “Grocery shopping.” He briefly considers calling her out on the obvious subject change, but ultimately decides against it. “She should be getting back soon anyway.”

  A beat of silence passes before she gives him a strange look. “You’re waiting for her to get back?”

  “Of course,” he tries for an easy grin, “Can’t leave you all by yourself, can I?” Once she does get back, he might decide to answer the unread messages on his phone. There’s really no point in him being her after she does.

  Vicky is going to be fine. If anything him being here is probably just getting in the way. Honestly, he feels a little silly now for panicking so much.

  “Alright.”

  Tyler blinks. “Alright?” What does she meanal-

  “Alright,” she smiles, “It seems I’m free Friday after all.”

  It takes him a moment to figure out what she means, but when he does, his face splits into a beaming grin. Joy hitting him like a truck, pooling to his stomach. Excitement buzzes under his skin. He doesn’t know what to say.

  A grin of her own forms in answer, “So what movie are we seeing?”

  He has no fucking clue. The excitement has made him dumb. What even is a movie at this point? Tyler forces himself to shake it off when Vicky’s grin turns amused.

  “Not sure,” he says. Then winces. His voice sounds a little to excited. Oh well. “I’ll get you back to you on that.”

  “Okay,” she smiles, shaking her head. “It’s a date.”

  “It’s a date,” he repeats softly.

  Considering the bet was to get a date,Zachwill need to pay up and uphold his end of the deal. However, that’s an afterthought to the weight of happiness he feels at her agreement. Huh. It seems he like her even more than he thought.

  Of course you like her doofus! His subconscious practically whacks him upside the head with that thought. Do you think you’d be so mopey and panicked if you didn’t? He has to agree with the voice there. But it’s a little concerning to have a conversation with himself so he forces himself not to continue on that path.

  The st thing he needs is to say some of it aloud in front of her.

  Though that doesn’t stop him from going over the words in his head as they sit in comfortable silence. She even passes him a book to read to pass the time. Not that he gets very far when his mind won’t leave him alone. He can’t even remember when this stupid feeling developed?

  Was it that very first day? Somehow he doesn’t think so, but…He internally shakes himself. No. Think about something else. Hmm. What movie should they see? As soon as he gets home, he’s going to google it.

  “I’m home!” Jade’s voice breaks them both from their thoughts.

  “No. No. No. Don’t get up,” he tells her, resting the book on the table and standing. “I can-”

  “Tyler Prescott,” she says lowly, “I am not going to lie here all day. So don’t even think of finishing that sentence. I’m not quite that ill.”

  “Yes ma’am.” But he still stays close just in case.

  “Oh good, you’re still here,” Jade smiles, “I’ve got some more bags in the car, would you please help me bring them in?” He doesn’t have to be told twice.

  Coming back in, he’s greeted with the sight of Jade, putting containers in a bag. “What’s that?”

  Jade smiles, “just somethings for you to take with you when you leave.”

  “That really isn’t-”

  “It’s my way of thanking you for looking after V,” she smiles kindly. “And for the help cleaning up as well, you didn’t need to do that.”

  He doesn’t quite know how to react to that, so he settle for a small smile. It’s a little embarrassing to be thanked by an adult so much. But as she leans over to ruffle his hair as she tells Vicky to get some rest, he finds it’s not so bad.

  Later, when he’s walking back home after, he can admit, it feels a little warm. Hopefully the movie date is the same.