Quick Flicks

I'd been laying in bed all morning, looking at my phone. I was surprised to not see a "good morning" text from Tyler, as he usually sent me one before he headed to practice. It was ten, so I knew he should be out of practice by now. I called him, but was surprised when it went straight to voicemail. I figured I'd call Jamie, since he was Tyler's best friend and would probably know where he was.

"Hey Em, what's up?"

"Hey Jamie, have you seen Tyler? I haven't heard from him since yesterday morning."

"Oh, uh, yeah. He-" Jamie sounded strange, like he was trying to cover something up. "He's just, uh, busy."

"Jamie, you know as well as I do that you're lying. Where is he really?"

"Um, I dunno." I was silent for a few moments.

"Jamie, you are literally the worst liar ever." He was quiet for a few moments. Sighing, he spoke.

"I know. Honestly, he's at home. I think he started feeling sick last night and then Coach sent him home from practice this morning."

"What? Oh my god, is he okay? Why didn't he tell me?"

"I mean, he didn't look too good when he left practice. He pretty much passed out on the ice and then the trainers had to help him off. And, honestly, I don't think he wanted to worry you."

I rolled my eyes. Typical guy to not want to focus on taking care of himself and worry instead about looking cool.

"Um, okay. I'm gonna head over to his place to see if he's alive. Thanks Jamie."

"Yeah, no problem. Just do me a favor and don't tell him I told you where he was. And let me know if you need anything."

"Alright, bye Jame." I hung up the phone. I threw on a pair of yoga pants and a dark gray v-neck. Gathering a few things and throwing them into my bag, I ran out the door and hopped into the car.

A few minutes later, I arrived at Tyler's place. His car wasn't in the driveway, so he must have had someone drive him home from practice. Fuck, he really is sick. I unlocked the door with the key Tyler had given me, and walked inside. I saw his bag on the ground and his shoes nearby, as well.

"Ty?" I walked through his living room and down the hall, noticing Cash & Marshall sleeping next to each other on the ground outside of his room. "Hey guys, is Daddy sick?" I bent down and scratched their heads, before quietly opening Tyler's door. "Babe?"

I saw a pile of blankets on his bed, which I was pretty sure he was under. I snuck over and sat on the edge of his bed, causing him to stir. He rolled over and peeked his head out from under the blanket, looking shocked when he saw me.

"Hey babe, what's up?"

"I don't know, Ty. You wanna tell me?" He coughed and pushed the blankets off of him, revealing his outfit of sweatpants and a hoodie, the hood pulled up onto his head. Sitting up quickly, he opened his mouth to say something before abruptly standing up and shuffling to the bathroom. He slammed the door behind him, and it was silent for a few moments before he started puking. I winced at the sound, both because it was gross and it meant he was truly sick. I walked over and knocked on the door after the sound had stopped for a minute. "Ty, can I come in?"

He didn't respond, so I took matters into my own hands. I found him curled up on the cold tile, toilet seat thankfully closed, groaning.

"Go away", Tyler groaned, turning his face away from me.

"Nope, can't get rid of me that easily. You wanna go back to your bed?" Tyler thought about it for a moment, before deciding to get up. I had to help support him slightly, which was pretty difficult due to his size. He climbed back in bed and I pulled the covers over him, tucking him in. "Why didn't you tell me you were sick." Tyler shrugged.

"I didn't want you to worry about me. I can take care of myself." I laughed.

"Uh, Ty, I love you but you're kinda stupid sometime. I'm obviously going to worry about you. And. clearly, you can't take care of yourself right now." Tyler groaned and covered his face with the blanket.

"Yes, I can." I laughed again at his typical stubbornness.

"Will you let me stay if I wear a sexy nurse costume?" He pulled the covers slowly off of his face, revealing a smirk. "Thought so. I'll be right back." I ran into the other room, grabbing a bowl and the can of chicken noodle soup I had brought with me. After making it, I grabbed a water bottle from the fridge and headed back to Tyler, with a cold towel and a thermometer in my hand, as well.

"Where's the costume?" Tyler quietly asked, his throat obviously sore.

"I lied about the costume. But, you aren't getting rid of me now." Tyler looked disappointed and crossed his arms over his chest like a child. "Come on, sit up. I made you some soup." I handed it to him and he gladly accepted it. He moved his hood off of his head, and I noticed that his face shone with sweat. "Jeez, Ty, you're burning up. Here, take off your shirt." Tyler set his bowl of soup down beside him and took his sweatshirt off. I could hear him mumble something about 'buying him dinner first' as he did so, but I just ignored him.

Tyler ate some more of his soup before setting it down for good. I placed the cold towel on his head and handed him the bottle of water. He chugged it before chucking it across the room in an attempt to make it into the trash can, whispering "Kobe!" as he did so. It didn't make it in.

"You're a tool." He chuckled and laid back down again. I curled into his side, grabbing the spare blanket from the end of his bed and pulling it over myself. He had the blanket around his waist, leaving the top half of him naked. I figured it would help lower his body temperature plus, I couldn't complain about the view.

"Hey, I don't want to get you sick." I shushed him.

"Don't worry about me. You're the one who's sick right now. I'll worry about me later." Tyler pulled me closer and kissed the top of my head.

"Good, because I need someone to cuddle with."
-----------------------
"Hey Em, how ya doin'?" I started coughing before answering him.

"I'm - ah, fuck it. I think you got me sick, Ty."

"Aw, I'm sorry. But I did kinda tell you so." I didn't laugh at his attempt at a joke. "But, seriously, I'll be over soon."

It had been a week since Tyler had been sick, and I was feeling absolutely horrible. I'd spent the night puking, and now my head throbbed and I had the chills. I wore one of Tyler's sweatshirts and a pair of sweatpants and was curled up in my bed, under my blanket.

I awoke to Tyler sitting on the edge of my bed, brushing my hair out of my face.

"Baby, scoot over." I did as he said, and he crawled under the blanket. I turned to face him, gripping him close as I shivered. He hugged me tight and rubbed my back, as I rested my head on his chest. "You feel like a fucking fire, Em. How are you cold?" I shrugged, trying to absorb all of Tyler's body heat. "I'm gonna take care of you, okay? I owe you, anyway."

Tyler stood up and walked into my kitchen. I could hear cabinets and drawers opening and closing, and laughed as I heard Tyler swear as he dropped something. He walked back into the room, sans shirt and in his tight boxer briefs with some supplies in hand. After noticing my facial expression, Tyler laughed and clued me in.

"Hey, you didn't hold up your end of the 'sexy nurse' deal, but that doesn't mean I can't. He did a little spin and shook his ass at me, making me laugh. "Here, drink some water and take this Advil. My mom said that should make you feel better." I did as he said, shivering at the chill of the water.

"Thanks Nurse Tyler." I slapped his ass playfully as he walked away to put throw the water bottle away. After returning to the room, he climbed back into bed, wrapping the two of us in the blanket and pulling me close to him.

"It's a good thing I'm so hot." I giggled.

"I'd hit you, but my arms are too sore. And, I can't really disagree." Tyler laughed, kissing my forehead.

"Maybe we can play nurse and patient again once you're feeling better."

My eyes closed as I felt myself drifting to sleep. "Mmmm."

Notes