FIC: UNTITLED, M - (2 Parts)

[Sneesee]

Okay, I have really enjoyed writing this one for some reason, and had to post part one right away! It's just a simple story, about a guy coming down with a cold, and the woman he likes being there to witness his slow decline. I was so eager to post it, I haven't even given it a title, yet!

This is one that everyone can read, so I hope you all enjoy it!

PART 1

Under the dim lights of the pool hall and thick gray smoke, Scott carefully lined up his shot on the table. Just as he was about to hit the cue ball, his nose started to itch. Grumbling, he let go of the cue stick and wiped at his nose with his left hand. Focusing all of his attention back on the pool table, Scott hit the ball and sunk two solids, which was exactly what he’d planned to do.

“Yes,” he whispered to himself.

“Nice one,” a female voice said, surprising Scott.

He looked up from the table to see one of his favorite people from work leaning against the edge of the table.

“Hi Lori,” he said, noticing a husky edge to his voice. He cleared his throat and continued. “How are you tonight?”

“I’m good, thanks. Looks like you’re doing pretty good, too,” she remarked.

“Not bad, I guess,” he said, giving her his best smile. She returned a smile of her own, which struck him in the chest, and he found it suddenly hard to breathe.

“Can I play the next game?”

“Sure,” he said, voice cracking slightly. He cleared his throat again and cursed himself for sounding like some high school kid with a crush, even if that was exactly how he felt.

“I’ll just watch you for now,” she said.

Scott wasn’t sure, but he thought he heard something in her voice when she said, “watch you,” that he had never heard before, something almost suggestive. It could have been his brain playing tricks on him, though. That had happened a time or two in the past, when he was anxious for a relationship with a woman. He brushed it off and decided to change subjects.

“You want a beer?”

“Yeah, a beer would be great,” she said and then sat on a bar stool near the pool table.

Scott immediately summoned the waitress and had her bring two Budweisers. Then he walked around the table, trying to avoid looking at the temptation that was sitting just a few feet away. A small tickle started to form again in the back of his nose, and he became a little irritated with the timing of it. He couldn’t, and wouldn’t, under any circumstances, sneeze in front of Lori. It just couldn’t happen. If she was even slightly interested in him, he could not show any kind of weakness just yet.

Her hazel eyes were definitely on him, he could feel them, but he tried to shurg it off along with the sneezy feeling in his nostrils, too. The persistent itch was threatening to win, when he finally had a brilliant idea. He dropped his stick on the floor.

“Ooops,” he said with a laugh as he bent to pick it up. Once he was on his knees, he rubbed at his nose frantically with his palm, which sedated the feeling for the moment. As soon as he was confident that he wasn’t going to sneeze, he stood up, cue stick in hand.

“I didn’t think you were so clumsy,” Lori joked.

Scott laughed, but laughing produced a small irritation in his throat, and he ended up coughing a little, too.

“Awww, are you okay, Scott?” she asked.

Damn it, he thought.

“I’m fine,” he said with a smile. Perhaps the smoke in the bar was bothering him or something. Normally, his sinuses weren’t so disagreeable.

“Okay.”

The waitress brought the beers and Scott resumed playing. Every time he bent over the pool table, he felt Lori watching him. Was he reading the signs wrong? Sure, they joked and flirted a lot at work, but she did that with a lot of guys. He decided to probe a little bit while he finished his solo game and she drank her beer.

“So, what brings a nice girl like you to a dump like this?” Scott teased.

The waitress, who had been walking behind him, gave him a hard slap on the back.

“Watch it buddy,” she warned. “I could cut you off.”

The three of them laughed at Scott’s little remark and the waitress’ reaction.

“Sorry Darla, I’m only joking around.”

“You’re lucky you’re cute, darlin’.”

Scott blushed slightly, even though he was used to hearing remarks like that. Women did find him attractive, but he tried like hell not to let it go to his head. Although, he really did wish at the moment that Darla’s comment had made Lori a bit jealous. Quickly, he scanned her face for some sort of reaction, but all she did was smile at him. It was the same smile that she always gave him, so he couldn’t exactly judge what she was thinking.

“I just came up here to see you, and challenge you to a game,” she said, still giving him that gorgeous, un-readable smile.

“How’d you know I’d be here?” hew asked, raising an eyebrow at her. That little gesture and question made her blush a little, and he was glad for that.

“I overheard you telling Justin you were coming here after work and decided to come see if you were any good.”

“Nice,” he said, chuckling. Again, the back of his throat became scratchy, and he was really starting to get pissed off.

“Which, I see that you are, and I’m a little rusty at this. I haven’t picked up a cue stick in a long time,” she admitted.

Scott liked hearing that for some reason. Maybe he could teach her a thing or two about shooting pool.

Hell, at least it would give him a chance to be close to her outside of work.

“I’m sure you’ll get the hang of it right away. It’s like riding a bicycle, you never forget,” he assured her, although a huge part of him wanted her to struggle, just so he could help her out.

“Well, I can’t wait to make an ass out myself this next game,” she said, laughing.

Scott finished off the remaining balls on the table, and then started racking them up.

“Wanna break?”

“Nah, you can do it,” she said.

After the table was ready t go, Scott grabbed his cue stick and readied himself in front of the cue ball once more. Once again, as he was concentrating, his nostrils were assaulted again with a tingling sensation. Well, crap, he thought. Why on earth did his nose pick this particular night to act up? Cigarette smoke had never bothered him before, and he didn’t have any known allergies. The only thing that made him sneeze and cough like that was whenever he caught a cold, and that realization left him slightly upset.

“Everything okay, Scott? You look a little pale.”

Lori’s voice startled him a little, which was a good thing. He completely forgot that he needed to sneeze. With a deep and relieved breath, he eased the cue stick into place, ready to hit the ball and break.

“I’m fine, thanks for asking,” he said quietly.

Hitting the ball with all of his strength, the white ball practically shattered the rest of the balls on the table. Several balls went into different pockets, and he was rather pleased with the shot.

“Nice shootin’, Tex,” Lori said in a fake Southern accent.

“Aw, thank ya m’am,” he replied, pretending to tip his non-existent cowboy hat.

“You’re so funny.”

Scott felt heat rise in his cheeks at the compliment. He’d heard many women say that a sense of humor was one of the main things they looked for in a man, and he was really glad she thought so.

The only thing that wasn’t funny, was the sharp, stinging sensation that returned to his nose. He stopped, and held his breath for a few seconds, since he was afraid that if he breathed in, the sneeze would probably work itself out. Sneezing once probably wouldn’t be a bad thing, except that he never quit at just one. If he let himself go, then he’d sneeze anywhere from two to four in rapid succession. It wasn’t like his sneezes were really loud, so it wouldn’t have been a big deal, except that Lori was there. In fact, if she hadn’t been there, he probably would’ve sneezed a bunch already, and wouldn’t have cared one bit, as long as he wasn’t trying to make a shot either. The fact that she was sitting there, watching him, made him very uncomfortable about sneezing.

A drink of beer was what he needed. That would stop it. He didn’t dare rub his nose, or she might say something and draw attention to the fact that he really needed to sneeze. If he took a sip of his beer, he could probably stem the need for a few minutes. Quickly, he grabbed the bottle of Bud and took a long, much needed gulp. Just as he thought, the feeling that he was about to sneeze passed. Thank goodness, he thought as he let out a small sigh of relief.

He shot and missed, so it was Lori’s turn.

“You’re up,” he said.

“All right, but don’t laugh at me.”

“Who’s laughing?”

“I know you. You like to tease me when I do stupid things.”

She was right, of course. He constantly teased her at work, but it was only because he adored her, and couldn’t find any other way to give her any attention.

“I promise not to laugh at you. I only do that at work,” he said, again trying to be charming. It must’ve worked, because as she bent over to line up her shot, he saw a cute smile and a blush cross her cheeks.

“I’m glad.”

She moved the cue back and forth a few times, and then hit the cue ball. It missed its mark and bounced around the table.

“That was a nice shot.”

“I told you not to make fun of me,” she whined as she stood back up.

“I’m not making fun. That was a good shot, you were just a little off, that’s all,” he consoled her, meaning every word he said.

She handed the cue stick back to him and then drank some of her beer. Scott watched her out of the corner of his eye, and saw that she was indeed watching him closely. Of course, his nose once again flared up with in intense itch, and he paused at the table. He shut his eyes, stopped breathing, and tried like hell to will the sneeze away. It was no use and didn’t work. Even with her hazel eyes watching his every move, Scott took that last desperate breath in, and then grasped the pool table with one hand.

“Heh-shhhhhew!”

He directed the first sneeze at the ground, unable to let go of his cue stick to cover it. Then he set the stick on the table as his head flopped backwards, getting ready for the next round of sneezes.

“Heh-esshhhhewww! Esshhhewwww! Essshhhheww!”

Luckily, he caught those three sneezes in his cupped hands, because they ended up being rather heavy and wet.

“Wow, bless you, Scott!”

He glanced over at Lori, and through watery eyes, saw a genuine look of concern on her pretty face. He wanted to smile, he wanted to again throw on the charm, but his body wouldn’t let him. No, instead he needed to sneeze yet again.

“Heshewww! Eshhheww! HEH-ESSSHHHHEWWWW!”

“Bless-”

“HAAAAH-EEESSSHHHHHHEWWWWWW!”

“God bless you, Scott. Are you okay?”

He shook his head no. He desperately needed a tissue, because the last set of sneezes were absolutely the worst. He sniffled, and it wasn’t even coming close to getting his nose cleared out. Both nostrils were wet and full. This was so not how he wanted Lori to see him.

“Here, do you need a tissue?” she asked, reaching into her purse.

He nodded, hands still covering his nose and mouth. She rushed over with a pack of tissues, and handed him a couple she’d already retrieved. Thankful that she had some in her purse, he immediately blew his nose, and cleared both nostrils of mucous and the tickle that led to his current state.

“Aw, thanks,” he said, feeling very embarrassed by the whole thing.

“Feel better now?”

“Yeah, sorry about that. I fought them off as long as I could tonight. Sorry you had to see it.”

“You don’t need to do that. Fight them off, I mean.”

“Huh?” he asked, dumfounded at what she just said.

“Um,” she stammered. “Its not good to hold in your sneezes. Just let them out. I don’t really care.”

“Oh,” he said, still mortified that he’d let loose in her presence.

“Really, it’s not good for you.”

“Uh, okay. Well, promise me you won’t laugh if I keep sneezing, then, okay?” He tried to diffuse his humiliation by injecting some humor again.

“I would never laugh at you, especially for something like sneezing,” she said, her tone somewhat serious.

“Okay, now, where was I?”

After disposing of his tissues, Scott returned to the game. He made the next three shots, and was glad that for the moment, that his nose was cooperating.

“I knew you were gonna kick my ass.”

Scott snickered at that. He liked her competitive nature. If he didn’t feel like crap all of a sudden, he would definitely make some sort of move on her. She was just too close, too sweet, and too much fun not to. Maybe there would be another time, if he could only keep her from being scared or even grossed out by his sneezing and other cold symptoms.

After finally missing a shot, it was Lori’s turn. She walked around the table, looking for a shot. Scott drank the rest of his beer as he watched her. She was nibbling on her lower lip, a look of deep concentration furrowing her eyebrows together. He loved it. He let her think for a few more minutes, and then he couldn’t resist offering her some help.

“I see a great shot, that’s easy to make. Want some help?”

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

“What if you help me and I end up beating you?”

“No big deal. You’d only win because I coached you, then,” he laughed. Again, the laugh became a cough.

“Is it the smoke in here or something that’s making you cough?”

He despised the fact that she was talking about it.

“I don’t think so, I come here all the time, and it’s never bothered me before.”

“Oh.”

“Here, bend over like this,” he said, gently gripping her arms in his hands and placing her in the spot he wanted her. She flinched a little when he grabbed her, and then relaxed in his grasp. He moved her arms and the cue stick into the exact spot that he thought would give her a great opportunity. He leaned over her, and brought himself closer in hopes of catching a whiff of her perfume. It was a no go. Either she wasn’t wearing any, or his nose had really stopped working. He missed smelling it, because every once in awhile he would sniff deeply at work and just barely capture her amazing scent.

“Okay, now what, coach?”

“Oh,” he said, not realizing he’d become distracted. “First, you need to aim the end of your cue stick, so you will hit the ball right here.”

He pointed to the spot on the cue ball that he wanted her to hit.

“So, aim like this?” she asked, glancing back at him.

He was about to tell her that it looked good, when he felt another onslaught of sneezes fast approaching. He wiggled his nose wildly, and then added a finger underneath to try to rub the burning feeling away.

“Like this, Scott?” she asked again, oblivious to his struggle.

“Hold on, I’m gonna…” he trailed off and took two steps back from her. In the brief seconds before his sneezes exploded, he saw her turn and look at him, and he hated the fact that she was going to watch him sneeze again.

He felt the force of the sneeze build slowly in the back of his nose. Finally, it worked its way up and out, bending him over at the waist with a painful thrust.

“Ha-sheewwww! Assshhhhewww! HEH-ESSSSHHHHHEWW! ESSHHHHEWWWWW!”

This time, he couldn’t stand up right away. He was tired and his whole body ached after sneezing. He glanced up to see a handful of tissues in front of his face.

“Thanks,” he groaned as he snatched them out of Lori’s hands. After a couple of good blows, he stood up and felt a little dizzy. Lori grabbed him by the elbow to keep him steady as he shook his head.

“Are you feeling okay, Scott? You don’t look so good,” Lori said.

“I’m fine. Let’s line up that shot again,” he said gruffly. Lori looked at him with pity written all over her face. Pity wasn’t such a terrible thing. In fact, if he had dated her for a while, he might have accepted it. But, since he hadn’t even gone out on one date with the woman, he hated the fact that she pitied him.

Lori obeyed as Scott steadied her arms and hands on the cue stick. He stood over her as she made contact with the cue ball and sent two of her balls into the pockets. She squealed in triumph, and Scott chuckled to himself. He was happy and proud that he helped her make such a great shot.

“Thanks, Scott. I did it!”

“You sure did. And you looked really good doing it,” he said, and then wished that he hadn’t said that last sentence out loud. Lori stopped laughing and stared at him in surprise. Again, Scott became witty and said, “Come on, like you didn’t know I thought you were hot.”

“Are you serious?”

How could she have been so unaware of his attention the past three months?

“Totally,” he said.

He thought he’d made it pretty obvious that he was interested in her. The only thing he hadn’t done was to ask her out yet. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to, but he didn’t think she’d say yes in his current condition. He was worn out, and fading quickly. He just hoped he could finish his game with her.

Lori was about to say something, when Darla re-appeared. She asked if she could get them two more beers.

“I’m done,” Scott said, muffling a cough into s fist. “You want another one, Lori?”

“No thanks, I’m good,” Lori said in a hushed voice.

“Well, this must be a first, Scott. I’ve never seen you drink only two beers. You sure you’re feeling okay?” Darla joked.

As if the mere mention of sickness could trigger it, Scott felt the urgency to sneeze again. It was bad enough to sneeze in front of Lori, but now he was about to do it in front of Darla, too? He gave up on fighting it, because he was way too exhausted.

He threw his arm over his nose and muffled three sneezes into the crook of his elbow. When he opened his eyes, both women were staring at him.

“Bless you darlin’. Guess you really aren’t feeling good, are you?” Darla said.

Scott wanted to be funny again, and make the whole thing into a joke, but the worried frown on Lori’s face prevented him from doing so.

“You’re right. I’m starting to feel kind of crappy,” he said, sniffling. “Could we settle my bill, Darla?”

“Sure, hon. I’ll be right back.”

Scott looked back at Lori just in time to see her tossing the travel pack of tissues at him. Instinctively, he opened his hands and caught it. He had to scramble to take a tissue out in order to catch the sneezes that he felt were approaching at an alarming rate.

“Heh-shheww! Eshhhhheewww! Heh-esshhhewww!”

“Bless you, Scott. It sounds like it’s getting worse,” Lori commented.

“Well, it’s a good thing that I’ve got your tab all figured out, then, darlin’. Just leave it on the table and get your sexy little ass home and in bed,” Darla said as she set down the bill.

Scott tried to laugh at her “sexy little ass” comment, but that started a whole new coughing fit. Darla shook her head and walked away.

Lori went to grab for the bill, but Scott was quicker.

“What on Earth are you doing?” he asked.

“I was going to pay the bill and get you out of here. All this smoke isn’t helping you,” Lori said indignantly.

“The hell you are,” Scott grumbled. “I'll pay this, and then we’ll get out of here.”

Lori smiled, and Scott felt his heart go double time.

“I want a re-match when you’re feeling better, though,” she said with a smug smile.

“You’re on.”

When the money was left, including a hefty tip for Darla, Scott and Lori walked outside into the crisp, night air. Immediately, Scott’s nose reacted and tingled from the breeze. He took in a couple of ragged breaths and then caught Lori watching him out of the corner of his eye. Suddenly, the sneezy sensation abated, and he was left with a very stuffy nose.

“Crap, it’s definitely worse when you don’t sneeze,” he said, sniffling.

“Sorry, Scott. This wasn’t exactly how I pictured the evening would go,” Lori said as they walked towards their vehicles.

“No?”

They both stopped walking, and Lori took a deep breath.

“Not really, I just…” she trailed off.

Scott’s nose took the momentary pause as an okay sign to start acting up again. He sneezed a quick double into his elbow again.

“You should head home and go straight to bed,” Lori commanded.

Scott had to smile at her order.

“Yes mom,” he joked.

She sighed, but then added a small laugh on the end of it.

“I’m just looking out for you,” she huffed.

“You’re right, Lori. I’m on my way,” he said seriously.

“You just said I’m right,” she said with a giggle.

“I must be sick to say something like that.”

They both laughed. Scott felt a small breeze through his clothes and shivered slightly.

“Go on, it’s too chilly out here, and you should rest. Are you coming in to work tomorrow?” Lori asked, a hopeful tone in her voice.

“Oh yeah, I’ll definitely be at work tomorrow,” he said, not planning on missing an opportunity to see her. Plus, he wanted to know more about why she thought the evening hadn’t worked out like she expected it to.

“Take care, Scott. Get some rest, okay?”

“I will,” he promised.

They shared a quick smile, and then both went to their cars. Scott drove home, sneezing and coughing the whole way. Once he made it in the door to his apartment, he grabbed a dose of Nyquil, shed his clothes, and flopped into his unmade bed and fell fast asleep.

TBC...

[threedaysofrain]

Wow!! Amazing story Sneesee, I absolutely loved it!!! Scott is a darling, and the way he kept trying to hold back in front of Lori was (Esp. when he finally let loose.) I am definitely looking forward to more!! Great job, well written, and delicious!!

[And Beat Him When He Sneezes]

Well done.

For some reason I find pool halls sexy places. Well not so much the halls themselves, but it seems li'l hotties always congregate there. I'm just TERRIBLE at the game itself, and I always stand aroung oggling at the hotties at other tables. People notice, and I've stopped going because it's just embarassing.

[Kitty]

OH OH OH OH! MMmm ok so you have no idea how many times my darling daddy has taken me to play pool and helped me line up a shot mmm if he had sneezed any one of those times I so would have my way with his hot ass right there on the felt!

Excellent job - do men think those things, I wonder?... I rather thought they were more about a piece of ass - (LOL!!! I am just kidding guys as that would be me.)

Kitty

[Bongo]

This is such a good story, I love it!

[vote_for_pedro]

Sneesee! This is awesome! The interaction between Scott and Lori is so cute. I hope the next installment comes soon!

[sprinkles287]

Ooooh...TBC! Now that's something I love to hear! Sneesee, this is absolutely fantastic! I love the way Scott was so against showing any sign of weakness in front of Lori in the beginning... Guys with colds are my favorite! You write very well, thank you for sharing this story... I can't wait for more!

[stargazer]

TBC? Nooo! I don't think I can wait. This is great. Please update it soon

[March Hare]

Pom pom POM... Darling, this is LOVELY! I LOVE pool and I LOVE cute guys coming down with colds under the eyes of cute women. Plus, it's VERY well-written. What a delightful thing to start the day with

Thank you very much for posting this!

[Dawnie]

Excellent story, Sneesee. Just great. You just want to take him and play Florence Nightengale.

[countless]

This story is SUPER ! I cannot wait to read the next part. Tip : make it an unpredicted one.

[TheGreenFaerie]

Very nicely written I liked Scott's character! Hope to read more.

[Nicole]

Mmmm, love it, love it, love it!!!

[Lalena]

FABULOUS! I loved it! Can't wait to read more!

[Guest luvsneezes]

Sneesee...awesome story!!! My favorite sneezes are from guys with colds so I loved Scott's situation. Plus, he's a great character. So well written...looking forward to your next installment (which I hope is soon!)

[Sneesee]

Hey, I just re-read this last night and forgot I had worked on the next part a while ago. Here it is:

Part 2

Scott knew his day was going to be rough when his own sneezing woke him up. Luckily, he had a box of tissues next to the bed, and he was able to clear out his clogged nasal passages after several long and exaggerated blows. His head pounded and his throat burned. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d been so sick. As soon as he got up from his bed, he immediately felt light-headed.

"Shit," he groaned as he plopped back down on the bed.

He snatched his cell phone off of his nightstand and dialed work right away. Even though he really wanted to go in to see Lori, he knew with the way he felt there was no way he’d make it through an eight hour day. He went through the proper channels, spoke to the right managers, and told them he wasn’t coming in. He flipped his phone shut, threw it back on the nightstand, sneezed a couple of times into his pillow, and then fell fast asleep again.

When he finally aroused himself from his slumber, Scott trudged into the bathroom to take a peek at himself. Under the harsh glare of the fluorescent light above his sink, he was horrified at what he saw. The green eyes that all the women at work cooed over were dull and bloodshot. Running a hand through his blonde, wavy hair, he found it tangled and gnarled from tossing and turning while he slept. With a moan of disgust, he turned on the warm water and splashed it on his face and hair. He combed his unruly locks into a passable style, and then toweled off his face. After brushing his teeth, he felt almost human again. At least, he felt human enough to go and sit in front of the TV for a while.

Before venturing out of his bedroom, Scott realized that he needed some fresh clothes, since his jeans and shirt reeked of smoke from the bar the night before. Funny how he couldn’t smell a damn thing but the smoke. Yuck. He grabbed a new pair of boxers, and a clean pair of jeans. Even though he still felt a little chilled, he skipped a shirt, thinking that he’d like to curl up under his favorite blanket on the couch anyway.

Walking to the kitchen proved to be the most difficult task ever. He honestly felt like he’d gotten run over by a bus, and his tired legs screamed with every step. Every time he coughed or sneezed his throat hurt. So, when he finally made it to the kitchen, he skipped the orange juice in favor of water, afraid that the OJ would kill his throat.

Scott took his glass of water, a box of tissues, his favorite quilt, and his TV remote and fell onto his couch with a groan. He pulled the blanket up to his chest, and flipped on the television. He surfed all the channels while sipping his water. There was absolutely nothing on. He scanned them all again, not finding a damn thing he wanted to watch. Glancing at the time on the TV, he realized that Lori would have just finished her shift at work, and he became kind of bummed. He was upset that he had told her he’d be in, and then missed seeing her because he stayed home. Although, he was kind of glad she wouldn’t see him in his current state. He also imagined that everyone would probably thank him for not bringing his nasty germs into work.

Even though he’d already slept most of the day, Scott found himself feeling drowsy again. He was about to lay his head down, when he heard a soft knock at the door. It wasn’t like he was expecting anyone, so he was slightly irritated by the interruption. Whoever it was, knocked again a little louder. Slowly, he got up and went to the door with the quilt wrapped around his shoulders. He opened the door, and had to rub his sore eyes to make sure he wasn’t dreaming or hallucinating.

"Lori?" he asked hoarsely.

"Hey Scott, how are you feeling today?"

He opened his mouth to answer, only he ending up sneezing a couple of times into the corner of his blanket.

"Bless you. I guess that answers my question," Lori said, frowning.

"Heh-esssshhhheeewwww! Please don’t look at me like that," he whined, hating the fact that he sounded so childish.

"Like what, Scott?" she asked and then pushed him aside and wandered into his apartment.

"What are you doing?"

He turned around to face her as he asked the question. She stood there, blinking her eyes like he had no right to ask her such a thing. That was one of the things he admired the most about her, she never, ever thought she was wrong about anything.

She peeked into the brown paper bag she cradled in her arms and then looked back into his eyes.

"I brought some stuff over to make you feel better. I’m going to warm up some chicken soup, make you some tea, and dope you up with some cold medicine. Okay?"

At first, Scott felt a surge of warmth at the thought of Lori taking care of him. Then he shook his head when he realized what a terrible idea it was.

"No, not okay, Lori," he said firmly.

She was already in the kitchen, unpacking the bag of groceries, when she stopped and blinked at him again.

"Excuse me?"

Scott let out a huff of breath that became a harsh cough.

"It’s pretty obvious that you need someone to take care of you, so what’s wrong with me?"

"First of all, this cold sucks. I think it’s the worst one I’ve had in a long time. You wouldn’t want to catch it, would you?" Scott said, trying to reason with her.

"Don’t worry about that, I rarely get sick."

Scott groaned, knowing that he was not going to win this argument. In fact, at work, Lori won 95% of their disagreements. Scott guessed that it was partly because he ended up giving up, and partly because she really was that stubborn.

"If you really don’t want company," she said, her voice becoming very sad. "I guess I’ll just go. I’ll leave you everything and you can warm it up on your own."

Scott sniffled, feeling really bad about being so grumpy with her.

"I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be crabby. I just wouldn’t want you to get sick. This cold is terrible," he admitted and then shuffled back to his couch and fell into it.

She smiled warmly at him, and he closed his eyes so he didn’t have to look at her. She knew she’d won again, and he didn’t have it in him to fight with her. Plus her smile just made him want to do things to her he wouldn’t be able to in his current condition.

"You just relax, Scott. I’m not worried about your little cold, and I’ve been waiting all day to see you," she said and then turned her head away from him.

He peeked at her with one eye, and when she caught him looking at her, a scarlet blush stained her cheeks.

"I missed you at work today. It was almost unbearable without you there. Plus, I knew you must have been in really bad shape to call off like that. I couldn’t wait to get out of there and come take care of you," she admitted shyly, the last sentence almost a whisper.

Licking his dry lips, Scott just stared in awe at her. Then he took a sip of water and cleared his throat.

"So, you missed me?"

"Yeah, and don’t act like you don’t know how much I like you," she teased, gently throwing his similar comment from the previous night back at him.

He was amazed. Not only was she the coolest woman he’d ever met, she was now standing in his kitchen, making him soup and stuff. And she said she liked him. Maybe this cold wasn’t so bad after all…

"Hesshhhhhhuuuu! Ahhhh…Ahhhssshhhhoooo!"

"Bless you."

"Ugh, thanks," he snuffled. The he rubbed at his neck. "Ow, those kind of hurt."

"You poor thing," she murmured, studying him with her hazel eyes.

At first, he’d been so horrified to show Lori how lame he got when he was sick. With her last remark, though, he found himself suddenly eager to soak up all of her attention.

TBC...

[kayla]

I like this story. I just read it today but I can't wait for the next part. Keep in coming.

[Candy]

Awww! So so cute, I love it! Can't wait for more

[Kitty]

delicious! More please...

Kitty

[Scarlett]

Hey..its the 17th now........PLEASE?

Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful.

[KawaiiKitty]

This story reads like watching a movie. Even though I am reading words, I can almost see the scene playing out very clearly in front of me. I love how each character has their own "voice".

The beginning plays out like one long tease, how you chart the development of his cold from the very first nasal tickle. By the time she handed Scott the tissue I was biting on my fingers.

Lori's character is sweet, how she is determined to care for Scott even though he is acting so gruff towards her. And she is breaking him down a little bit!

[TeaParty]

TBC...

One of the best stories i've ever red!

but what does TBC mean?

[Sneesee]

but what does TBC mean?

The TBC means it's To Be Continued, only, I haven't really done much more on this story. I've had too many other thigns going on to work on it. Someday, though, I will continue Scott's story.

[Geist]

OMG, shooting pool AND sneezing?!?! JFLSDKFJDS!!! I have so much love for this, seriously....HOT HOT HOT!!!

~Aku

[shy_obsession]

Masterpiece. That was incredible. I wish I could write fic like that. The funny thing is that I saw myself in Scott. I'm one of those people who don't want others to see me displaying any signs of a cold. I dunno, it just makes me feel like I'm showing vulnerability and I don't like that. Either that or I'm grossing people out. But that's not my point. I loved your story-it had every necessary element to it. You've inspired me to write one myself.