Cold denial

[v a n i l l a]

I'm glad you guys like it so much. :3 I feel awful about not continuing before; I had severe writer's block and laziness. But now, I promise, I will finish this fic! XD Btw, quick correction for the last update: The last thing she needed was for Mr. Flost to scold her and Austin for being sick.**

Chloe's gaze continuously shifted from Mr. Flost and Austin. She could tell that the current peace was about to shatter like a broken mirror as Austin's breathing began to hitch. It was obvious to her that he needed to sneeze, and she wished that he would just get it over with; he was just going to end up making the fit longer and worse by delaying the inevitable. He positioned his hand so that it was casually propping up his head, his elbow resting on the sleek surface of the desk, with his fingers wedged under his nose to suppress the itch. His breathing continued to hitch, and he finally exceeded his limitations, crumpling forward with a stifled fit, much to Chloe's dismay and Mr. Flost's disgust.

"Hmp'ktsch. Hup'mmnksch. Eih'mpktsch, rghktsch." His sneezes were somewhat muffled, caught between the palms of his hands in an attempt to decrease their volume. Chloe grimaced, knowing full well that Mr. Flost was moments away from snapping. Austin flushed slightly, but kept his eyes trained onto his teacher, though his unfocused eyes simply confirmed his illness. His shoulders were slumped over now, exhaustion radiating from him, though he forced himself to stay remotely awake and alert. Chloe was hoping that the crisis was over, but she was proved to be incorrect. Austin crumpled forward once more, his head tilting backwards as his hands flew up to capture his sneezes, his breathing hitching repeatedly in helpless gasps. "Her'kutschoo. Hmmp'kschoo! Aiek'tschoo!" He had obviously abandoned his attempts at stifling, and was simply attempting to make his unstifled, escaping sneezes as soft as possible. Mr. Flost opened his mouth to comment, but Chloe cut him off before he could, going against every part of her instinct.

"Mister Flost, can I go to the nurse? I have a headache," she lied, silently praying that she had prevented him from punishing Austin to the full extent in the form of public humiliation.

"Just go; you can take Austin with you," he snarled, eager to rid himself of his two burdens. Austin glanced at Chloe, his eyes saturated with gratitude and surprise. Chloe slipped out of the classroom, refusing to make eye contact with anyone on her way out.

[Not_Telling]

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

*waits eagerly for more*

[Chiguy]

Awesome!

So glad you picked this up again!!

[CuteSneezeGirl]

OH MY GOSH.

I can go die in peace now.

It's just too cute... C': And I really, really like where this is going.

Please, please, please continue! <3

[v a n i l l a]

Austin's perplexed gaze met Chloe's, who uncomfortably allowed her's to waver onto the floor. "You okay? You're not usually one to go to the nurse voluntarily. I usually have to make you pass out first," he teased, though his tone held a texture of genuine concern as well. Chloe immediately rolled her eyes.

"We're not going because of me, Austin," she clarified, speaking in a very "matter of fact" tone. Austin raised an eyebrow, now thoroughly confused, as his congested mind was having difficulty processing.

"Wait, what are you talking about!? I'm lost," Austin replied cluelessly, his sentence punctuated with a wet sniffle.

"Oh, come on, Austin. You can't seriously still be pretending that you're alright," Chloe exclaimed sharply.

"Chlo', are you seriously still worried that I'm sick? Seriously, I'm fine. It's just allergies or something," he explained, his tone very nonchalant and casual, which simply made Chloe even more irritated than before.

"You don't have allergies, Austin. And why can't you just admit that you're sick?" At this, Austin's expression grew strangely amused, which confused Chloe greatly.

"Gee. That remind you of anywha... hah... -Hept'ktsch!- anyone?" Austin teased, batting his eyes innocently as Chloe scowled crossly.

"Hey, at least I went to the nurse!" Chloe objected, finally cracking a slight grin, as Austin's humor was eroding at her irritation.

"Yeah, after you passed ah... hah... -Aik'tschoo!- out. Huh... Haiktschoo! Huh'mpktschoo!" Austin winced slightly as he felt a chill travel up his spine.

"Uh huh. You're definitely not sick," Chloe bantered, grinning in satisfaction of her apparent victory, though she was still flooded with concern for him.

Austin shrugged weakly. "So what if I am? It's not like I could do anything about it."

Now it was Chloe's turn to be confused. "What do you mean? Just call your mom and have her pick you up," she replied, as if this was obvious. Austin's expression darkened, and he dropped his gaze, much to Chloe's surprise.

"I-I can't. She can't take off work early, and she doesn't get off until four," Austin explained. Chloe winced, sympathy saturating her emotions. She knew better than to ask about his father; Austin had been born out of wedlock, and his mother never told him who his dad was. It was a subject that Chloe never brought up. She hesitated slightly, not sure exactly how to respond.

"So... What do you want to do then? You can't just go back to class and pretend you're fine, we already saw how that worked out with me," she reasoned, attempting to lighten the mood a bit.

Austin smirked in amusement, followed by a weak shrug. "I'm actually not sure, to be honest."

To be continued :3

[Not_Telling]

Cute c:

[ebay34]

OMG I'm in love with this story and Austin........... PLZ continue this amazing story

[ebay34]

Oh and also more allergy sneezes from Chloe because Austin forgot her allergy plz

[ebay34]

Has this wonderful story been forgotten? I hope not

[Hibiscus]

This story is soooooo good! I like Austin, he and his sneezes are likable. I am waiting for the TBC very eagerly!

[v a n i l l a]

I'm so sorry! I got locked out of my account and I couldn't get back in until just now. I'll try to update this as soon as I can!

[ValkyriePleasant]

Eeeeeep, vanilla is back! I was so upset that this story was done for good.

[ebay34]

Eeeeeep, vanilla is back! I was so upset that this story was done for good.

Me too

[SneezyP]

Really good story, I love cold denial stuff!

[v a n i l l a]

Austin shook his head, as if to clear it. "Actually, never mind. I can't do anything aside from going back to class anyways. You know that as well as I do," he pointed out, a hint of a playfully victorious smirk edging at his lips. Chloe's eyes narrowed slightly.

"And why is that," she inquired, only a glimmer of humor glazing her stern tone.

"Because," he began almost snarkily, as if it were obvious, "I couldn't go home if I wanted to, and besides, it's not even like I'm that sick. Not nearly as much as you were, anyways. See? I haven't even sneezed once in the past f-five minutes!" He spoke in a nonchalant manor, though it was becoming increasingly obvious that he was doing everything in his power not to let his breath catch or his composure falter as the tickling sensation enveloped his nose. Chloe wore a smug grin as Austin's eyelids gradually fluttered closed, and his head gradually tilted backwards until the irritation was too much to endure, and he snapped forward with a fit that was long overdue. "Aiktsch! Hupktsch! Th-Thua... Trschksh! This duh... huah... Haiktsch! -sn't puh... puak'tsch! -prove anythih... Eih... EIKHTSHOO." Austin stumbled slightly during his final sneeze, as the fit had taken a lot out of him, since he'd been attempting to stifle them. That last one, however, was particularly strong, and came out entirely unstifled, tearing at his throat a bit. He sniffled congestedly as he avoided eye contact with Chloe out of sheepishness.

"Oh yeah, you seem perfectly fine. Definitely fit to go back to class," she mused sarcastically. However, her teasing behavior skidded to a halt with Austin's unusual response.

"Look. I don't know what you want me to say, okay?! I don't have anyone who can pick me up, and I feel bad enough right now without you yelling at me." He opened his mouth to say more, but he was interrupted by a harsh fit of coughing that caused him to double over halfway, his hands placed on his knees to steady himself. Guilt saturated Chloe as she placed her hand on his shoulder, nearly wincing when she felt the muscles beneath her fingers tense from the strength of the fit. She began rubbing his back a bit in an attempt to allow the fit to subside, and it eventually worked.

"I'm sorry... I didn't mean to make this harder for you, I just-... I don't like seeing you like this," she admitted uncomfortably, not meeting his eyes. "Alright, Mr. Flost thinks we're at the nurse right now, so we can just sit somewhere and rest until PE, then after that is lunch, you can decide then if you're okay to stay until school ends or if you want my mom to pick us up or something, cause she'll have her lunch break around then. Deal?" she inquired tentatively, her voice laced with concern. Austin attempted to nod in response, but he was overcome by another helpless fit of sneezes.

"Himpktschoo. Huarkngxh. Aiktxschah! Aieh... Haikurtschoo!" A chill laced Austin's spine as he shivered uneasily, his hands rubbing at his goose bump embossed arms in an attempt to warm them up. He mentally scolded himself for neglecting to bring a jacket that morning. He hated feeling helpless like this. For heaven's sake, it was just a cold. It wasn't some sort of fatal condition, and he should be able to deal with this situation on his own. And yet, here he was; shivering, sneezing, and utterly powerless. Despite his reluctance, he knew that he didn't really have any option other than to just obey Chloe's instructions. Chloe didn't wait for Austin to respond. She simply laced her arm around his shoulder to steady him and lead him towards a picnic table, their shoes echoing as they tapped against the pavement. They settled down onto the bench, sitting side by side, and Austin rested a minute portion of his weight onto Chloe by leaning on her shoulder, as he was a bit lightheaded at the moment. She smirked slightly to herself, chuckling inwardly at Austin's sudden vulnerability, which she found incredibly adorable. She cocooned the shivering boy by placing her arm back around him, allowing him to place his head fully onto her shoulder. Austin promptly complied. Though he wouldn't admit it, he was grateful for Chloe being so genuinely concerned for him enough to care for him like this. However, the peaceful moment didn't last long. Irritation suddenly overwhelmed his sinuses, and he attempted to suppress the sneeze as much as possible to avoid spraying Chloe like a broken sprinkler. He became abashed as his breathing was chopped into conspicuous gasps. In the back of his mind, he knew that holding back would just make things worse. But when he was in this state, logic wasn't exactly an element in his thoughts. Chloe glanced downward in concern, unsure of what was making Austin act like that, as she was used to him just releasing his sneezes instead of trapping them inside of him like this.

"Hey, Austin... Are you alri--" She was promptly interrupted by another sharp inhale as Austin attempted to turn his head away from her, though still resting on her shoulder as he struggled to refrain from letting his sneezes out. His breathing was ragged and slightly wheezy.

"Eih... hiah... Hgnxxt. Hmp'ngxsh, ngxsh, nrxgh. I'm fi-.. hi.. hia'ktrch- fine. D-Don't wuh... huh... worry abih.. hih... Aik'TRGXSCH- about mih... hmpnxgh- me." He was trying desperately not to sneeze on Chloe. This whole situation was already embarrassing enough; he didn't need to make it even worse. Chloe's heart became saturated with concern as she felt Austin crumple into her embrace helplessly with a bout of coughing.

"Hey, hey, easy there. You don't have to pretend to feel okay just so I won't be worried, okay? I just want to make sure you're okay." Austin blinked gratefully and readjusted himself in Chloe's protective grasp so that his head was on her lap, propped up slightly by her arm that was cradled around his neck, and he tucked his knees up to his chest, trying to close up like a little roly poly in order to keep warm. Chloe stroked his hair once more. She flinched as she heard the drone of rain pattering in the distance. Sure, they were under a covered hallway for the moment, but this would end up being a problem pretty soon when-- As if on cue, the bell sounded, signalling the end of their current class and the beginning of PE, which was probably the last place that Austin should be right now. She gently kissed his forehead and stirred him slightly. "Sorry Austin. Just one more class, and then my mom can come and take you home," she promised. He moaned groggily as he gradually attempted to wake up, though he was too exhausted to even move.

"Don't wanna go..." he whimpered weakly. Chloe felt a fissure slice at her heart at the sound of Austin's helpless, pitiful plea. He had never, ever behaved like this before. This was a foreign concept, and Chloe wasn't sure what to do.

"Just one more class, I promise," she repeated, hoping he would be able to last just a little while longer, as her mom truly could not come to pick him up until lunch. He didn't seem to be listening. His eyes were dull and glazed over; the complete opposite of their typical spark and mischievous glint. Before Chloe could say anything else, he crumpled into her stomach, stifling his sneezes into her shirt.

"Ei'krsch! Ai'mnksch! Hih... heih, ih, eh... Hah... Aiek'etscah, ketschoo, eikschoo. Hei... Aih... HUA... Uah'PKTSCHah! Heip'KERSCHOO!" Austin punctuated his explosive fit with a wet sniffle, his cheeks burning fuchsia as he realized what had just happened. "Chlo', I'm suh.. huah... Eik'TSCHah! -soh.. hoh... sorry. I dih.. hih... Hix'TCHAH! -dih-didn't mean tuh- huh- MRKSCHAH! -to." He attempted to clamp his hand over his mouth to at least block some of the damage, but he was too weak and groggy to do anything other than cough and sneeze, apparently, and these sneezes were also sent into the direction of Chloe, though less direct this time. Chloe shook her head, not even responding to Austin's apology.

"Austin... Do you want to wait for me in the health office until after PE? You don't sound like you're fit to do PE right now..." He shook his head meekly.

"N-No... I don't wanna be there alone for an hour... We'll go at luh.. huh... Hup'KNXCH! -lunch." Austin reluctantly got to his feet with a lot of help from Chloe, and she led the ill boy to the gym, silently cursing the sky for raining. To make matters worse, it just seemed to come down harder and harder, the vapor droplets hitting Austin like lethal icebergs, sending continuous chills down his spine as he trudged with Chloe to the gym.

---

Sorry for not responding for so long! I tried to make this update longer than usual to make up for it a little bit. Feedback is always welcome And lemme know any suggestions you have for the story. Thank you guys for commenting and stuff, it means a lot

[Lucyana]

Omg so good I want more please!

[ebay34]

Thank you soooo much for continuing I can't wait for an update

[AESneezy]

Really enjoyed this please finish

[monochrome]

This is super cute! Please write more

[v a n i l l a]

Thanks guys! I'm so glad you guys like it!

Chloe sighed, drumming her fingers nervously against the damp pavement. The rain apparently wasn't heavy enough to prevent outdoor activities, so they would be having PE out in the rain. She was reluctant to discover what they would be doing, as it would undoubtedly make Austin feel worse. She felt the sleek polyester of her PE shorts and cheap cotton of her PE shirt choke with water. She was perturbed by the steady incline of the rainfall around her, and had to squint in order to see a slightly clearer image of her surroundings as she tried to locate Austin. She felt her shoulders relax slightly when he finally trudged out of the locker room, his hair disheveled and tousled, reminding her of a long haired terrier mix. He crumpled downwards in his assigned spot, shivering occasionally as he endured the routine stretches and exercises, staggering unsteadily to his feet when the gym teacher announced what they would be doing for the duration of the class period, which would be running laps around the track. Thankfully, it wouldn't be timed, but still... She drifted over to Austin as the class migrated to the track, lacing her arm around his shoulder.

He crumpled slightly into her as he stifled a powerful volley of sneezes, snapping forward violently with each one and tucking his head into his sopping wet and uncovered arm. "Aih'ngxtch, nuh'gxch, pua'KRXC, rhktsch, nggxch." He tried desperately to hold them in, but there was no use. "Eh, heih... HAEH... Heh'PRGXtch!" They were stronger than he was, and he hardly had enough strength to stand, let alone enough to overpower his unbearably irritable nose. "Huh.. heih... Haeigh... Heh'PKEURXGch!" He tried desperately to hold them back by having his breathing hitch in anywhere from three to seven helpless gasps before being overpowered. He failed to realize that this only made the intense tickle exponentially worse, prolonging the fit and increasing the number of times he would need to sneeze in order to satisfy the irritation. "Eih, heih... Aih... AIH, EIP'KXCnch!" Chloe rubbed his back sympathetically, trying to get him to relax as she became saturated with guilt. She should have sent him to the nurse's office and made him wait for her. Sure, he might be a little lonely, but at least he wouldn't be suffering in the frigid rain where his cold could easily turn into bronchitis. Before Chloe could say something to comfort the disoriented boy, the coach hollered for them to begin running. She groaned, knowing that this would end up being a nightmare. Austin forced himself into a light jog, doubling over occasionally with a thick fit of coughing. Chloe stayed by Austin's side and maintained his pace, honestly not caring if she got called out by her gym teacher. It was stupid to make kids run in the rain in the first place, let alone when one of them could barley stand on their own.

PE came to a close a bit earlier than usual this time due to the rain, and by then, Austin was practically drenched from head to toe, his hair dripping with excess moisture, and he was shivering helplessly. After he got changed into his normal clothes, he looked a bit better, as his normal clothes were mostly dry, but his hair was still sopping wet. The classes were instructed to sit in the gym for a bit until the end of the period, and Chloe perched herself right beside Austin, his soggy head nestled into her lap as she stroked his damp hair, attempting to gently wring it out with her fingers. He was beginning to wheeze a bit with each breath, which made Chloe nauseous with nervousness, as she desperately hoped that his cold had not turned into something worse. She stamped her hand carefully onto his forehead and nearly winced from the heat, despite his constant shivering that had led her to believe he was warmer than he was. She kissed his soggy head as he attempted to stifle a couple of sneezes into her knee, which was his only available surface.

"Ehp'ktrsch. Aik'rschah! Huhp'kitschoo!" He shivered once more, wilting into Chloe's embrace as he longed to be somewhere warm and dry, with his head and sinuses clear and his spirits high so that he could be some fun instead of making Chloe play nurse for the day, which he imagined she was only doing because she was so kind and patient. Little did he know how pleased it made her to be able to take care of him like this, when he lay limp on her lap in such a vulnerable state. Of course, she wanted him to feel better as soon as possible, but she was definitely enjoying this for as long as it may last.

[Melody]

This is soo cute...I love it! Thanks for updating Your a really good writer!!

[Lucyana]

More more more! You don't understand how much I love this story!

[v a n i l l a]

I'm so glad you guys like this story! Hope you like the update. I'll put another part up soon.

Austin and Chloe slipped out of the gym, bracing themselves for the bitter rain that lay outside its doors. Chloe had her arm wrapped around his shoulders as he huddled close to her like a penguin in an attempt to keep warm. Chloe felt her heart swell with compassion and sympathy as she steered him away from the gym and, consequently, towards the lunch tables. He stiffened suddenly in her arms, pivoting away from her as he expelled a thick, painful fit of coughing into his elbow, leaning as far away from her as he could before reluctantly slinking back to her. Chloe frowned. She knew that he was trying to be polite by not coughing or sneezing on her, but by doing so, he was sticking his head back into the pouring rain. She tightened her grip on him slightly. The muscles in his shoulders tensed as she did so, and his breath hitched a couple of times in desperation. His fingers clamped onto his nose, pinching it tightly shut. He let out a burst of painfully and forcefully stifled sneezes into Chloe's chest. "Hih... Hih'MRNGST! Hip'KNGTSCH, EHPKRSCH! Eih... AikTRSHah! Hep'KUHRSCHEW!" His fit was prolonged by his stubborn refusal to release his sneezes in stifled. Instead, he kept his nose wedged between his fingers until the irritation simply became too powerful. Chloe knit her eyebrows together as she gave Austin an accusatory glare. She opened her mouth to say something, but she was interrupted by Shelby, who had come running over, drenched both in rain and panic.

"Holy crap! Austin... Are you--"

"I'm fine. I'm just r-really cold and not feeling that great," he replied simply. It was obvious to both Chloe and Shelby that this was false. Not only because he was a dreadful liar, but because he didn't lace his response with some teasing sarcastic remark to distract everyone from his health, or lack of it.

Shelby unzipped her jacket, and Chloe did the same, feeling foolish for not thinking to do this earlier. Both girls wrapped their damp but still efficiently warm jackets onto the shivering boy sympathetically as they helped Austin onto the lunch table bench. "Austin, do you want to go home, or do you think you can make it..?" Shelby inquired hesitantly. It had been easier to force Chloe to go home. She was a thin, fragile little thing with a blazing fever who couldn't manage to stand on her own two feet. Austin, on the other hand, could stand fine on his own, wasn't running too much of a temperature, and seemed as if all he needed was to take a nice hot shower and change into some warm clothes, and then he'd be good as new. Under his facade, he actually felt dreadful, and wanted nothing more than to curl up in bed for a few weeks. But there wasn't really a good solution to this problem. His mother didn't get off work until four, which is an hour after school let out. There was no way she could come pick him up, not that she would anyways. And if Chloe's mom got off work early and he went home with her and Chloe, he would be making Chloe take care of him all day like he was some injured puppy she found on the street that she had to nurse back to health. Not exactly a fun situation for her. He would just have to suck it up for a little longer.

"It's okay. I'll be fine. I'm not running a fever or anything, so the nurse wouldn't send me home anyways," he improvised, hoping they would buy it. "I don't feel that bad, honestly. I'm just really cold." This was partly true; his biggest problem was that his hands felt like ice and his clothes and hair were soaking wet, but that was steadily deteriorating his health, and would do so until he ended up sick in bed for a couple of weeks. That information, however, he kept to himself. As he said this he sat lifeless at the lunch table, fiddling absently with his fork as he mindlessly stirred his food around his plate.

"Austin... I don't want you to get worse, okay? If the nurse sees how bad you feel, she'll have to send you home. At least go to see her, okay? If she let's you go back to class, then fine. I'll let you stay the rest of the day. If she wants you to go home right now, then I'll call my mom. Or maybe you could just lay down in there until the day's over. That way you wouldn't have to endure your classes or anything."

Austin shifted uncomfortably in his seat and refused to make eye contact with anyone. "No. Chloe, Shelby, it's fine. I don't want you guys stressing over this. It's stupid for your mom to take off work right now, Chlo'. I'm not her kid, and I don't have a key to my house. What's she gonna do? Take care of me all day? I'm not some kind of injured kitten or whatever, and I can take care of a little cold. I'll go home when my mom can get off work and I'll take a hot shower and go to sleep. Just drop it, please." As if to highlight how inaccurate his statement was, his lungs decided to send him doubling over with a painful bout of coughing.

This time, Chloe didn't even react. She was too busy saturating in disbelief. Her hands clenched under the table, a torrent of fury brewing within her that she used to suppress her sorrow. She had things she wanted to say, or rather, needed to say, but she knew she couldn't. If she opened her mouth, her shell of indifference would implode and she would feel her emotions trickle down her cheeks in the form of angry, hurt tears. She already felt a lump of emotion forming in her throat. She wouldn't give him that satisfaction. She knew he was stubborn, and she knew he would probably get fed up with her constant fussing after a while. But when they had been alone, he hadn't acted this way. Of course, when in the eyes of others, he turned into a typical teenage boy, wanting to appear strong and self sufficient, incompetent of being overpowered by the common cold. She would not allow him to break her. Or al least, he would not get to see her when she broke. She needed to preserve at least a touch of dignity.

Shelby sat in utter discomfort, not knowing whether she should scold Austin, console Chloe, or simply keep her mouth shut. She decided the latter seemed the safest, so she followed suit and ate her lunch without saying another word.

Austin sat motionless in his seat, aside from an occasional half-stifled sneeze or bout of chest rattling coughs. He really hadn't meant to come off so harsh; he just wasn't sure how to vocalize his thoughts, and everything just seemed overwhelming and annoying right now. He figured that he'd probably made Chloe pretty pissed, but he wasn't sure if he could fix that at this point, and he wasn't even sure if he wanted to. If he said anything, he'd probably just make the situation worse.

When the bell sounded, Chloe silently rose from her seat and stepped over to Austin. She spitefully curled her fingers around her jacket and withdrew it from him. As a reflex, he glanced upwards in a pitiful state of shock, but he quickly caught himself and cast his gaze back downwards, reminding himself that he was supposed to be annoyed with her. Or... was he? Everything was too confusing right now. He didn't know, and he didn't care. He just wanted to be alone and sleep for a few months. Shelby uncomfortably copied Chloe, reclaiming her jacket, since she wanted to do something to show Austin he was out of line, though she wasn't sure that taking away his only source of warmth was the right way to do that. Then again, he had said he was fine. So he would have to deal with it, she supposed.

The three of them departed without saying another word. Chloe endured the remainder of her classes. She managed to appear like she was paying attention to avoid having her teachers scold her, but, in actuality, she was worrying about Austin the entire time. She understood that he didn't want to be babied, but she also knew that there was absolutely no way he could survive alone. Like it or not, he truly was like an injured kitten. He may have thought he had everything under control, but he truly didn't.

As soon as the final bell blared, Chloe drifted through the hallways. She knew that Austin wouldn't be able to leave for an hour, so she wasn't surprised to see him sound asleep on a lunch table bench, his head propped up by his backpack. He was under an awning, but he was still drenched. His hair was dripping onto the sleek canvas of his backpack and he was shivering constantly. She knew she was supposed to be upset with him, but he looked so helpless and adorable... She couldn't just leave him lying there. She nudged him delicately and brushed some hair out of his eyes. She flinched slightly as she did so. Despite the frigid rain that had enveloped him, his forehead was dangerously hot.

"Austin, wake up." She kept her voice low and gentle to avoid startling him. He stirred slowly, lifting his groggy head from his backpack, blinking in confusion as Chloe helped him to his feet. He seemed unsteady on his feet, so Chloe wrapped her arms around the shivering boy, slinging his backpack over her own shoulder, as he could hardly bear his own weight at the moment. He crumpled into her embrace once more. As much as he had tried to avoid this situation from playing out, it seemed to be inevitable. He didn't have the energy to turn away from Chloe this time as a sharp tickle stung in his nose. He wilted forward, stifling a flurry of sneezes into her shoulder.

"Eh'kptchoo! Hurkeuscha! Aik'RGXSHEW!" He attempted to murmur an apology, but his throat seemed to be clogged with mucus, which he found utterly disgusting. He tried to clear it, but he just ended up doubling over in a chest rattling bout of coughing. Chloe felt her heart swell with sympathy as she led him to her car, knowing that he wasn't in any state to argue with her.

[ebay34]

That was amazing..... Get well soon Austin