Ups and Downs of Having Roommates

[Kshu]

Ok, this is the first story I've written. Period. Not just here, period. Let me know if it's worth continuing.

*BUZZBUZZ* “Ugh…” I flipped over reaching blindly for my phone. 9:57? Who has the nerve to be up and texting me this early on spring break? Buddy? Of course, because he can’t wait 2 hours for me to be up, he has to text me from the next room over. Kid has too much energy, always hopping around. Maybe that’s why we call him Bunny. More likely it’s because he’s the tiniest person I've ever met.

*Jays sick. do we still have medicine from last time?*

It takes a minute for me to wake up and realize the severity of this situation. Jay’s sick… Last time… Last time…? Oh God! Last time Jay was sick, all four of us were sick in a matter of 2 days. Down and out, missing class, aching bodies, pass-the-drugs sick. It’s not like I had huge plans for spring break, but I DID NOT plan on spending it half dead.

*I’ll be out in a sec. might take a minute to find it.*

I walk out of the room hearing muffled sneezes through the door next to mine. “…chuhsh! CHISHH!” Maybe it’s just a cold, that wouldn't be so bad. Granted we’d all have it within a matter of milliseconds. I love Jay, but he’s a germy wreck when he’s sick.

“It’s in here, right Patrick?” Buddy calls from the bathroom. “Yea, should be in the cabinet.” I say as I walk down the hall. Not sure why I needed to be woken up at 10 for this, probably because I’m the only one who knows where anything is. A captive surrogate mother. When I reach the bathroom, I hear, “Found it! We’ve got plenty, guess we overestimated last time. He’s supposed to take two, right?” Buddy examines the label, trying to pull his sandy blonde hair behind his ears, but it isn't quite long enough and falls back to his face. “Yea, let me grab him a glass of water and I’ll come with you.” I'd like to know what we're dealing with.

[marina<3]

This is a great start! I would love to read more!

[Kshu]

So I went crazy and wrote for 3 hours, I wrote several parts but for now, here's part 2.

When I get to Jay and Buddy’s room, Buddy is sitting on Jay’s bed, struggling to open the bottle of pills. “*Sigh* Give it here.” “Sorry…” Buddy says as he hands me the bottle. “S’aight Bunny, I got it.” After I open the bottle and shake two pills out, I remember why I’m here and look over at Jay to assess the situation.

His chocolaty hair is askew, and his big, deep blue eyes are glazed. He notices me looking at him, an audience, looks up at me and moans, “Patrickkkk, I'b dyigggggg!” I smile slightly and roll my eyes. It’s like him to exaggerate. The most outgoing of any of us, Jay’s fun to be around, people are drawn to him. He gets the attention of most girls too, too bad none of them can come over and deal with this instead of me.

“So I’ve heard. What exactly is the matter?” “Well…” Jay looks thoughtful, probably thinking of more ways to make his mild illness seem like he was on his deathbed. “Umbbbb, I'b stuffed up, by head feels like... cudgesded, by dose wod't stop runddigg...eh…” His face falls. He pulls Buddy towards his chest to avoid sneezing right on him, and sneezes uncovered over Buddy’s shoulder. “Huh... hacHSHOOO!" I was glad I hadn’t been a foot or so to the left, as spray misted the air then disappeared. “Hadg od… Heh… huh… HIHSCHEWW!” Jay sniffs and wipes his nose on the back of his hand before patting Buddy on the back once and releasing him. “Bless!” chimes Buddy, who is worryingly unconcerned about having a contagious, sneezy roommate.

“Well it sounds like a cold, this medicine ain’t really gonna help. It’s more for fevers, aches, headaches, things like that.” I say as I put the pills back in the bottle. “Oh, well ndeverbind thed. I dod't really feel THAT bad adyway.” Jay nudges Buddy to get him off the bed, pushes back the covers, and gets up. I have to say I’m not thrilled by the fact that he’ll be spending the day in communal living space, but you can’t really quarantine someone for a cold.

“HehCHUSHH! chiSHHHH! …CSHOOO!” I walk into the living room to see Jay sneezing with his arm half a foot from his face, barely covering the explosion. Sighing, I pluck several tissues from the nearby box and hand them to him. “Thadks…” He mutters as he snuffles into them.

I walk back to my room to retrieve my phone. As I’m about to go in, the door opens and my roommate, Riley, walks out. He still looks dazed and sleepy, several of his dark dreadlocks are flopped on top of his head in the wrong direction.

“Morning sleepy.” I say as I brush his dreads back down the right way. “Mmmmorning… Y’all are so loud…” He stumbles towards the bathroom. “Did World War 3 happen in this cabinet?” he calls from down the hall. “No, we had to find medicine for Jay, he’s sick.” Riley looks concerned. “Oh, is he ok? What’s wrong?” I’m really not sure why I’m forced to be the mother in this house, Riley is far more suited for the job. “Just a cold, we didn’t have any cold medicine, so I didn’t give him nothin.” “Well if he feels any worse, let me know and I’ll go get some.” I nod my head and say thanks as he closes the bathroom door.

[Hibiscus]

"It’s like him to exaggerate. The most outgoing of any of us, Jay’s fun to be around, people are drawn to him. He gets the attention of most girls too, too bad none of them can come over and deal with this instead of me."

Confidence is hella sexy, especially combined with boys with chocolatey brown hair and blue eyes with a cold.

That's a lot of characters-Is my CONTAGION sensor beeping?!

[Tombchewer]

Awwww, Jay is so cute! And there's already FOUR attractive boys in the story (What are their ages?) ... Seems too good to be true! (which is probably why it's in original fiction, right?) You're an amazing writer and I love your spellings!

I can"t wait to read more!

[Kshu]

You guys are the best! I didn't think I'd get this excited with people commenting on my story!

@Mento: I have the contagion tag for a reason! You'll like what comes up in a couple chapters

@NegativeZ: They're all in their junior year of college, so about 20 although Buddy is 18, he got that PSO credit in high school. Thanks, spellings are fun!

I'll post chapter 3 later this afternoon, I want to make sure I can keep a steady pace, I'm working on chapter 6 right now.

[Kshu]

Here's part 3!

I return to the living room to see Buddy and Jay playing some racing game on the Xbox. An original Xbox, none of us are really gamers, so we make do with that. “Dang man! Who do you think you are, coming up like that?” Jay exclaims, and Buddy laughs. Jay leans forward, his elbows on his knees like this has just gotten serious. I can see him suddenly tense up. “Huh… heh, heh, HASHCHOOO! HetCHISHHH!” He doesn’t bother to cover his mouth, barely even turning away as he’s wrapped up in the game. “Bless.” says Buddy, unfazed. “Thadks.”

I decide to keep my distance for a while, and pour myself a bowl of cereal. I eat at the counter and watch them play for a while. Eventually, they finish and turn on the cable. Jay lets Buddy have control over the remote, even though 90% of Buddy watching TV is changing channels.

Riley walks in, noticeably less dead-to-the-world than earlier. After exchanging good mornings, he sits down next to Jay. Jay grabs a wad of tissues from the box and holds them several inches from his face. “heh… ChishHOO! CHUSHH! huhSHHHh!” I can see spray fall to his lap. He obviously isn’t finished, he still has that sneezy look on his face.

Riley looks over at him and says, “Man, you really need to learn to cover your mouth. We don’t need a whole house full of plague victims.” “Hih… heh…” As Jay gets ready for another sneeze, Riley cups his hand over Jay’s that holds the tissues, and presses them to his face. “CHHH! CHUMpff! SHUMFF! Ughh… Thadks, I thidk…” *SNIFFff…* Riley lets go and wipes his hand on his jeans. He probably doesn’t care much if he gets sick, as long as he keeps Buddy and me from catching it.

Eventually I cave and come sit in the chair in the living room. After we’ve confiscated the remote from Buddy, we settle for some random movie on TV. I forget what it was, I was probably thinking of other things, I tend to be a bit of a space cadet. After four or five hours of movies, several half covered sneezes from Jay and an equal amount of blessings from Buddy, I snap back into reality and look at my roommates. Buddy is lying down, more or less asleep, Riley has left to go to our room, and Jay… Jay’s not looking great.

“Jay, y’alright?” He looks up at me without moving his head from its position in his hand, “I duddo, I feel kindda… bad. Worse thad earlier.” I get up and move to place my hand on his forehead. He feels warm, and up close I can see that his pale skin is a little flushed. “You feel a little warm. You don’t look so good, why don’t you go to bed for a while? And let me know if you want some pills.”

“Mmmm…” Buddy stirs after hearing our conversation. “You don’t feel good Jay?” He mumbles as he looks up at us with his brown puppy eyes. “Naw Bundy, I thidk I’b gudda go lie dowd for a while.” Buddy pulls himself up sleepily and murmurs, “I’m tired, I’ll come with you…” Buddy stands and helps Jay up, rubbing his back softly with one hand as they head for their room.

[Skyler]

Hey! I love these characters a lot, and I can't wait for more! It is written brilliantly!

[Kshu]

Thanks! Here's part 4, lemme know what you guys think. I mean the whole thing is already written, but I want to know if there's things I should change, and if you guys like the direction it's going in. It's weird how therapeutic this actually was, I've never really written a story before and it was interesting how my own thoughts and feelings ended up in it. Anyway... Time for Jay's point of view!

Leaving Patrick’s concerned green eyes, Buddy and I reach our room. Buddy takes his soothing hand off my back as I crawl into bed and he closes the window shades. The room is dark with just little slits of light coming in from between the shades.

I really don’t feel well, and I can’t seem to get warm. I hate to admit it but I can be a bit of a cry baby when I’m sick, a lot more than what I let on anyway. Patrick and Riley are worriers, I love that they care so much about me, but I don’t want them to worry so much. It’s best to try and perk up when they’re around. But just with Buddy, I don’t mind admitting how honestly awful I feel. He won’t judge, and he’s more of a teddy bear than a mother hen. “Huhh… HuhCHshh! CHshhh!” I let out a whimper.

“Bless. Do you feel real bad Jay?” Buddy says as he comes over to check on me. I nod yes. Buddy sits on the side of the bed. “What’s the matter?” I pull the covers up over my nose before replying. “Huh… hehSHOO! …kuhSHHH! hehSHH! IchSHEW! Ugh…” I sheepishly resurface from the covers. “M’cold…” I mutter. I’m also feeling kind of mopey and kind of want his attention, but I wouldn’t say that, even just with Buddy. Buddy picks up on this. He pulls the blanket off of his bed and says “Alright, we’ll nap together, that way you’ll be warm.”

That’s what I like about Buddy, he just does whatever sounds right to him, most people would think this situation was strange. He nestles in beside me, his head against my side, between my body and my arm. I drape the arm over him, and before it occurs to me that maybe it’s not the best idea to sleep together when I’m sick, I drift off.

Its pitch black when I wake up. 10:20 is lit up on the clock beside my bed. There’s hair in my mouth, I brush my hair back, but it’s still there. I take it off my tongue and feel that it’s attached to something. I remember that I fell asleep with Buddy. Right… he slept with me because I felt sick… Actually, I still feel sick, awfully sick. The more conscious I become, the worse I feel. I find myself laying in the dark; achy, completely unable to breathe though my nose, and all around feeling like death.

I’m gonna sneeze… “Hih… heh…” “HitCHIEW! ChIHshh! Ughhh…” Those weren’t my sneezes. I felt the wetness right up against my neck. I rub the tickle in my nose as it fades away and look down, not that I can see much.

“Sorry Jay…” I feel for Buddy’s head and brush his hair back, noting that his head is a bit hot. “S’alrighdt Bundy, you feelig okay kiddo?” I ask, starting to understand why Patrick and Riley worry in these situations. “Ndo… Heh… hih… HITCHhhh!” He makes an attempt to cover his mouth with his hand, but doesn’t quite make it in our close position and I feel the spray on my neck again. “Bless you…” I reach for my phone and text Patrick.

*Buddys sick, can you bring the pills?*

I run my hand through Buddy’s hair while I wait for a reply.

Edited April 21, 2014 by Kshu

[Tombchewer]

Awe, I love Buddy <3 He's so sweet, sleeping with Jay like that with total disregard for himself. Poor things. And Jay sounds like a total cutie, too.

I am really into this story, I hope you update soon!

HAPPY EASTER!

[Pyrus_Fangmon]

So cute so cute so cute! Buddy and Jay are favorites right now. Please continue!

[SpookyScarySkeleton]

This fic's title kept catching my eye every time id open the "original fiction" section . I've been dragged into this fic and I'm adoring it ! contagion for the win !!!. D'awh uncovered sneezies.

[Hibiscus]

I totally predicted this!! I knew Billy was gonna catch it! I like this story even more. And yeah, I didn't notice the contagion tag, sorry. I am such a dumb-dee.

Is there something sizzling between Billy and Jay? I feel like Billy likes Jay as more than a friend?

[Kshu]

NegativeZ: Happy Easter to you too! I'll posting the next part in the morning!

fang815: Thanks! And I certaintly have continued, I have the whole story finished! You guys will definitely get to read all of it.

DeathNoteOwner: Yessss, contagion is my favorite! And uncovered sneezes are amazing.

Mento123: This is a totally weird thing to say since I wrote it, but I don't know! Like I feel like having written about just 2 days of these guys lives means I don't know them well enough to know the answer to that. That's weird and kind of feels like a cop out answer, but that's how it is!

Update in the morning! Well, morning by college student standards. Thanks for all the love by the way guys, I really appreciate it on my first story!

[Kshu]

Back to Patrick's view for this one!

I grabbed the pill bottle and a glass of water before heading for Jay and Buddy’s room. I open the door, letting a small amount of light in. Jay looks over at me, eyes fever-bright and strands of hair plastered to his forehead with sweat. I turn to look at Buddy’s bed, but he isn’t there.

I turn back to Jay and ask, “Where’s Bunny?” Before he can respond, I hear “HuhCHMPF! CHhmm! HehCHIEW! Eugh…” “He’s over here.” Jay says, not even the least bit self-conscious. Sure enough, a small blonde head appears out from under the blankets and turns to face me. “Hi, Padty…” Buddy greets me in a small voice.

It’s concerning to see him without his usual enthusiasm. He looks exhausted and sick, red cheeks and glazed eyes. He wasn’t even sick at all this afternoon. I’m annoyed that he and Jay slept in the same bed, Jay really doesn’t think these things through thoroughly and that’s probably why Buddy’s sick now.

As if he can read my mind, Buddy pipes up, “I wasd’t feeligg good whed we fidished watchigg mbovies. Add Jay was cold whehh… ehHETCHEW! *Sdifff* whed we weh… ehK’ISHHH! … went back to our roob, add I was kidda cold too so I slebpt here.”

“Well, I want you to take some medicine, ok?” I tell him as I set the glass of water down to open the bottle. Jay looks at me and says “We already hab a glass frob earlier today.” “I know, that’s yours, I want you to take some pills too.” I say, gauging his reaction and hoping he wouldn’t make a fuss.

He might have asked for them earlier, but that was when he didn’t feel too bad, he wanted our attention. It’s tougher to get him to admit to actually needing medicine when he gets really sick.

Jay just sighs and nods an ok. I feel a pang of sympathy; he must really feel bad, so quiet and apathetic.

I shake 4 pills into my hand and reach over Jay to hand two pills and a glass of water to Buddy, who sits up and takes them. Jay on the other hand, looks less inclined to move. I weigh whether or not he would want me to help him, and decide to put my hand under his back and prop him up a little while he takes his medicine. What happens in this house stays in this house after all.

I hand him the pills and slide my hand underneath him, feeling the heat radiating off his back. I lift him a little and hand him the water, which he drinks the entirety of after swallowing the pills.

I ease him back down and he sighs again. His breathing becomes uneven and he lets out a “chUSHH! Het’CHHH!” Just sneezing seems to have taken a lot out of him, he looks exhausted and I’m hoping the medicine kicks in soon to at least relieve his fever for a while. “Bless…” says Buddy softly, who has already returned to his original position against Jay’s side.

I leave the room to refill the water glasses, and by the time I come back they are both asleep.

[SpookyScarySkeleton]

I kinda ship BuddyxJay c:

hehe.

I really love this fic !

it's all fluffy.

[Pyrus_Fangmon]

I kinda ship BuddyxJay c:

hehe.

I really love this fic !

it's all fluffy.

Yes yes, so do I! This is really getting good.

[Kshu]

Man, I knew as soon as a sat down to write, I was like; This. Story. Will. Be. Fluff.

Sorry this part is short, next will be longer.

Part 6! Buddy's view.

I wake up under the covers, way too hot. I feel too sick to move, but I crawl up so at least my head is out and see there’s light coming through the slits in the window shade. I look at the clock. 7:21, morning. Early morning, but morning. Jay is still asleep, so I don’t move, I don’t want to disturb him. Even though I'm hot, I don't really want to move away from his touch.

Someone is awake though, the door is open a crack and I hear someone out there. “HUHSHEW! ehSHOO! Ugh…” comes from out in the hallway. It sounds like Riley, it’s unusual for him to be up. Maybe he went to bed early, I haven’t seen him since we watched movies yesterday.

I’m really thirsty and at some point during the night I woke up and drank all my water. I don’t think Riley would mind refilling it, so I grab Jay’s phone and text him.

*do u think u could refill my water glass? This is Buddy btw*

“Heh… hitCHIEW! Huh’ESHH! Ugh…” I sneeze and there’s spray on Jay’s phone. Oops. I wipe it off with my sleeve and put it back on the table.

In a minute or two Riley quietly opens the door and I can see that he isn’t feeling well. He’s pale under his dark complexion and his skin has a red tint to it under his nose. We speak quietly, half whispering to avoid waking Jay.

I shoot him a sympathetic look, “Oh Riley… How are you feelig?” He looks nervous for a split second, then smiles and says “You really gunda ask me how am I’mb feelingg? How are you feelingg Bunndy?” I love Riley, there’s such affection in his voice when he talks to any of us. But today he’s clearly trying to hide the congestion in his speech.

I put my concern for Riley on the back burner for now since I don’t think he’ll admit to being sick easily, and I’m really not up to the task right now. How am I feeling? “Terrible.” I tell him. My body isn’t hot like a few minutes ago, rather its cold now. My head is boiling though.

Riley walks over to take my water glass and places his big hand on my forehead. I smile a little. It feels amazing, so cool on my hot head. Riley sees my reaction and shifts his hand to rub my forehead soothingly with his thumb. “By face is so hodt, thad feels good.”

“Yea, you’re really warmb, whend did you last have medicine? Do you want mbe to run a washcloth under some water and lay it on your forehead? That’s whadt mby mom used to do for me whend I was little.” Riley says gently. “Yea, mide did thad too.” I say, smiling softly at the memory. “Thad’d be dice, thadks Riley. Oh, add baybe brig one for Jay too.”

“Aight, be right back.” Riley says as he takes his hand off of my forehead. As he walks out I see him pinch his nose and quietly stifle his sneezes. “Hehngx, guhNNX, huhGNXX!” He probably thinks I didn’t notice.

Edited April 23, 2014 by Kshu

[Pyrus_Fangmon]

Awwwwwww not Riley! This is really cute!

[MoonDuck]

Let's see how long Patrick lasts Sad I didn't find this earlier

[SpookyScarySkeleton]

Awwwwh so cute.

keep up that contagion

Loving it so far.

i'm lovin' it~

[squealofapproval]

Great work!

[Kshu]

Gah, you guys are just the absolute best! If I ever think I am worthless as a human being, I just have to think "I wrote that story that one time and people enjoyed it." Haha, anywayyyyy...

Part 7! Pat's view!

I look at the clock for the tenth time since I woke up at 8. 9:05. It’s no use, I can’t go back to sleep and wake up at 12 like a normal college student. I didn’t sleep soundly to begin with. I’m too worried about Jay and Buddy; they looked awful last night, although I haven’t got any texts from them since then.

I roll out of bed and notice that Riley isn’t in the room. If it’s too early for me, it’s way too early for him. Although I don’t know what time he went to sleep, I didn’t come back to the room till around 2am and he was asleep by then. I feel like I haven’t spoken to anyone in forever, even though it was just last night.

I go to look into Jay and Buddy’s room, and notice that it’s still cracked open like I left it last night. I peek in to see if they’re asleep, and they are, but there’s a new addition to the room. Riley is sitting in the desk chair, head resting on his folded arms which are at the foot of the bed.

I turn to look at Jay and Buddy, who have cold cloths on their foreheads. My mom used to do that for me actually when I was sick. I really think Riley needs to apply for the “mother” job position of this house. I’ll gladly resign to give it to him. *sniffff snuff…* Riley’s sniffling in his sleep, which worries me but I decide to save my worries till later.

Nobody stirs, so I close the door and walk to the living space. I’m hungry; I didn’t eat dinner last night. Actually, did anyone eat dinner? We snacked while we watched movies… But no, I don’t think anyone ate after that. I don’t exactly know how to cook, and our food stash is a little bare. I end up leaving the house to go to the small convenience store down the street.

45 minutes and $14.39 later, I come home with crackers, cans of soup, Gatorade, more tissues, and a box of toaster waffles. I put everything away and decide to go check on the guys to see if anyone’s up and has an appetite. The door creaks open and I can see that Jay is awake, staring at me with those bright blue eyes. He looks tired, but he’s actually sitting up slightly, holding a sleeping Buddy to his chest. He even has a little more color in his face to my relief.

“Hey man, how’re you feeling?” I ask quietly. “Bedder right dow, I had sombe bedicine, baybe two hours ago? I’b still really cudgested, so I thought I’d try add sit ub a lit.. heh… a littleh… HETchuhh… … chuhSHH… eh k’UHSHH!” He tries to sneeze as quietly as he can by muffling his sneezes into the hand that isn’t holding Buddy. “Ugh, could you had be a tissue?” I hand him a bunch and he wipes off his hand and then holds them to his running nose.

Remembering what I came in to ask, I say “I just went shopping and somewhat replenished our food supply, do you think you could eat something?” Seeing his reluctant face I add, “Maybe just something small, like crackers or something?”

He thinks for a second and removes the wad of tissues from his face. “Yea, baybe crackers. Ondly so your hair doesd’d go grey though. Wipe those worried lines off your head.”

I laugh a little and add, “I bought Gatorade too, want some of that?” At this, Buddy stirs, “Yes please…”

Jay looks down and lays a hand on Buddy’s brow, “Bundy, how’re you feelig?” “hep’TISHIEW! ehSHEEW! HEHSHHH!” Buddy sneezes half against Jay’s chest, though mainly in my direction. I’ll cut him a break though. After the interruption Buddy says, “I’ve beend bedder… I thindk the medicine I took this bording is wearig off.” He looks at the clock. “Adother hour before I cad take more though.”

“Whed did you hab id?” asks Jay “Early. Sevendish. You were still asleebp.” I touch the back of my fingers to Buddy’s cheek, noting that he’s about the same temperature as last night. “Think you could eat somethin’ Bunny?” He shakes his head no.

His nose is running and he has a faraway look on his face before he sneezes again. “ku’SHEW! hihSHIEW! … heh… hah… HAH K’SHEWWW!” An explosion of spray for such a tiny thing, I’ll remind Jay to wash all his bed stuff when this is all over. His face is a bit of a mess and for the second time in two days I go with the what-happens-in-this-house, stays-in-this-house rule. I grab a handful of tissues and wipe off his face. I squeeze his nose with them too to be thorough, and it makes a little squelching sound. “*sniff*…Thadks.”

“Anytime.” And with that I leave to get crackers and Gatorade.

[Pyrus_Fangmon]

This is so adorably cute!

Please keep at it!

[irishsneezeandkisses]

Aww!! This is adorable! And so sexy, too.