Second Chances (Secret Santa for Sophie83540)

[CharliesGirl]

So this is my first story I've ever written on SFF, and I'm a bit rusty when it comes to writing, but I hope you enjoy it! 

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Amber was at her desk in the office of a local newspaper, returning emails and phone calls to advertisers as she usually did. She was a quirky yet pretty (though she resolutely believed otherwise), shapely woman in her mid-20s with cascading blonde hair that she casually tossed over her shoulders as she tore through her to-do list with determination. It was a Friday, and she was more than ready for this January weekend, though she had no plans other than immersing herself in glorious laziness. 

As she looked up from her cluttered desk to a greet a colleague arriving for the day, she was startled and distracted by a familiar and charming figure looming in the distance. He was tall with broad shoulders, off of which hung a visibly sleet-soaked peacoat over what looked to be business casual attire. His damp chestnut hair, always on the long side, light eyes, infectious smile, and alluring dimples made her heart skip a beat. It was none other than Todd Wylde, a man whom she dated for well over a year and who had suddenly moved away for unclear reasons after breaking up with her two Christmases ago. For some reason, he had returned to this small New England town, and judging by the large cardboard box of belongings in his arms, he was probably here to stay. 

She continued to watch him as he set the box down at a desk across the room, but suddenly he stopped what he was doing. He appeared to be seized by an impending sneeze, staring slightly upward with a knuckle pressed under his twitching nose. Finally his head snapped forward not once but four times as she heard a very audible "haaaa-ETTCH! issshIOOO! haa-ESSSHEW! hrrrASSSSCHOO!" come roaring out of him as he fumbled for an open box of tissues. He desperately grabbed several tissues and pressed his streaming nose into the wad, blowing loudly and very wetly. It seemed to Amber that he had surprisingly given up his usual efforts to maintain an impeccable and shatterproof exterior. 

Abandoning all self-consciousness, Amber arrived at his side with a small empty wastebasket as her heart pounded in her chest. He looked at her and blushed slightly, clutching the sodden tissues in his large, slightly callused hands.

"Here," she began quietly then cleared her throat. "It looks like you need this more than I do right now." She let out a quiet, nervous chuckle. 

"A-Amber..." He eked out, his voice raspy and congested. Shrugging his tired shoulders, he sighed, "so I'b obviously back id towd." Wincing at the sound of his own voice, he cleared his throat, pitched his tissues in the trash, and grabbed several more, trying to empty his sinuses with blow after squelching blow without making direct eye contact. His face burned scarlet, as he was undoubtedly embarrassed by his desperate and fruitless attempts to clear his nose. She'd seen him sick before but never with a cold of such monstrous proportions. His eyes watered and his straight, medium sized nose was red around its perfectly shaped oval nostrils. He sniffled thickly and glanced at her once again.

"Bad cold. Cad't get rid of it." He stated matter-of-factly. 

Amber raised an eyebrow. "Shouldn't you be in bed right now? You sound horrible!" 

"First day od the job, so dot really, udfortudately." He sighed and gave a wistful smile. 

"Ok, well, glad to see you. We can talk later." Trying to hide her growing concern and care for the man, she started walking away as she added, "I'm sorry you're so sick, Todd. Feel better." 

The day wore on with Todd trying desperately and unsuccessfully to stifle the sneezes that tore through his body as tissues  began to pile up in the small trash can by his side. By the time the day ended, his nose was chapped and raw, and any remaining traces of this strong and self-assured man's put-together facade crumbled in the face of ceaseless sniffling and sneezing. 

Without further investigation, Amber finished out the day. As she began to make her way home to her humble one-bedroom apartment, she remembered that she had to swing by the pharmacy to pick up a prescription.   

The local CVS was quite busy during the rush hour. Standing tall in her high heeled boots, Amber waited in a long line at the pharmacy, wondering why the hell she decided to show up when she did. But suddenly, in the distance, she started to make out some harsh, powerful, and in her opinion, perfectly executed male sneezes, which piqued her interest.  She wondered if anyone had ever described a sneeze as handsome before. 

When she recognized the dark peacoat draped over familiar broad shoulders, her heart leapt slightly in her chest. It was Todd, of course, now clutching a folded white handkerchief over his undoubtedly abused nose as he perused the cold/flu aisle. Without further inspection, she stepped out of the queue and approached him, tentatively reaching out her hand to touch his arm as his tired, watery eyes finally met her concerned gaze. As he gently wiped the reddened skin under his nose and winced slightly at the sensation, she felt an overpowering urge to care for this man, complicated past be damned. 

"Fancy seeing you here," Amber chuckled. "Looking for supplies for that nasty cold of yours?" 

Todd smiled. "It's ndot ndasty, just a ndorbal cold."

"Well, that 'normal' cold is certainly kicking your ass," Amber quipped. "Do you have anyone at home to look after you?"

"Ndoe" Todd replied and shrugged his shoulders. "I'b a big boy. I cad take care of mby- mbyself..." At this point, his voice trailed off as a pre-sneeze face manifested. "Uh...godda...hihhhhh...sd-sdeeze...hehhhh..." 

Seeing the sodden state of  Todd's handkerchief, Amber quickly snatched her own plain white men's cotton hankie from her purse. It was luxuriously soft with a monogrammed "T" on it and had actually belonged to Todd at one point. He had offered it to her on one of their first dates when she had a cold but had insisted on going out. Since then, it had been there to soak up tears, runny noses, and wet sneezes in his absence. To her, it was pure comfort, and she just couldn't bring herself to throw it away. 

As Todd lifted his chin slightly with his eyes fluttering closed, she held the unfolded hankie out in front of him. His head snapped forward with a strong triple, "hepSHHHIEEEW! HESSSCHH! ASSSSCHIOOO!" straight into the handkerchief that he had no idea was there. With concern in her eyes, Amber cradled his nose with the hankie as he blushed furiously, unable to bring himself to say or do anything about it. Amber could feel dampness through the fabric and knew that these were wet sneezes. She couldn't believe what came out of her mouth when she commanded, "come on, give that nose a good blow."

Todd was dumbfounded, but he figured that there were many other helplessly sick people in the store who were likely feeling too lousy to raise an eyebrow. He realized that he might actually be unable to care for himself then chastised himself in his head for that weakness. His big green eyes met Amber's blue, and she assured him, "Blow, Todd. You'll feel better once you get all that crud out." 

Todd blew softly into the hankie twice, after which Amber folded the hankie, held it up again, and told him to keep going. Thus the blows became stronger and more audibly wet as he continued to empty his sinuses that were now aching. Once he was finished, Amber took away the hankie. He still could barely sniffle. 

"Ok...let's do some much-needed shopping," Amber announced. She tingled all over from the possibility of being able to care for this strong man who was rendered helpless. She took Todd's hand and scoured the cold and flu aisle. Before reaching the register, she grabbed a 5-pack of lotion infused tissues, a box of sudafed, bottles of DayQuil and NyQuil, two bags of cough drops, a few cans of chicken soup, and ice cream, which she remembered was his favorite food of all time. Todd stood by her side, sniffling furiously until she opened a box of tissues and passed him a thick stack. He wiped and blew his nose softly every few minutes. It was running constantly, much to his chagrin.

Once Amber had purchased supplies (after adamantly declaring that she was going to do it), they stepped outside into the cold. Todd quickly donned his beanie over his tousled long brown hair, and Amber playfully tugged it down over his forehead. As her skin touched his, she realized that he was burning up. 

"Oh jeez, Todd. You've got a fever!" She squeaked. "That's it; we're both going to your house right now."

Todd remarkably did not resist and allowed Amber to guide him to the passenger side of her car. She helped him in, and, without warning, a loud "HAH-ISSSSSCHOOOO!" tore through his throat. "HEPSHIEEW!" he continued, burying his nose in the tissues and blowing with reckless abandon. He didn't care about being this sick in front of Amber, as she knew him well and had insisted on caring for him in the past. She loved every moment of it.  

As they drove to his condo, he continued to sniffle and sneeze in multiples, exploding into the tissues. Amber placed a reassuring hand on his thigh as their eyes met for a brief moment. He looked so defeated yet quite adorable. She never did process her feelings from their split, just swept it under the rug. Now these feelings came roaring back at her, gaining strength with every sneeze. 

At Todd's "bachelor pad," Amber immediately took charge, letting him sit on the couch as she gathered up a random t-shirt, hoodie, sweatpants, and  thick socks ensemble. She just wanted him  to be as comfortable as possible since he was undoubtedly feeling so miserable.

As Todd slowly ate his chicken noodle soup, sniffling endlessly because of the steam and covertly wiping his nose on his sweatshirt cuff, Amber was cleaning up in the kitchen. After a few minutes, she re-emerged with a bottle of NyQuil and had him take a couple of swigs. Placing a gentle hand on his forehead, she could feel the emanating heat. She worriedly led him to the bedroom for some desperately needed TLC. In the hallway, he was nearly knocked over by a phenomenal triple. Amber threaded her arm around his waist, blessing him and helping him walk to bed. Once in his bedroom, Todd immediately tore open a box of tissues to clear the built up congestion. 

Amber had piled a bunch of pillows on the bed to elevate Todd's head and beckoned him to come get some rest. "Lebbie go to the bathroob first," he said. Minutes later, Amber could hear gurgly blowing and a few honks coming from the bathroom. 

"Feel better after that long session?  I'm sure it feels good to get some relief" Amber smiled.

"For right dow at least." He was still beyond stuffed up and had a monster of a headache. 

"Ok, Stuffy, let's get you under the covers, and I'll be right back." She tucked him in and left the room for a few moments, returning with more tissues, cough drops, bottled water, and a thermometer. She moved in close with the thermometer. "Open up," she said softly and smiled as she placed the thermometer in his mouth. With the thermometer in place, he felt an intense tickle in his sinuses but tried to hold back.

"Hehhhh...hihhhh...hnxxxxt!" he stifled his sneeze with his mouth closed, and Amber immediately removed the thermometer (which read 102 degrees) and gently wiped his nose, which caused yet another tickle. His breath hitched for a good 30 seconds before he exploded in a barrage of intense sneezes. "Haaaaa-HETTTTCHOOO! HRRRRASSSSSHIEEEEW! AAAKTCHOOO! HAAAISSSSCHOO!" He sniffled thickly, his eyes watering as he searched for the box of tissues. "Here you go, sweetie. Blow your nose." Amber said as she pressed a stack of tissues into his large hands. Wait...did she just call him sweetie? It felt so right to her in the moment. 

"Thagks," he replied. As he blew his nose, Amber's hand rubbed his chiseled shoulder to reassure him. After he pitched the tissues into what would be a rapidly growing pile, Amber reached out her hand to softly caress the side of his face, tucking a few soft tendrils behind his ear. She missed this so much. 

Todd swallowed hard after this sweet gesture, remembering the good times, which greatly outnumbered the bad times. Why did they have to break up? He blamed himself for moving out to NYC, leaving her behind. But there was a great career opportunity out there, and he knew he had to at least go and see. But to him, his absence was a complete failure, as the job just didn't work out, and he had only short-term and meaningless relationships with women. He could never find anything remotely close to what he had with Amber. The memories of life with her flooded his mind. In a feverish daze, tears sprung to his eyes and rolled down his face. 

Amber, seeing his tears, reflexively took him in her arms and rubbed his broad back. "It's ok, Todd. I'm here with you. I promise I won't leave you. I've got you." He pressed his hot face to her neck, raining tears onto her skin as she gently reassured him. 

"I'b so sorry, Abber," he sobbed. "I never should've left like I did." He tried to sniffle but could not pass any air through his nose. He realized he had soaked her shirt and was quite embarrassed by his emotional outburst. He let go of the embrace, cupping his nose self-consciously in his hands. "Tdissue?" he asked, his puppy dog eyes meeting Amber's. 

"Oh, come here, you. Let me take care of that nose," Amber chuckled and pressed several tissues to his nose, which he immediately started blowing to relieve the sinus pressure that had built up From crying. "Better?" she asked, wiping his nose. 

"Yeah," he replied softly with a sniffle. She pulled him onto her on the bed, his head resting on her chest. He was still so precious to her. Her feelings for him never truly left. Sighing contentedly, she planted a soft kiss on his forehead, then caressed his face in both hands, studying his red swollen nose, tear-filled eyes, and soft lips. A sweet smile grew on his face, and she rubbed her nose against his as they sat in perfect silence. 

This time, she promised herself that she'd never let him go. A part of herself lived and breathed in his body, and she was going to keep it that way. No more mistakes, no more suppressed feelings, and no more running away from the love they had. 

THE END!

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[Arty]

This was so cute! Thank you for writing it. 

[darkness-is-the-light]

You write incredibly well for being rusty. It's hard to believe that you haven't written multiple stories before. It can be difficult to create characters the way you did if there was no knowledge in writing. I'm very pleased with this story. I love how Amber feels a really strong urge to care for Todd despite their rough past. It showed that she still cared greatly, and illness paired with a complicated relationship is definitely my thing. 

Telling him to blow his nose was also adorable. The thing that got me the most was Todd feeling regret over leaving Amber. A fever can definitely bring out some repressed feelings and make someone cry in the process. Overall, it's a really wonderful story and I'm very grateful that you took the time to write it. Thank you.  

[CharliesGirl]

Thank you, Arty and Sophie, for those very kind words! I'm glad you enjoyed it.