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Breaking the Barrier


LimeyBlimey

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“Hey, so I’ve been thinking,” Matt said as we pulled into the parking lot of the apartment complex.

“What’s up?” I asked, sniffling and wiping my running nose with a pack of tissues I had stolen from the ER. I heard Matt also sniffle as he opened my door for me and helped me stand up. He picked me up easily into his arms. The knee scooter my insurance had mostly covered was on backorder, so I would be unable to walk around on my own for several days at least.

“I think you should stay here with me and the guys,” Matt said. “Or, I could stay at your place. Either way, you’re going to need help. Doctor said no weight-bearing, remember?”

“Yeah, yeah,” I said irritably, sniffling again as I grabbed my purse and prescription bag. My ankle was already starting to hurt again and I knew I would want one of the Oxycodone pills pretty soon.

However, I knew Matt was right. My mom was still away in London with her rich boyfriend for the holidays, although she said they would stop by my place for a few days before heading back to Breckenridge. She wouldn’t be over to visit me for about a week. Emma wouldn’t be back until around the same time frame, and even then, she would have her own immediate concerns that were more serious than my stupid sprained ankle. I knew Matt would be able to take care of me, and Dave and Ethan would step up to help as well. Thankfully, I still had a few days off to rest. I didn’t go back to the classroom until Monday the 6th, but the doctor had given me a note excusing me from work, if I needed.

Matt carried me toward the apartment. As we reached the steps to the second floor, I felt his body suddenly tense up and he stopped.

“Hang on,” he said breathily, his breath hitching. “…I gotta…hh…

He then gripped me a little tighter and turned his head away from me.“Hh…hhhehsschuu! h…heaahhschuu-hhiID’chuuu ….damnit….hh…hhh…hhHHEHGH-sschuuu!

“Bless you,” I said with a chuckle.

Matt sniffled wetly and cleared his throat. “Thanks. Sorry about that, I thought for a second I was going to drop you.”

“I’m okay, it’s fine,” I said, but I looked down so he wouldn’t see my face. The quick motion had definitely hurt my ankle, but I didn’t care. I also started to worry about Matt more than my bum ankle. He was definitely sounding sicker as the day progressed, and we still wanted to get through the party tonight. I was also still feeling run down from the day’s events and the rest of my own cold, which thankfully didn’t feel as heavy anymore.

When we reached Matt’s apartment, he set me down gently near the doorstep where I stood on one leg so he could get his keys out and let us in. I knew Dave would be home since he and Matt basically had the same work schedule, but Ethan was home as well now. They were both playing a game in the living room. Dave grinned when he saw me, then nudged Ethan, who turned as well. Matt had texted them, filling them in on the results of my injury, so I knew it was only a matter of time before Dave started teasing me. He was probably already working on some bad jokes about me being a one-legged pirate, or a flamingo, or some other corny jokes about ladders and falling.

“Hey,” they both said when Matt carried me in. Dave and Ethan both watched wordlessly as Matt brought me over to the armchair. He quickly stole the one lonely throw pillow they had from under Dave’s elbow and helped me elevate my leg on the coffee table. I made a mental note to go buy them a couple more pillows once I could get out and about on my own. I knew I was going to be an inconvenience to everyone and I already felt guilty about it.

“So, what happened, Kaylee?” Ethan asked me once I was settled and Matt was in the kitchen getting me a Gatorade, a granola bar, and one of my pain killers.

“Hold that thought,” I said, reaching my arm up to cover my face. “Hhhckkchuuu! HhhI’tchuuu!

“Bless you,” Dave said, grinning. “I thought you busted your ankle. Or did being at the hospital make you sick?”

“Ha, ha,” I rolled my eyes at him. “Guess I’m just a hot mess now, apparently.”

Matt came back into the living room and handed me the drink, snack, and an oblong pill. As I took the medicine and at the granola bar, he put a towel-wrapped ice pack over my ankle, then sat down on the oversized arm of my chair. He sniffled a couple of times and I saw him pinch the bridge of his nose and then rub his eyes.

“Eh, she was sick already, man,” he said in a tired expression, ignoring Dave’s sarcasm. “Think I am, too, in fact. Hhiieehhgschooo!

“You guys share everything,” Ethan said, rolling his eyes. “Just don’t go breaking your leg or anything just to keep up. Dave and I’ll probably both move out if that happens.”

Matt chuckled once and rubbed his nose again. “But hey, then I’ll have the whole apartment to myself again! Hheh-hheeaaschooo!

“Bless you, babe,” I said, reaching up to squeeze Matt’s hand. While the guys talked I looked around at the apartment and saw that Ethan and Dave had indeed finishing decorating it for me. It looked pretty good, I had to admit. The broken ladder was nowhere to be seen, and I assumed Dave or Ethan took the liberty of taking it out to the dumpsters. I saw that the sparklers I had bought weren’t put in the empty champagne glasses yet, but that was okay. The rest of the decorations were out, and the year balloons were hanging up in the kitchen. None of the snacks were out yet, but I looked at my phone and realized it was barely five o’clock. The sky was already almost dark.

“What time is everyone coming over?” I asked quietly. I felt a little light-headed, which must have meant the pain killer was starting to kick in already.

Ethan shrugged. “A couple of hours.”

“Sounds good,” Matt said. He looked at me and smirked. Apparently, I was already starting to look dazed. I closed my eyes and listened to Matt, Dave and Ethan talk again, and then things went quiet. I must have fallen asleep, because the next thing I knew someone was gently nudging my shoulder.

“Kaylee. Babe? You going to wake up now?”

I opened my eyes to see Matt’s face close to mine, and I could smell a little alcohol on his breath. I looked around. It was dark except for one lamp Matt kept on his bedside table. Matt must have moved me into his room.

“What time is it? Is it almost time for the party?” I asked groggily.

“Yeah, everyone’s here. It’s actually already been a few hours,” Matt said sympathetically.

“What?” I exclaimed, sitting up quickly. The room spun briefly around me. “Why didn’t you wake me up earlier?”

Matt laughed and I couldn’t help but notice that his voice sounded congested. “I tried. You were out cold, Kay.”

“Oh. I forgot that Vicodin does that to me,” I said. “Dammit. Sorry.”

“It’s okay,” Matt said. “Everyone understands, they actually just feel bad you got hurt. But come on, I’ll bring you out to the living room. Or, do you want to clean up a bit first?”

“Yeah, the second one,” I said, still a little light-headed. “Thanks.”

Matt helped me hobble my way into his bathroom. My ankle was still hurting a little, but I wasn’t paying too much attention to it thanks to the pain killers. At least the rest of me felt better for now, and I sniffed once. Even my congestion was clearing up. The rest must have helped. I did my best to carefully change into clean clothes I had packed yesterday morning, which somehow felt like a month ago. I had a new top picked out, and some dark-washed skinny jeans pulled it all together. I knew my short-heeled boots were a no-go now, so I settled with some comfy socks. I brushed my teeth, put a little makeup on, and put my hair into a messy bun. Matt then helped re-wrap my ankle bandage and brought me out to the living room.

“Heyyyy, Kaylee’s here!” Matt called as he put me down on my one good foot.

“Heyyyy!” Everyone in the room called back, and I smiled in greeting. Our little party was apparently in full-swing. Several empty beer bottles sat on the kitchen counters, dining room table, and coffee table. The snacks had been opened (although not poured into the bowls I had set aside), and the smell of delicious Mexican food filled the apartment. Ethan was in the living room, as well as Steve, Jared, Alyssa, and another girl whom I didn’t recognize. Alyssa gently waved when she saw me, so I waved back. The new girl was sitting next to Jared on the arm of the sofa. They were all using their phones with the tv to play a Jackbox game.

“How you feelin’, Kay?” Dave asked, coming over with a half-empty beer in one hand and his phone in the other. “You hungry? I had Steve bring dinner from your favorite Mexican food place. Tacos, burritos, the works.”

Dave’s mention of food made me realize that I was starving. I hadn’t eaten more than that granola bar since breakfast. As if in response, my stomach flipped in ravenous hunger.

“Oh, man,” I said. “That sounds great, thank you. And yes, please.”

Matt, who was still holding my waist, suddenly tightened his arm around me and turned his head away. “HhhhEEHHgschooo! Hhheeeaasscchuuu!”

“Bless you, man,” Dave said. “Here, lemme help with Kaylee so you can get some food in her.”

Matt nodded quickly, his face looking pained, which probably meant he wasn’t done sneezing. He let go of my waist and I grabbed Dave’s arm to hold myself up. Gymnastics, or anything physical for that matter, had never been a talent of mine. It didn’t help that I was also still a bit high on pain killers. Matt quickly stepped aside from us and bent his head down towards the floor.

“HHhh…HhhEEAAHHSCHUuuuu!” That sneeze wracked his entire body, and when he recovered, he wiped his nose with his free hand and looked apologetically at us.

“Shit, man, bless you,” Ethan said, coming up behind me and Matt. He, Steve, and Jared had apparently finished playing and had come over to greet me.

Matt sniffled and grinned. “Thanks. Sorry about that.”

“Hey, can you switch the input back to cable?” Dave told Ethan. “The ball-drop’s going to be soon.”

“Yeah,” Ethan said, and walked away.

“Hey, Kaylee,” Jared greeted me. “It’s been awhile, how you doin’?”

“Hey, Jared,” I said with a grin. “A few weeks, maybe? When you came over to play Call of Duty with Matt?”

Jared laughed. “Oh, yeah. Hey, so this is my girlfriend, Savannah.”

Jared brought his arm around the new girl I hadn’t met, and she stepped forward so he could introduce us. She was pretty, of average build, with dark eyes and dark hair teased with silver highlights.

I smiled politely. “Hi, nice to meet you. Glad you could come tonight.”

She smiled back in return. “Thanks. This is fun, you put together a great party. I love your decorating style.”

“Thanks.” We chatted for a bit about how Savannah had met Jared, at a Starbucks apparently, and shared what we each did for work. She was new to the area, having just moved from Nevada for her job in the CBD sales industry, so she didn’t know many people yet. She seemed nice. I secretly hated small-talk, but at least Savannah seemed genuine.

Matt helped me to the armchair so I could prop my leg up on the coffee table, then brought me a full plate of food and a bottle of water. He had grabbed another beer for himself, and I curiously wondered how many he’d had by now. I obviously couldn’t have anything alcoholic while I was on painkillers, so I was grateful Matt had remembered that. He was so attentive sometimes that it was actually kind of awkward, but I appreciated it. While I ate, everyone drank more, chatted, watched a bit of the New Year celebration live stream from New York, and listened to me and Matt tell my rather lame story of how I had sprained my ankle that morning. Matt sat on the arm of my chair, frequently rubbing his nose and sniffling. Occasionally, he would reach his arm down and rub the back of my shoulders or kiss the top of my head. I could tell everyone was getting a little drunk, because at one point when Matt sneezed again rather loudly, it sounded ridiculous and everyone laughed, Matt included. It seemed like everyone was having a good time at our little party, so I was happy at least.

When it came close to midnight, Matt helped me up so we could all do the countdown to the new year.

“Alexa!” Ethan called out drunkenly. “Play a new year’s song.”

“Um, do you guys have an Echo Dot?” I asked Dave. He slowly shook his head, and I covered my hand to stifle a laugh as the ball drop started on the live stream.

“Four…three…two…one…Happy New Year!!”

As everyone cheered and toasted each other, Matt handed me a lit sparkler and a champagne glass filled with white Gatorade. He kissed me in a sweet but somewhat silly way, and then leaned his face into my ear.

“Happy New Year, babe. I love you.”

“Love you, too,” I responded, feeling my cheeks flush as they did whenever he told me those words.

Matt smiled, kissed me again, paused, and then sniffled. He turned his head aside and sneezed twice into his elbow.

“Bless you,” I said, smiling. He was so cute, even when he was sick.

Matt sniffled again. He seemed to hesitate for a second, but then he looked up at me. I could see that his dark eyes were serious behind the frames of his glasses. The room around us was loud and distracted with the sounds of everyone else celebrating, but just as it had been the first time he told me he loved me, I felt like it was just us in that moment.

“I wanted to ask you,” he started to say in a quiet voice only I could hear, “…and you can say no if you want. I won’t mind or be offended at all. But…. will you move in with me?”

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I froze. My brain immediately started yelling all kinds of things at me. That was what it did whenever I had important decisions to make and things to plan. But, had Matt seriously just asked me to move in with him? And I guess his roommates, too? Maybe he should just move in with me instead. But Matt was the primary lease-holder on his apartment, so he couldn’t exactly leave yet, and I knew how much he loved living with Dave and Ethan. They were best friends. Would I come in and change all of that? Heck, was I even ready for something this big? He hadn’t exactly asked me to marry him. My mom would have a heyday over this if we weren’t at least engaged. But we hadn’t even been dating a year, although we had known each other for over two years and had been friends. I sighed. This was the kind of thing my brain always became overworked with. Too many factors, too many things to consider.

“I…I don’t know,” I said, laughing nervously, looking down at the floor. “It’s just so…major.”

“Yeah, I know it is,” Matt said with empathy. “It’s just, well, with your roommate moving out next week or whenever, and we’ve been spending so much time going back and forth between each other’s places, I figured it might be a good opportunity for us to move forward, if you like the idea. I love being with you every day.”

“I do, too,” I said. “I hate being away from you. I love spending time with you, and sharing our spaces and our stuff.”

Matt sniffed. “We’re even hh…sh-sharing…hhhiieettcchuuuu…germs.

“Bless you,” I said, chuckling at Matt’s attempt to talk through a sneeze. He then sneezed again two more times.

“Bless you again,” I said.

“I…dod’t think I’m done,” he said heavily and his breath hitched again. “Hhh…hh…hhHEHHGSCHUU! Hhhiieeescchieww!”

“Aww, baby,” I said sympathetically. “You’re starting to sound super sick.”

“I guess I abm,” Matt agreed, sniffling wetly and rubbing his eyes and nose. “I can’t seeb to stop sndeezing every couple of binutes. And I dod’t even rebebmer how much to drink I had sidnce the party started.”

“Well, maybe we should sleep on it and talk tomorrow morning,” I suggested. “My brain needs to process.”

Matt’s face looked slightly disappointed, but I knew he understood. I hadn’t exactly said “no”, after all.

Matt sniffled wetly again and we decided to join our friends and finish up the party. Before he went to help me up, I quickly grabbed a clean napkin from the coffee table and handed it to him so he could blow his nose. I cringed from the sound it made and wondered if he had been unconsciously sharing his cold germs all over the apartment tonight. From the communal snacks, to the utensil holders I had put out that morning, to his multiple uncovered sneezes, or to him wiping or rubbing his nose with his hand and then not washing them right afterward. I also just remembered we had that office party of his in a couple of days. My scooter would be here by then, at least, I just hoped Matt would be feeling better.

After most of the drinks had worn off, our guests started to head out. I sighed inwardly at the mess around the apartment, but let it go. The cleanup could wait until tomorrow. It wasn’t as if I could do much to help anyway. My ankle was starting to hurt again, which meant I was going to need another pain killer if I hoped to get any decent sleep tonight. Matt and I said goodnight and exchanged silent smirks with Dave as we watched Ethan and Alyssa go into Ethan’s bedroom and shut the door behind them.

“I didn’t know they had reached that stage, yet,” I said quietly to Matt once we were in his bedroom.

Matt sniffled and shrugged. “She’s been here overnight once or twice before. Guess I just didn’t mention it. Ethan doesn’t really talk about it either, you know.”

I rolled my eyes. “So, what about Dave? Is he interested in anyone at all? Or Steve, too, for that matter?”

Matt shrugged again. “Dave’s pretty solid. It doesn’t seem to bother him if he doesn’t have a girl in his life. And I think Steve’s seeing someone, but she’s away for the holiday.”

Matt helped me into the bathroom so I could change into pajamas, then he helped me into bed. He went to the kitchen to get me another bottled water and a pain pill. I heard him sneeze twice more while he was in there, but before long he came back with my supplies and an ice pack. While I swallowed the medicine, he gently re-wrapped my ankle for me to keep it secure through the night, elevated it on the throw pillow from the living room. He then pulled off his t-shirt and jeans and slid next to me onto the bed.

“You’re the best, babe,” I said, and decided to tease him a bit. “I could definitely get used to this life.”

“My offer will still be here in the morning,” Matt responded, rolling over to face me and resting his arm across my waistline. I watched his expression carefully, which he tried to keep composed, but he looked slightly pleased all the same. I had a feeling I knew what my answer would be come tomorrow. My heart was obviously already trying to make an opinion over my brain, and I had that butterfly feeling in my stomach. Matt and I were moving in together.

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More to come soon! <3

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Aw! I am so, so in love with this story! 😍

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Here's the next part!!

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“Owwww,” I muttered later that morning, now New Years's Day, opening my eyes and throwing the blankets off. My ankle was throbbing madly and must have been what woke me up. I saw that my bandage had loosened and my now-bruised up ankle was still swollen. The pillow my foot had been resting on had fallen to the floor sometime during the night. My hip also ached, so I sat up and lifted up my shirt to see that the bruise I had predicted was now there. I rubbed my face and eyes and picked up my phone to check the time and any possible messages. It was shortly after ten in the morning. Thanks to the painkillers I had been able to get some sleep, though I also remembered waking up several times during the short night from the sound of Matt’s heavy snoring. He normally didn’t snore, so this must be something that he did when he was sick. I answered some new year’s texts from my mom, sister, Emma, and Jen from work, then tossed my phone onto my pillow.

I thought about going out of the room to find my ankle brace that I was supposed to start wearing, but maybe another ice pack and ibuprofen would help first. I didn’t want to fall asleep again from the pain killers. I looked behind me at Matt, who was laying on his side and seemed to be sleeping soundly. He was breathing heavily through his open mouth, so I knew his nose must be completely stuffed up. Poor guy. Well, I had to pee anyway, so I decided to see if I could make it to the bathroom on my own. What I wouldn’t give for a pair of crutches right now, I thought.

“Okay, let’s do this,” I whispered to myself. I stood up from the bed and onto my good foot, and tentatively put my bad one on the floor. I leaned down onto it very slowly and carefully.

“Ouch!” I exclaimed, then clapped a hand over my mouth to keep myself from yelling out again in pain. I turned quickly to see if I had woken Matt, but he only snored once and rolled over. I sighed inwardly, knowing it hadn't even been twenty-four hours since I got hurt. Of course I wouldn't be able to put weight on the ankle yet.

I leaned towards the wall and, using it as a crutch, I hopped into the bathroom. Thankfully, I could manage the next part on my own. After I finished, I washed my hands, brushed my teeth, and decided that since I was already in the bathroom I may as well take a shower. Thankfully Matt’s bathroom was a shower and tub combo, so I sat on the edge of the tub so I could undress. The shower wasn’t too difficult to manage if I put my hand on the wall to hold myself steady, and the hot water felt amazing. When I was finishing up, I heard a knock on the bathroom door and then a cough.

“Kay?” It was Matt.

“Yeah?” I called.

“Just want to make sure you’re doing okay,” he said from the other side of the door.

“All good here,” I called back. “I’m almost done.”

“Oh…okay. Uhh…do you…need any help?”

“I think I’m okay,” I said. I let go of the wall and tried to balance myself so I could finish rinsing my face. However, in the wet heat my foot slipped. I managed to reach down and grip the edge of the tub in time, but without thinking I also put my other foot down on the shower floor to steady myself. The wave of sudden pain surprised me, and I pulled my ankle back up in time just to hit my knee on the built-in soap holder. It made a loud banging sound and sent another shock of pain through my knee, which made me cry out briefly.

“Kaylee!” The door opened suddenly and Matt rushed in. He threw open the shower curtain to see me standing there fully naked and bracing my painful leg. He wasn’t wearing his glasses yet, so he must have only woken up a couple of minutes before he came to check on me.

“Are you okay? What happened? I thought you fell.”

“I’m okay,” I said with a painful laugh. “I didn’t fall. I almost did, but I just bumped my knee.”

“Oh,” Matt said, and suddenly his entire face flushed as he saw me. He quickly averted his eyes by looking down at the floor mat. “Sorry. Whoops.”

I smiled shyly, blushing as well. “It’s okay.”

He turned around quickly to leave, but I grabbed his shirt sleeve. “Wait.”

Matt turned back and looked tentatively at me, and I looked back at him.

“Join me,” I said quietly, very aware of my exposed figure and the hot water still running down my back and legs. Matt looked at me, his expression both slightly awkward and a little nervous. He then pulled off his white undershirt and boxers, and stepped forward into the shower with me.

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“My ankle hurts,” I said a little later as we relaxed in Matt’s bed. “I never did get that ibuprofen.”

“I’m sorry,” Matt said, and I ran my hand through his dark, damp hair. “I was trying to be gentle.”

“I know,” I said, kissing him lightly on the lips. “You were careful. Although it didn’t help when you had that massive sneezing attack right after. What was that, like eight?”

Matt sniffed in response. “Yeah, something like that. The hot water was clearing everything out, I guess. It helped a little, but I still feel kinda sick.”

“Not from me, right?” I teased.

Matt grinned. “No. That was amazing. Like, really amazing. You have no idea how long I’ve wanted us to do that.”

I blushed and smiled back. “Yeah. Same here.”

“You are so damn sexy, Kaylee,” Matt continued, laying one of his arms across my waist and kissing my neck. “You…”

Matt suddenly paused and put a closed fist to his mouth. He turned his head away from me. “HHhhiiischoooo! Hhhiieeeaahhhschhuuu! Hhh…h…Hhheeehhhggschiiewww!”

“Bless you, baby,” I said when he was done. “Guess the shower only helped temporarily.”

“Yeahh…hhhhhiID’schooo!

“Bless you again,” I said. “We really should get some Dayquil in you so you’ll feel better.”

“For sure,” Matt said, sniffling wetly. He sat up, reached for a tissue on his bedside table and blew his nose noisily. He sneezed again two more times into another tissue, and started coughing a little.

“Ugh, this sucks,” he said, sniffling heavily. “I’m gonna go get that Dayquil. And some stuff for you. Want your Vicodin?”

“No, please,” I said. “I don’t want to sleep anymore. Ibuprofen should be fine.”

“Well, let’s take care of your ankle and get some breakfast then,” Matt said.

After we got dressed and had a brunch of some scrambled eggs, and toast, we decided to go back to my place so I could get myself some more clothes and other things. Since I was going to be staying at Matt’s for a couple of days, I was now running short on clean outfits. As Matt cleaned up our plates and picked up some of the mess from the party last night, my phone rang. It was my pharmacy letting me know that the knee scooter we ordered would arrive tomorrow morning and that we could pick it up then.

“That’s great,” Matt said after I let him know about the scooter, and he cleared his congested throat. “I was going to buy you a pair of crutches if they didn’t call today. The scooter will help for the office party tomorrow. If you still want to go, that is.”

“Of course, I do,” I said.

“It’s more of a dinner, really,” Matt mused. “So I guess you can even sit for the whole thing. It’s at the Brazilian steakhouse. Ken reserved us a private section.”

“That sounds amazing,” I said. I loved steak. Once Matt and I moved in together, I was looking forward to him grilling for us. Of course, we hadn’t exactly finished our discussion from the night before, and I toyed with a bit of egg left on my plate as I thought about that. Matt hadn’t even said anything yet today, so I only assumed he was waiting for me to bring up the subject.

“Hey, so I’ve been thinking,” I started to say, but then Dave’s bedroom door opened. He walked out to the kitchen and helped himself to a cup of coffee from the big pot Matt had made. Matt and I both watched as he sat down at the dining room table, took a sip of coffee, then set it down and put his head in his hands.

“Hey, man,” Matt said casually, putting his shoes on. Dave grumbled a quiet ‘good morning’, which was unusual for him as he was normally a cheerful morning person. I eyed Matt and pointed to my head, and Matt understood.

“Hangover?” he asked, and Dave nodded through his hands.

“Let me guess,” Dave said quietly. “You’re fine, right?”

“Yep,” Matt confirmed, and sniffled. “Except for this cold.”

Dave sighed and looked up at me. “Never gets a hangover, this guy. Can drink ‘til the cows come home, as my grandpa used to say. Wakes up the next day like it was nothing. It’s unfair.”

“Must be that 1/8th part Italian in me,” Matt said cheerfully.

“It’s like this every time we drink,” Dave said, shaking his head and then wincing from the motion. “He’s always so damn happy in the morning afterwards. Makes me want to throw up, and not just because of my splitting head.”

I smiled to myself, knowing the more likely reason why Matt was in such a good mood, but I didn’t say anything.

“There’s still some eggs and toast left if you’re hungry,” I told Dave. “Do you know if Ethan’s awake yet?”

“I don’t know. Probably,” Dave said. He wrinkled his nose toward the kitchen, probably not ready for food yet. “I thought I heard the front door earlier, but that might have just been Alyssa leaving. I don’t think Ethan went with her.”

HHHhiiiieettschhhooo! HhheeEEHHGSChieww!” Matt sneezed from the living room. Dave closed his eyes and winced again.

“God damnit, man, I know you’re sick but do you have to do that so loud?” Dave said irritably.

Matt cringed. “Sorry.”

“Sorry, Dave,” I said too. “We’ll get out of here soon.”

Dave waved a hand at us and picked up his coffee cup. “No, don’t mind me, I’m just an asshole right now.”

Matt chuckled. We chatted for a little while with Dave so Matt explain that I would be staying with them for a couple of days due to my ankle injury. Dave was fine with it, as we figured, and said he would help out if he could. Then Ethan’s bedroom door opened and he walked out.

“‘Morning,” Matt said to Ethan, who grumbled back a quiet greeting the same way Dave had. He shuffled into the kitchen, poured himself a cup of coffee, and grabbed a piece of toast. He then went into the living room and sat down on the couch. He put the toast in his mouth and pulled out his phone.

“Ready?” I asked Matt, and he nodded, and he went to get my stuff for me.

“Um, hey, Ethan,” I said. He looked up at me, chewing on a piece of toast. His brown frizzy curls had been getting longer these past few months, and he had to push his hair aside in the front.

“What’s up?” he said, and sniffled quietly.

“How’s Alyssa?” I asked casually. “Did she have a good time at the party?”

“Yeah,” he said with that half-smile of his and took another bite of toast. “She even said to tell you thanks.”

“I didn’t do much,” I said. “And I barely even got a chance to talk to her. Heck, we rarely even see her these days.”

“Yeah,” Ethan said. “She’s still shy around you guys, and she’s got that new job with the pediatrician. She’s been getting sick more since she started working there. From all the kid germs. When she went home this morning, she said she felt like she already had another cold.”

“I went through that when I first started teaching,” I said. “Takes your body a bit of time to build up immunity from what we call our ‘cute little walking petri dishes’.”

“Well, she’s not as much of a germaphobe anymore,” Ethan said, and held up a closed hand to stifle a small cough.

Matt came back then with my phone and my purse and helped me put on one shoe and my ankle brace, which looked and felt more like a cast due to how bulky it was. He handed me my jacket, and after I put it on, he bent down onto the floor in front of me.

“Today is a ‘piggy-back’ ride day,” he said with a grin. “It’ll be easier.”

I climbed on sheepishly, but Matt was right. This was easier. Matt walked us toward the front door, and when he suddenly held up his hand to sneeze again, he didn’t have to worry about dropping me.

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Back at my place Matt helped me get a suitcase ready with some more clothes, as well as a few other things to get me through the next couple of days. Afterwards, we relaxed on the couch in the living room for a while. There was no rush to get back to the apartment, and I could tell Matt wasn’t feeling too well. He was still sneezing a lot, and he sniffled constantly.

“Hey, so what were you going to say before Dave came in?” he asked.

“Oh,” I said. “I’ve been thinking about our conversation from last night.”

“Yeah?” Matt said hesitantly. “Has it been through Kaylee’s brain-list of pros and cons yet?”

“Pretty much,” I said, making a face at him. “And…I want to say ‘yes’, though of course I have questions.”

Matt grinned, then quickly grabbed a throw pillow he was leaning on and muffled three loud sneezes into it.

“Bless you,” I said. “Thanks for getting my nice pillows all germy.”

“Sorry. This is getting SO annoying,” Matt said, throwing the pillow back onto the couch. “Even after it seems like I’m done, I’m really not. Hhhehhh….hhh…HHHEEAAAHSCHOOO!”

“Bless you again,” I said, cringing and wiping my now damp arm. “I think you just ‘kamehameha’d Goku back to planet Vegeta.”

Matt grinned at my Dragon Ball Z reference. “But Frieza destroyed it, remember?”

“Oh, yeah.”

“See, this is one of the many reasons why it’s going to be so great, us living together,” Matt said, turning toward me and kissing my cheek.

“You have introduced me to a lot of shows I never thought I would’ve liked,” I agreed.

“Exactly.”

“So, what’s the plan then? Are you moving in here?” I asked, suddenly unleashing my torrent of questions and concerns on Matt. “Or, do you want me to move in with you to the apartment? What about your roommates? Are they okay with us living together? I feel bad springing this on them like that. Do you want to move out and we find our own place? Of course, my mom’s going to have a cow, you know she’s old-fashioned and won’t approve of this. And, what about your parents? Will they be okay with it? I mean I know I met them at Thanksgiving and you said they adore me, but what will they think of this? And what about your lease? Will they allow a fourth person? It is three bedrooms so shouldn’t it be okay to have four people? But what if you moved in with me? You’re the leaseholder, when does that expire? My lease will be up in March, so what should I do? I can’t afford being without a roommate, and I know Dave and Ethan can’t afford your place without you…and…”

I trailed off and looked helplessly at Matt. His eyes were wide, but he was grinning, practically laughing. I gave him a stern look and sighed.

“You have given this some thought,” he said.

“Told you.”

“Truth be told,” he began, looking into my eyes with a serious expression and taking one of my hands in his own. “I haven’t exactly given this as much thought as you. All I know is that I love you, you’re my best friend, and I want to be with you. We can figure out the rest later. For now, let’s just enjoy the moment in knowing our relationship is going somewhere good. For now, I’m just happy with your ‘yes’.”

Matt’s words couldn’t help but make me smile. He always knew just what to say to help bring me back to the present whenever I was fretting or overthinking. I couldn’t help being such a detail-oriented person, but I was aware now that sometimes it caused me to make things difficult for myself. I was my own buzzkill at times.

“Okay,” I said, and I gave him a soft kiss on the lips so he would know I appreciated his words. He returned my kiss with more passion, and put his hand under my back and down my waist.

“Do you…want to head to your bedroom?” Matt asked hesitantly, and I could detect another meaning behind his suggestion. “I think we both need a little rest…”

“Rest?” I said with a small hinting smile. “Okay. ‘Rest’ sounds great.”

Matt kissed me quickly again, then stood up and scooped me up cradle-style into his arms. He carried me off to the bedroom.

.

We headed back to the apartment sometime before dinner when my ibuprofen was starting to wear off and my ankle was hurting again. Matt was sneezing every few minutes again, too, so I figured he might want some more Dayquil. We greeted Dave and Ethan, who were still both having an easy day off and trying to recover from the previous night’s drinking. They were playing a Call of Duty game, but had the volume turned down low. Matt set me up on the armchair and brought me some medicine and an ice pack so I could take my brace off and ice my ankle. He then headed back out to get my suitcase from his car.

“Any ideas for dinner, Kaylee?” Ethan asked me. He sniffled a couple of times and I noticed his voice sounded a bit off.

“Oh, don’t make me decide,” I said. “You guys all got me my favorite last night, so it’s your choice. I’ll be fine with anything.”

“Okay, so pizza it is,” Dave said. “We were going to have that last night for the party, but since you decided you would try to sprout wings and be a flamingo, we decided to be nice and do your favorite.”

“Had that joke planned all day, didn’t you?” I said.

“There’ll be more when you least expect them,” Dave answered casually.

“I wouldn’t expect anything less from you,” I said with a smile, leaning forward to rearrange my ice pack.

“HhehAAHschoo!” Ethan suddenly sneezed from the couch.

“Bless you,” I said. “You getting sick, Ethan?”

“No,” Ethan said curtly.

“Someone else caught the sniffles from his girlfriend,” Dave said lightly. “That makes two lovesick nerds in our house.”

“Can’t a guy sneeze without someone assuming he’s sick?” Ethan said, rolling his eyes and sniffling again. Despite his words, he reached up to wipe his nose on the back of his wrist.

“Not when you’ve just started sneezing more in the past couple hours than I’ve ever heard you sneeze before,” Dave said.

As if to prove Dave’s point, Ethan suddenly sneezed again, this time attempting to cover his mouth when he did so. Dave chuckled.

“Oh, shut up,” Ethan said, still sniffling heavily, and threw his controller aside onto the couch. He stood up and went into the kitchen.

HhiIIH’schiiieww!” Ethan sneezed again from behind the open fridge. He walked back out with a bottle of water and went into his bedroom, probably to stay there until pizza arrived. Dave met my eyes and smirked, and I couldn’t help but smile. Poor Ethan.

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More to come soon! <3

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Aw! I still love this so, so much! (Especially with added Ethan.)

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Aaaa I’m so happy to get more Ethan sneezes! I hope there will be more of them! Keep up the amazing work! I like how Ethan is stubborn about it as well 

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  • 4 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...

Hey, everyone! Got a special part for you with more of our lovely Ethan. Hope you enjoy! 

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Matt had to go back to work the next day, so he was already gone by the time I woke up. I sat up, stretched, then tested out my voice. Thankfully, that cold I had had seemed to have been a light one for me, because it was already pretty much gone now. I wondered if Matt was feeling better, too. I looked at my phone to see a text from him from about an hour ago.

Hey babe. I might be only working til lunch today, things are really slow. You doing okay?

I texted him back, Yeah. I just woke up.

Within a couple of minutes, he responded. You’re so beautiful when you’re sleeping. I miss you already.

I smiled. Miss you too.

Need anything before I get home? Your scooter should be ready at the pharmacy, right?

Yeah, I responded. We can pick it up when you’re done at work.

Ok, his text said.

He didn’t text anything more after that, so I assumed he was working now. My thoughts moved to coffee and I realized I was going to have to figure out how to move around on my own today. I stood up, using the bed frame to brace myself, and then tested out what weight I could put on my foot. I winced at the pain, readjusted my brace, and hobbled my way out of the bedroom. Getting a small pot of coffee started wasn’t too bad once I was in the kitchen. Breakfast wasn’t too hard either, I just grabbed a Quest bar and an apple. I took some Ibuprofen and went to the living room to watch something on TV.

From the living room couch, I startled slightly when I heard the sound of coughing coming from Ethan’s room. I had thought he was back to work today like Dave and Matt. After another couple of minutes, I heard him sneeze twice, and then his bedroom door opened. He trudged out to the kitchen, pushing his hair out of his eyes and then rubbing his face. He looked awful.

“Hey, Ethan,” I said politely, not sure if he had seen me yet, and he looked once at me as he passed into the kitchen.

“Morning. Is there coffee?” he asked quietly, then sniffled wetly. His voice sounded terrible too.

“Not much,” I admitted. “Sorry. I thought you were all at work or I would have made more.”

“It’s fine,” Ethan said, and poured the coffee pot’s remains into a mug for himself. He walked into the living room and sat down in the armchair. He closed his eyes and laid his head back, only to sit back up and sneeze into his elbow.

“Bless you,” I said. “Not working today, then?”

He shook his head and reached for a tissue on the coffee table. He wiped his nose and then laid his head back again. “I called out. I feel like shit.”

“Aw, I’m sorry,” I said.

He lifted his head up from the couch again and his breath hitched. He quickly grabbed for another tissue. “Hhh...hheeh'schhuu! Hheehtttschhoo…h…hhah’txcshh!”

“Bless you,” I said.

Ethan sniffled thickly. “Thanks.”

Poor Ethan sounded so awful that I sat up and rearranged my leg so I could reach across to his armchair and feel his forehead. He looked down and coughed, but didn’t argue or pull his head away.

“You might have a bit of a fever,” I said, and he shrugged. “Do you need anything? Matt and I got medicine and stuff the other day, I can get it for you.”

Ethan looked pointedly at my ankle in its brace. “No offense, Kaylee, but I don’t think you’re in a position to be able to be running around taking care of me.”

I grinned in return. “Good point. Well, we’re just both hot messes again then, aren’t we?”

Ethan smiled briefly, sniffled again, and laid his head back on the armchair. He hung out with me on the couch for the rest of the morning, sneezing every few minutes in between dozing or watching tv. I had to admit, despite that he was sick, he was still convenient to have around. Whenever he needed to get up, he was also able to help me get what I needed so I didn’t have to. As he was making us both lunch (soup for himself and sandwiches for both of us), Matt called me.

“Hi,” I said. “All done at work?”

“I wish,” Matt said. He sniffled on the other end and his voice still sounded nasally. “I just got on a sev-1 with Chase bank about an hour ago, so I don’t think I’ll be able to get out til it’s fixed. I might even be working late. I’m so sorry, babe.”

“It’s okay, Matty, I understand,” I said, and Ethan sneezed two times from the kitchen.

“Wait, is that Ethan?” Matt asked. “Thought he was at work.”

“No, he called in sick,” I said.

“Whoa,” Matt said, chuckling. “He never does that.”

“Well, he’s got a cold and a fever,” I said quietly and lowered my voice to not much more than a whisper. “But…hey. Um, I keep wondering if Alyssa’s messaged him yet, but he’s barely picked up his phone. He hasn’t mentioned her, has he?”

“Huh. I don’t know,” Matt said distractedly. “Oh, crap. Babe, I gotta go. I’ll call you when I’m finished up here.”

After Matt and I exchanged goodbyes, Ethan brought us our lunch. He handed me my plate and then quickly brought his hand back up to muffle another sneeze into it.

“Hhhmmpffsch! Fuck, this is getting annoying,” he said irritably while wiping his runny nose on his shoulder sleeve.

“Bless you,” I said. “Have you taken anything yet?”

He shook his head, and then turned his head away. “N…not yet…hhh'ngxchoo! Sometimes cold medicine makes me feel f-fuzzy…hhehghschuu!”

“Take some,” I practically ordered. “You sound like crap.”

Ethan sniffed heavily, rolled his eyes, set his bowl and plate down on the coffee table, and went back to the kitchen to take some medicine, letting out several congested coughs on the way.

After we finished our lunches, Ethan dozed again. He still sneezed or coughed every so often, and a small pile of used tissues was forming in his lap. I turned the volume down on the tv when I needed to use the bathroom. I stood up, carefully putting some weight on my aching ankle. The boot brace helped, but my ankle throbbed madly in protest, which meant it was probably time for some stronger pain killers. I went to Matt’s bathroom, did my business, and reluctantly took a Vicodin. At least I had the day off so I could sleep if the meds knocked me out like they often did.

As I made my way back to the couch, Ethan sat up suddenly, his breath hitching. “F-fuck. Here it goes again...hehh...Hhhhettschuuu! Hih'ihhIITSCHUUU! Goddammiiitttscchhhoo! Kayleemakeitstaahhp’ttscchh! Hhh’gehtchuu!

“Bless you,”, I said with a laugh, coming to sit back down on the couch. I had honestly never heard Ethan sneeze so much before. When he was finally done, he pushed his hair back out of his face and sniffed wetly several times. I handed him a couple of fresh tissues. He looked a little annoyed, but accepted them anyway and blew his nose twice. The sound of it made me cringe. He then leaned back on the armchair and laid his head back. He was quiet for awhile after that, and I watched my show and played a game on my phone. My Vicodin started to kick in, and I felt relaxed and slightly sleepy, but at least my ankle didn’t hurt much anymore.

“Kaylee,” Ethan suddenly said, and I looked at him. His eyes were closed and his voice sounded a little dazed. I wondered if he was having that “fuzzy” feeling he had mentioned.

“What’s up?” I asked, curious to see where this was going.

“I don’t feel good,” he suddenly said in a slightly whiny tone, and I had to stifle a giggle.

“I know, honey,” I said in a sympathetic voice I usually reserved for my preschoolers. I had never seen this more vulnerable side of Ethan before. He was always nice but usually so aloof and stubborn.

“Kaylee,” Ethan said again after a few moments.

“Yeah?” I asked, and Ethan sighed.

“I think Alyssa’s cheating on me,” he said.

I stared at him. “What?”

He shook his head, eyes still closed, and sniffled again. “I don’t know. We haven’t been talking much…you know she came for the New Year’s party, but she hasn’t texted me or even called since that morning after she left. I never thought I was the type to care about this stuff, and I thought it was maybe just cause she’s sick again, but now I don’t know.”

“I’m sorry,” I said gently.

“Yeah, I guess things have just been shitty with us,” Ethan continued. “I went to meet her for lunch a couple days before New Year’s and I saw her in the lobby with one of the pediatric doctors she works with. She was standing really close to him, fixing his tie. She was even smiling all nice, like she had for me when we first started dating…there was chemistry there, man.”

“That doesn’t mean she’s cheating on you,” I said, although in my mind the whole thing reminded me of Gavin’s behavior right before we had broken up.

“What should I do, Kay?” Ethan coughed into the back of his wrist and looked at me. His expression looked slightly confused, and there were tired shadows under his eyes.

“I don’t know, sweetie,” I said. “Do you love her?”

Ethan shook his head, and pieces of his hair fell back over his eyes. He absentmindedly pushed them back. “I don’t know. I just hate it, and I hate feeling like this. Like shit, and the kind of shit that doesn’t just come from having a stupid cold.”

“Yeah, I get that,” I said, and sighed. “I kinda know what you’re going through. Gavin put me through something similar. I mean, not that it’s exactly the same, but I can relate…”

Ethan sighed, closed his eyes again, and we sat in silence together for a while. I stared at the tv, but not really watching because my own brain was starting to feel distracted and fuzzy as well. I dozed in and out like Ethan did and eventually lost track of time.

I woke up groggily later when I had to go to the bathroom again and saw it was starting to get dark outside. I looked around and saw Ethan slouched down on the armchair. He was sound asleep, breathing quickly but quietly through his mouth probably due to a very stuffy nose. His head lay to the side and his arms were crossed, making me wonder if he was feeling cold. He sniffled once in his sleep and then coughed a couple of times.

Poor guy, I thought. I felt so bad for him, knowing he must be having a hard time with everything right now.

I stood up carefully, feeling dizzy for a second or two, and then limped to the bathroom. When I got back to the living room, I looked for my phone to text Matt and saw that it had fallen on the floor between the couch and the coffee table. I reached down to pick it up and of course I lost my balance. I fell with a weird thump, hitting my abdomen on the arm’s edge of the couch, and Ethan startled awake.

“Kaylee?”

“Yeah, I’m right here,” I said. “Ow.”

“What the hell was that?” he asked in a very congested voice. “Did you just fall odnto the couch?”

“Yep,” I said tightly, rubbing my stomach and wincing. “I guess I’m a little disoriented right now cause of the Vicodin.”

 “You okay?” he asked, grinning.

“Yep.”

Ethan looked up at the window and sniffled very wetly. He coughed again several times. “It’s gettig dark. You hugry at all?”

“No,” I said. “Kinda nauseous, actually.”

“You just dneed to eat sobmthing,” he said. “We’ll order out, I dod’t want to c-cook. Hhhiinngxt’ts’schuu!”

“Bless you,” I said, and he quickly grabbed a couple tissues from the coffee table.

“Dnot done,” he said breathily. “Hhheehhgschuu! HhiIItchhhuu! H…hehtschooo!”

“Bless you again,” I said. “You done now?”

“I dod’t know,” Ethan said breathily, but then blew his nose twice. He coughed several times right afterwards, his breath slightly wheezy.

“Urgh,” he groaned. “My nose is so gross right now.”

“You poor baby,” I said with a casual chuckle. I picked up my phone to text Matt and find out if he and Dave wanted us to get dinner for them too. While I typed out the message, Ethan started coughing even more. He wheezed heavily a couple of times, then stood up and went into his bedroom, leaving his door open.

Matt’s response came quickly. Yeah, dinner sounds great, save some for us. I’m on my way home, actually. Dave too.

“Hey, Kaylee?” Ethan’s voice called weakly from his bedroom.

“Yeah?” I called back.

“I need help.”

I carefully stood up, put my phone in my pajama pocket, and limped to Ethan’s bedroom doorway. He was sitting on the edge of his bed, his inhaler in one hand. The other hand was across his chest. His face was pale and he looked up at me anxiously, his breath coming out in wheezes.

“Are you okay?” I asked, suddenly nervous. He shook his head and coughed again.

“Oh my god,” I realized. “Are you having an asthma attack?”

 He nodded. “My albuterol’s not working well, it expired a few months ago.”

“Shit, okay,” I said. “Well, let’s go to the ER. I think I can drive, though maybe not well.”

Ethan shook his head, coughing in between wheezes. “Not if you’ve taken a Vicodin.”

“That was a few hours ago,” I said. “I’m not even tired anymore. Let me get ready to go really quick and I’ll call Matt. Take another puff of your inhaler. It might help, even a little.”

Ethan only nodded, and I limped into Matt’s bedroom and called him.

“Hey, are you almost home?” I asked right when Matt answered.

“Yeah, why?” Matt said.

“Ethan’s starting to have an asthma attack,” I said. “He needs to go to the emergency room.”

“Oh, shit,” Matt said. “Um, okay. I can take him, I’m two minutes away from home. Did he take anything? Flovent? His Albuterol? What’s his peak flow at?”

“I don’t know about his peak flow thing or flovent, but he said the Albuterol expired a while ago.”

“Crap, okay,” Matt said. “I’ll be there in a couple minutes, see if Ethan can meet me out in the parking lot. How’s your ankle? Shit, we were supposed to pick up your scooter today.”

“We can just get it tomorrow before your work party,” I said.

“Just make Dave take you, he won’t mind,” Matt said with a quick chuckle. “Okay, I’m almost to the parking lot. I’ll call you when we’re at the hospital, it’s not far.”

I instantly felt better knowing Matt was going to take Ethan to the ER instead of me. He had apparently done this before, after all, and didn’t have a bum ankle holding him back. I hobbled back out to the living room Ethan had just finished putting on his shoes. He still had his joggers on, and had thrown a hoodie on over his t-shirt. He coughed every few seconds and wheezed in between. He looked at me, probably wondering why I was still in pajamas.

“Matt’s almost home, so he’s taking you to the ER,” I said.

“Oh,” Ethan said, and his face relaxed a little. “Okay, cool. No offense, but I was worried about having to help you walk.”

“It’s fine,” I said with a reassuring smile. “The timing was great. He’ll be out front any minute.”

“I’ll go out and wait for him,” Ethan said, and coughed again. “The cool air might help some. Thanks for your help, Kaylee.”

“Feel better,” I said. “See you when you get back.”

.

Matt called me and Dave a little while later to let us know how things were going. Ethan seemed to be doing better, thanks to the hospital breathing treatments. Matt briefly put me on speakerphone at one point to help Ethan find his phone that had fallen out of his pocket. Dave sat near me on the couch and listened in while he played a video game.

“Fuck,” I heard Ethan say on the other end. “The mist is making my fucking nose run. Snf. Aah, shit, it burns.”

Matt chuckled, his voice sounding muffled. “Cause you’re almost empty on the first bag, man. You just sniffed it up your nose. Oh, here, it just fell behind the cot wheel.”

“Th-thanks…hh…hhhiitchuuu…heh'ngxch’oo!” Ethan suddenly sneezed.

“Bless you,” Matt said.

“Goddammit,” Ethan said irritably, his voice sounding very congested. “Hhh…huh… heh'ngxch'oo! Hhehhschooo! Hnxgh'tschoo! Heh'ESHhuuu!”

“Shit, man,” Matt said. Dave and I eyed each other and stifled laughs.

“Bless you,” said a female voice on the other end, and I wondered if that was the doctor. “How are things in here, Ethan? Looks like your first bag’s done. Let’s check your O2 levels and see where we’re at.”

There was a brief shuffling noise as Matt must have picked up his phone again.

“Is he okay?” I asked.

“Yeah,” Matt said quietly. “But this is hilarious. You weren’t kidding. He’s so sick. And his nose keeps running cause of the mist.”

“Yeah, we can hear everything,” I chuckled. “Dave’s cracking up.”

Matt went quiet on the other end so the doctor could talk to Ethan, but kept me on the phone anyway. Ethan’s oxygen levels were climbing up, but they wanted to do a second breathing treatment, hopeful that this would be the last one.

“I’m a little concerned about your elevated temperature with all the nasal congestion you seem to be having,” we heard the doctor say. “Can we run a flu swab on you before we start again on your second bag?”

“Sure,” Ethan said irritably. Matt kept us on the phone while the doctor ran the flu test on Ethan. All we heard were shuffling noises and then Ethan suddenly sneezed again.

“Sorry,” we heard him say.

“Bless you,” the doctor said with a laugh. “That happens sometimes.”

Thankfully, the test came back negative. Matt and I talked for a bit longer off of speakerphone while Ethan dozed during his second breathing treatment. Matt asked if he could talk to Dave then, apparently about helping me pick up my leg scooter. The pharmacy was still open, so we planned to go and then get a late dinner for everyone on our way back.

“Ethan and Matt have a unique dynamic,” Dave mused on our way to the pharmacy. “They’re almost like brothers. More than brothers, really. Been that way as long as I know. I came in a couple of years after they were already roommates, when I needed a place after Tess and I split. Matt and I were working together by then and he offered me a room, and I’ve been there ever since.”

“Do you ever feel left out with them?” I asked.

“Nah,” Dave said. “Matt just looks out for Ethan, and Ethan looks up to Matt. They’re just really close, even though they don’t always act like it. Just call me their newer, bigger, older, and wiser brother…who’s also better-looking, smarter, funnier, sexier…”

“I get it,” I said loudly, and Dave snickered.

I remembered then when Matt told me how he and Ethan had met, so Dave’s words made a lot of sense. Matt and Ethan had formed a friendship through an online multiplayer game several years ago while Matt was still living in Arizona. A couple of years into their friendship, Matt accepted a great job in Denver and got himself a place just outside the city. He started advertising for a roommate or two, and casually talked about the process with Ethan while they were playing online. Ethan was surprised. Apparently, he said he had actually just accepted a paid internship for an advertising company in Denver and would be moving there in a few weeks from his hometown in Montana, and would Matt maybe consider having him as a roommate? To me, it was as if fate had brought the two friends together. It was no wonder Matt cared about Ethan so much. I then wondered how Ethan felt about me since Matt and I had started dating. He didn’t seem jealous. On the contrary, the fact that he was able to be vulnerable in front of me for the first time since I’d met him was reassuring. It seemed we had bonded a little today. I reminded myself to tell Matt later about Ethan’s trouble with Alyssa. I didn't want to interfere with their friendship, but I wondered if Ethan might just need his “big brother” to help him out.

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I continue to adore this!

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OMG!!! I LOVED this part ❤️❤️ Ethan is soo cute! I love the interaction with him and everyone else. You’re weighting just feels so real. I hope you’re able to continue this and is till hope there will be more Ethan :D 

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  • 1 month later...

Hey all! Yes, there will be more, just not sure when. With this whole quarantine thing I just haven't had much private time to be able to write. I'll probably pick up where I left off because I love Ethan as well, he's got such a rough sensitive side! I've really enjoyed writing his stuff. I can also take ideas or requests if you've got them!

Also, something funny-not-funny happened. I pulled a total Kaylee a couple weeks ago and sprained my ankle! It's even a grade three sprain like the one I wrote for Kaylee 😂. The only difference is mine is a double sprain, and from a fall from the stairs instead of a stepladder. I currently have a pneumatic walking boot that I'm supposed to wear 24/7 while it heals. Because of my experience now I want to edit my story and correct some things from Kaylee's incident and her ER visit! I haven't reached forum status to be able to do so, but it's in my plan as well.

❤️

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53 minutes ago, LimeyBlimey said:

Because of my experience now I want to edit my story and correct some things from Kaylee's incident and her ER visit! I haven't reached forum status to be able to do so, but it's in my plan as well.

I don’t know if this is possible in the immediacy, because I don’t know if the staff is too busy focusing on other stuff, but if you’ve reached validation (rather than being a pending member), you can ask the staff for admission to the Writer’s Group; it gives you better editing access, though I’m not 100% sure if you’ll be able to edit what you need to. Just send them a message saying you write multi-part stories and would like to be able to edit your topics. (Include a link to, for example, this one; it’ll save them the time necessary to hunt down your stories to confirm your claim.)

Good luck!

Edited by MyOwnPrivateSFC
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2 hours ago, LimeyBlimey said:

Hey all! Yes, there will be more, just not sure when. With this whole quarantine thing I just haven't had much private time to be able to write. I'll probably pick up where I left off because I love Ethan as well, he's got such a rough sensitive side! I've really enjoyed writing his stuff. I can also take ideas or requests if you've got them!

Also, something funny-not-funny happened. I pulled a total Kaylee a couple weeks ago and sprained my ankle! It's even a grade three sprain like the one I wrote for Kaylee 😂. The only difference is mine is a double sprain, and from a fall from the stairs instead of a stepladder. I currently have a pneumatic walking boot that I'm supposed to wear 24/7 while it heals. Because of my experience now I want to edit my story and correct some things from Kaylee's incident and her ER visit! I haven't reached forum status to be able to do so, but it's in my plan as well.

❤️

There’s no rush! I was just asking if it was going to be continued because I love Ethan as well and I hope there will be more of him! 

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21 hours ago, MyOwnPrivateSFC said:

I don’t know if this is possible in the immediacy, because I don’t know if the staff is too busy focusing on other stuff, but if you’ve reached validation (rather than being a pending member), you can ask the staff for admission to the Writer’s Group; it gives you better editing access, though I’m not 100% sure if you’ll be able to edit what you need to. Just send them a message saying you write multi-part stories and would like to be able to edit your topics. (Include a link to, for example, this one; it’ll save them the time necessary to hunt down your stories to confirm your claim.)

Good luck!

Cool! Didn’t know that! Thanks for the tip!!

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  • 1 month later...
On 5/9/2020 at 9:20 AM, LimeyBlimey said:

Cool! Didn’t know that! Thanks for the tip!!

Hopefully the next part will be done soon! I’ve been bored and have re-read this story 3 times because of it lol. 

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Finally! Popping in with a tiny teaser part. Be back with more when I can!!

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After we picked up my scooter, Dave and I went through the Taco Bell drive-through for dinner and headed back to the apartment. Dave helped me adjust my new scooter, brought me an ibuprofen because my ankle was aching again, then went to unpack the food. Matt and Ethan walked in right as Dave was removing the party pack boxes.

“Yes, Taco Bell,” Matt said enthusiastically, setting a plastic grocery bag from the pharmacy on the kitchen counter. “I’m starved.”

Ethan walked in behind Matt, sniffling heavily and wiping his nose with a wad of tissues. He looked exhausted, but at least he wasn’t coughing anymore. He sneezed twice into the tissues, blew his nose, and then sneezed again, this time toward the floor.

“God-DAMN-it,” he said in an annoyed tone, shaking his head and rubbing his face. “They still won’t fucking stop. Hhhhettschuuu!”

He sneezed again, and this time I watched Matt slide a new box of tissues across the counter.

“Thanks,” Ethan mumbled. Dave snickered as he walked right past Ethan with a pack of tacos in one hand and his large drink in the other.

“Bless you,” I said. “So, can you at least breathe better now?”

Ethan nodded, and pulled out two different inhaler boxes. “These’ll help keep it under control.”

“They gave him a Benadryl, too,” Matt said, coming to sit next to me on my armchair and unwrapping a burrito for himself. “Of course, that’s for his cold, they said it can help with all the nasal congestion. By the way, hi.”

I smiled. “Hi. Haven’t seen you all day, huh?”

Matt grinned, kissed me casually on the lips, and then pulled back to take a big bite of his burrito. Ethan grabbed one of the boxes from the counter and a Gatorade from the fridge. We knew he didn’t drink soda like the rest of us. He sneezed again two times on the way to the living room, sat down on the last open spot next to Dave on the couch, and put his legs up on the coffee table. Matt put something on YouTube for all of us. We were all eating and talking together when Ethan leaned forward.

“HhhaAAAHHschuuu!”

Dave jumped up so quickly from the couch that I was surprised he managed to avoid spilling the rest of his food.

“Hey!” Dave said, grabbing his drink from the coffee table in front of Ethan and moving to the dining room table. “Watch it man, I don’t want your germs.”

Ethan laughed along with me and Matt. “Get over it.”

“Asshole,” Dave said indignantly and took a sip from his cup.

After dinner we all said a quick goodnight and went to bed. Matt and I talked quietly as we dressed for bed, and I told him about the conversation I had had with Ethan earlier today. Matt sighed.

“I actually haven’t talked to him much since New Year’s since I’ve been so busy with you and all,” Matt said and gave a light sniffle. “I didn’t know anything was up between him and Alyssa. He’s like a tomb sometimes. He doesn’t talk about stuff unless he wants to.”

“Yeah, I was starting to pick up on that,” I mused as I climbed into bed. “I’m surprised he told me. Maybe cause I’m a girl, or he was feeling vulnerable from being sick and dazed from the medicine. But hey, are you feeling any better?”

Matt nodded. “Better than yesterday, and the stupid sneezing finally eased up while I was at work. Honestly, I think I’ve had worse colds before. My boss was debating sending me to work from home earlier just to try to keep everyone at work healthy, but then we got that case. How’s your ankle?”

I unstrapped my boot brace and wrapped my ankle with an ace bandage instead. The swelling had gone down a little, but I knew it would be several days before I saw any amount of progress with that. “Hurts, of course. I have a follow-up on Monday with my doctor. The office called me earlier. I need to be better about staying off my feet.”

“Yeah, well, at least it’s almost the weekend,” Matt said. “Man, these last couple days have been rough. I hope we can make it through dinner tomorrow.”

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Edited by LimeyBlimey
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The next day, I happened to wake up early with Matt and Dave just as they were getting ready to head to work. I sat in the dining room next to the kitchen, put my walking boot on, and talked with them while they both got coffee and a quick breakfast. The office party was tonight and Matt said he would pick me up on his way there after work. I had the morning to myself again, but then I happened to look across to the small hallway leading back to the bedrooms.

“All seems to be quiet on the Ethan front,” I said, eyeing his closed bedroom door. Matt casually glanced over, a slightly concerned look on his face.

“Yeah, he got a doctor’s note, so he probably called out of work again,” Matt said.

Dave was in the kitchen prepping his coffee. He cleared his throat and sniffed a couple of times. “Yeah, just let him rest.”

“I will,” I assured.

Dave smiled briefly, and then sniffled again. He turned his head away for a minute and held the back of his wrist up to his mouth. He then sniffed again and lowered his arm.

“You okay, man?” Matt asked, watching him.

“Yeah,” Dave said weakly. “Thought I had to sneeze for a second, but it got away.”

“Uh-oh,” I said teasingly. “Not getting sick, are you?”

Dave shrugged. “My throat’s kinda buggin’ me too. Guess we’ll find out.”

Matt glanced at his phone and then stood up. He kissed me lightly. “I’m heading out.”

“Okay,” I said, and kissed him back. I stood up, my thoughts turning to the bathroom and a nice long shower. “See ya later.”

“I’ll walk out with you,” Dave said to Matt, and finished putting the lid on his insulated tumbler. He suddenly sniffled heavily.

Ah, man…hhuh…HhaaAAHH-SCHHUU!”

“Holy shit, bless you,” Matt said.

“Thanks,” Dave said, and rapidly shook his head like a dog. I limped with them to the front door so I could lock it behind them.

“You know,” Dave started, then sniffed once. “I once dated a girl who worked at a brewery. She reminds me of you.”

“Why’s that?” I asked.

“She was in charge of the ‘Hops’,” he answered with a straight face.

Matt laughed and I groaned.

“Also, I got a new name for you,” Dave continued, a grin starting on his face. “Peggy.”

“Ha, ha,” I said with a sarcastic laugh. “Get out of here.”

After Matt and Dave left I went to take a shower. I was almost to Matt’s room when I heard the sound of Dave’s sneeze echoing through the hallway, and chuckled to myself. It sounded to me like Dave might be getting sick.

After a very long shower, I brewed another pot of coffee and ate a little breakfast. I even organized my suitcase of clothes and picked out my outfit for the dinner party later. I texted Matt and watched a show on my phone for a while, giving my ankle a chance to rest on the bed. A couple hours later I heard some congested coughing from Ethan’s room and wondered if he was awake. The sound of his door opening gave me my answer, which was followed by two loud harsh sneezes. Poor guy, I thought.

Suddenly, the doorbell rang.

“Hey, Kaylee?” Ethan’s voice called out, sounding a little raspy. “You here?”

“Yeah,” I called out.

“Do you bmind getti’g the door?” he called back in a very stuffed-up voice.

“Sure,” I answered, and put my phone down. I peg-legged my way out of the bedroom.

“Sorry,” Ethan said in an apologetic tone as I passed him on the couch. He was laying down, had his blanket from his bedroom around his shoulders and across his lap, and a box of tissues next to him. “I forgot about your foot.”

“It’s fine,” I said. “I can walk, you know.”

I opened the door. It was Alyssa. She was dressed in a light green pair of Scrubs with little foxes printed on them, and her face looked nervous.

“Oh,” she said in a surprised tone as she saw me. “Hey, Kaylee.”

“Hi,” I said casually. “Looking for Ethan?”

She nodded. “Is he here? I went to his work first, but they said he called in sick. He wasn’t answering my texts, so....”

I stepped aside for her and she slowly walked in. She sat down on the armchair next to the couch and looked at Ethan. He merely glanced up once, acknowledging her presence, but said nothing. Instead he looked down at his phone. The room became awkwardly silent, so much that Alyssa started absently pulling and pushing on the pop socket of her cell phone while she waited for him to say something. I took this as my cue to vacate to Matt’s bedroom. I kept the door cracked, though, because the nosy part of me wanted to hear how this conversation was going to go. I heard Ethan sniffle heavily.

“Oh, you are sick,” Alyssa said quietly.

As if to prove her words, Ethan suddenly sneezed once, then blew his nose noisily and thickly. “Yep.”

“Bless you. So, um. Did you get my text?” Alyssa asked.

“Yep,” Ethan said curtly.

“So, can we talk?”

Ethan was quiet for a moment, and then sighed quickly. “Fine. It’s been what, three days? You left after New Year’s and then nothing. Were you just gonna ‘ghost’ me or something?”

Alyssa was silent for a moment. “No. I don’t know. I’m sorry.”

“I don’t like games, Alyssa. Not that kind. And since you noticed, yeah I’m sick so I don’t want your bullshit. Hhhhettschuuu!

“Bless you,” Alyssa said.

Ethan sighed. “What do you want to say, Alyssa? It’s been shitty with us since before Christmas. What, did you fucking cheat on me?”

Alyssa was silent again, and when she finally spoke, her voice broke in a whisper. “Y-yes.”

There was a shuffling sound, and the tissue box suddenly hit the wall next to Matt’s bedroom door.

“Are you fucking serious??” Ethan yelled as much as his raspy voice would let him. “What the hell, Alyssa?”

“I’m sorry!” Alyssa cried. “I’m so, so sorry, Ethan. It just happened. I feel so bad. I’m so sorry.”

Ethan sighed. “I knew it. I fucking knew it. I just had this stupid feeling. When? Who was it?”

“A couple days before Christmas,” Alyssa said quietly. “With Adam.”

Doctor Adam?” Ethan said, laying on the “doctor” part with sarcastic emphasis. “God, I fucking knew it. You even talked about him to me! How many times?”

Alyssa hesitated. “I don’t know. A couple, maybe. Here and there. Since Christmas…”

Ethan’s hoarse voice rose again. “And then you went and slept with me again on New Year’s? And I got you that necklace for Christmas, which you're even wearing right now while you tell me this. That’s sick, Alyssa.”

“I know,” Alyssa said sadly. “I’m sorry. That’s why I’m here. I knew you were mad at me for ignoring you, but I wanted to do the right thing and tell you.”

Ethan made a gruff noise. “Do the right thing. Ugh. The right thing would have been to not sleep with him while you were with me!”

“I know, I’m sorry,” Alyssa said again.

“So, are you going to start seeing him, now?” Ethan asked.

Alyssa sighed. “Yeah. Since I’m being honest with you, I have to say yes. He wants us to be exclusive now.”

“So, he knew about me?” Ethan asked in disgust. “Gross. What a dick.”

“Hey,” Alyssa started to protest.

“No,” Ethan interrupted her. “We were together for almost six months, Alyssa. The guy knew you were with someone and sleeping with them, and he didn’t care. But you know what? Go ahead. Go be with him. You two sound perfect for each other.”

I peeked through the crack in the door, knowing I wasn’t within their eyesight. I saw Alyssa stand up in a huff, wiping away angry tears, but then soften when Ethan suddenly wiped his running nose with a new tissue and then muffle a sneeze into his blanket.

“I didn’t expect you to forgive me, Ethan,” Alyssa said softly. “I know you’re angry. And I’m sorry things had to end like this, especially with you sick and all. You were good to me. I hope you can find someone someday.”

“Thanks for your encouragement,” Ethan said, heavy sarcasm in his congested voice. “Just go.”

I silently shut the bedroom door, picked up my phone from the bed, and texted Matt. He immediately called me back so I quietly told him everything I had overheard.

“God dammit,” Matt said on the other end of the line, his voice frustrated and upset. “Oh, man. Poor Ethan. Shit.”

“What can we do?” I asked Matt. “You kinda know him best.”

“I don’t know,” Matt said uncertainly. “He’s never dated anyone this long since I’ve known him. I think he had a serious girlfriend back in high school, but that was it. Aw man, and we’ve got the office party tonight. None of us will be home to keep him company.”

“Crap,” I said. “Well, let me see what I can do for now. I’m home with him til the dinner, I’ll just go sit with him.”

“Thanks, babe,” Matt said. “And I’ll see if I can get away a little early and come home before we head to the restaurant.”

After Matt and I ended our call, I opened the bedroom door and walked out to the living room. I knew Ethan could see me, so I would let him choose whether or not to say anything. He looked miserable. He had shadows under his eyes and his nose was a chapped red. He was slunk down so far into his blanket that bits of his curly brown hair stuck out quite messily, leaving little room for his face. He had put something on YouTube, but I could tell he wasn’t really watching it. I wandered into the kitchen and busied myself making a fresh pot of coffee. I poured a cup for myself and brought one to Ethan as well. I held the mug out to him. Without meeting my eyes, he slowly reached a hand out from under his covers and took it.

“Thanks,” he said in a voice not much more than a whisper. I gave him a light, sympathetic smile and sat down on the armchair. We watched clips of dash-cam police videos for a while in silence, sipping the hot coffee. I looked outside the window.

“It’s snowing again,” I said quietly. Ethan set his half-empty mug down on the coffee table and buried his face in his blankets.

“Hhhmmpffsch! Hhhhhhmmpffschuu!”

“Bless you,” I said lightly.

“Thagks,” Ethan said, and gave a wet sniffle. “Urgh, my head. I cad’t breathe.”

“Sounds like it,” I sympathized. “Hopefully this is the worst of it.”

“Do I have to talk about it?” Ethan suddenly asked, and I knew he wasn’t referring to his cold.

“Nope,” I said casually. “But we’re here if you do.”

He nodded, and then completely buried himself under his blanket. I smiled to myself when the lump of blanket that was now Ethan shook vigorously with his attempt to muffle two more sneezes. After that, he was quiet. A little while passed, and I found myself getting absorbed in the police clips. Just as I was wondering if Ethan had fallen asleep or perhaps suffocated, the blanket moved, and Ethan’s fuzzy head poked out.

“Think I’ve seen this one,” he said quietly in his hoarse voice.

“Want me to change it?” I offered.

“It’s okay,” he said, and wiped his nose with his blanket. The tissue box he had thrown was still on the floor by Matt’s bedroom door. “It’s a good coke bust.”

“Cool,” I said casually. “Want any lunch? I can make ramen if you like.”

Ethan shook his head. “Not hungry, but thanks.”

I went to the kitchen to make some food for myself and texted Matt to let him know how things were going. Ethan was in a slump for sure, but I was hopeful that he would be okay with a little help from his friends.

Just as I was grabbing a drink from the fridge, Ethan’s phone dinged with a text alert.

“It’s Jared,” Ethan said as I sat down and watched him respond to the text. It was apparently obvious I was curious. “He and Steve want to grab drinks tonight.”

“Are you up for that?” I asked. “You’re sick and all.”

 “I’ll be fine,” he said stubbornly. "Besides, you all won't even be home tonight. What else am I going to do?"

 Ethan stood up and went to his bedroom, leaving me alone and now feeling a little concerned for his physical and emotional well-being.

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Edited by LimeyBlimey
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27 minutes ago, aggedy_ann said:

Ooohhhh....poor Ethan.  All that while he’s a sick boy.   

What @aggedy_annsaid!

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I’m so happy to see this! Poor Ethan, sad and miserable! I hope there will be more Ethan sneezes! Loved this update! Hopefully Ethan won’t push himself TOO far.. 😜 ❤️

Edited by Puzzle
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  • 3 weeks later...

I hope this isn’t over yet! Been waiting patiently for the next part! 😁

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7 hours ago, Puzzle said:

I hope this isn’t over yet! Been waiting patiently for the next part! 😁

^^^

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