Indulgence - Umbrella Academy, Luther - Part 5/? Updated Oct 8

[starpollen]

I’m really not comfortable writing fanfiction.  So, apologies in advance.  (Be kind!) 

No idea where this falls in canon. Maybe it’s slightly AU, if they’d come back from Dallas and everything had been ‘normal’…  I just watched both seasons in the course of a few days and I know nothing about the books.  I was reading some fanfiction online and another author had come up with the immunocompromised idea and (same or another?) written the trash can moment, and I had a brain wave going off of that.  Those ideas are not mine, and if the author(s) are on this forum, let me know so I can give you credit!  ❤️

Wrote myself some nice whumpage Luther/Allison h/c comfort fluff, because I wanted it.  ( @Bee )

--- --- ---

Part 1:

It started with a cough.

Luther and Klaus had been downstairs on the ancient sectional sofa arguing over what movie to watch for their Sunday afternoon R&R sesh, and Klaus had blown smoke from his blunt into Luther’s face.  He’d coughed, throwing a pillow and threatening to flush his brother’s entire stash down the toilet.

He didn’t stop coughing all night.

Allison could hear him through the wall that separated their rooms, endless rumbling coughs that echoed deep in his massive chest.  After a while, she dug some spongy airplane earplugs out from her nightstand and managed to get some sleep.

One look at Luther’s face at the breakfast table the next morning said he hadn’t.

Dark circles were under his bloodshot eyes, a napkin pressed against his nose.  He kept wincing, as if the morning light was exacerbating a headache.

“Oh no,” Klaus threw down his fork, causing the raspberry ‘eyes’ on the pancakes to go slightly wonky.  “You’re sick. If you’re sick I’m out.” Rising, he stomped to the other end of the room.

Luther rumbled from behind his napkin mask, “I’m fine.” But his voice was raw, raspy, thin.

The other four at the table all moved down a chair.

If he were honest with himself, Luther felt like crap.  He’d woken that morning with a groan, throat sore and every muscle aching. Sitting up had proven to be a mistake, as the stuffiness he had felt in his head the night before decided to start leaking out his nose. 

Monday normally meant training, as Luther was a stickler for their late father’s schedule.  It was hit-or-miss which of the others would join, although he could usually count on Allison, Vanya, and Diego.  Five showed up about half of the time, Klaus pretty much never. 

Today, he was alone and soon became glad of it.  He got winded sooner than he should have, aiming a massive wet sneeze into his elbow like clockwork every ten to fifteen minutes, the morning headache clamping onto his skull like a vice.  The hot shower afterwards should have helped, but all it did was embed a prickle in his sinuses that he couldn’t seem to sneeze out. 

“hh’—r’EEEHSSSHHHIIIOOOooo!”

When he was a kid… well, before… his sneezes had been lusty and satisfying.  Nothing earth-shattering but definitely befitting his stature.  He hadn’t ever had a cold or allergies that he could remember, but the odd sneeze here or there hadn’t been a problem.

Now… his sneezes were events, embarrassing in their volume and tendency to end in a mess, and seemed to happen with much more frequency.  He’d gotten a bad cold when he’d first landed in Dallas, and wasn’t looking forward to a repeat.

Lunchtime found him with a box of tissues at his elbow, expending enormous energy stifling the increasingly frequent sneezes into near-silent submission as he attempted to choke down Grace’s pasta. His throat felt like he’d swallowed glass, and because he was too stuffed up to smell he couldn’t really taste anything.  Every bite hit his stomach like lead.

Everyone else sat at the other end of the table, eyeing him with a mixture of compassion and disgust.

“I don’t think he’s ever been sick before,” Klaus whispered to Five. “I can’t remember him being sick when we were kids.  Do you?”

“It’s probably the moon,” Klaus replied around a mouthful of spaghetti. 

“The moon?” Allison peered at him in confusion. “What has that got to do with anything?”

“Four years up there with recycled air and no exposure to germs of any kind?  Probably fucked up his immune system.  Germs – viruses, bacteria – are constantly evolving, mutating.  We – you and me and all other inferior earthlings – are exposed daily and our immune system is able to adapt.  His is stuck in the past.  He’ll have to build up immunity all over again. Might take a couple of years."

“Why didn’t that happen to you when you were stuck in the future?” Vanya asked.

Five took a gulp of soda.  “I’ve time traveled.  A lot. I’ve been exposed to probably every kind of germ there is. Plus, the Commission has vaccines they give new recruits. My immune system is Fort Knox. His, on the other hand…”

Five sets of eyes turned to stare at their big brother as he turned and stifled a particularly vicious sneeze. 

“H!-n’GTXss!”

“That isn’t good,” Diego commented needlessly.

“Tell me about it,” Five slurped up the last noodle.

Edited October 12, 2020 by starpollen

[Bee]

😳AHHHH!!! This is just lovely ❤️ I can't wait to read the rest 😍😍😍

And also: the person you're talking about who 'came up with' the idea of immunocompromised luther is probably me.😌 i developed that headcanon/theory along with some friends on tumblr shortly after season 1 came out, but i was the one who wrote most of the fics, at least the ones on ao3... I'm honeyhoneybee on AO3/honeybee-babe. i know some other people on here also had discussed this on tumblr, but not sure if they want me to call them out lol.)

[starpollen]

@Bee thank you!!  I hope I do your amazing idea justice.

Part 2:

Allison had to listen to Luther coughing in his room for the rest of the day.

She and Vanya had planned to go out to dinner, needing to get some air away from the testosterone-infused mansion, and continue working on their sister bond.  She checked on Luther before she left, a knot of worry forming in her stomach.

“Knock, knock,” she called as she did it, not waiting for his response before opening the door.

He looked awful.

Face pale, eyes red-rimmed and shining, nose bright red and painfully swollen, wheezy breaths rasping from his barreled chest.

“Privacy, buch?” he growled, voice sodden with congestion that dissolved into a fit of chesty coughs.

“Are you doing anything that requires privacy?” she simpered, coming to stand next to him as he sat hunched over the desk, tissues strewn everywhere.  Cupping the back of his neck, she palmed his forehead.  He leaned into her cool touch with a clogged sigh.

“You’re running a fever,” she frowned, worry ratcheting up a notch higher.

“I’b fide,” he croaked, coughing wetly and negating his statement.  She took a step back, and he noticed how she was dressed.  “You ad Vadya goig out?”

She nodded. 

He grunted. “Go. You dod’t wadda catch this.”

“Have you taken anything?”

Leaning back, he gestured to the small nightstand where some Tylenol Cold & Flu tablet sheets were popped open.  He brought a fist to rub at his nose.  The ever-present tickle was ramping up again, threatening a sneeze.  He didn’t want Allison to watch him being any more disgusting than he already was…

“Is that going to be enough?” she gestured at the small box, biting her lower lip, hands itching to touch him again, to soothe.  “Are you getting enough fluids?  Maybe some tea…”

“I’b- … fide…” he choked out around more coughs, scrambling for a wad of tissues as the tickle ignited, stifling three ferocious sneezes between gloved fingers.

“H!-nX’GTss!-n’ZXGtsh!-NNGnntx!–ah” *sdfl*

“You shouldn’t do that,” she chastised, taking one step forward.  He peeked at her over the bloom of white paper, blinking rapidly in the aftermath. “Patrick did that,” she flushed, remembering. “He always ended up with a sinus infection.”

“I’b dot Patrick,” he rumbled, flushing red and turning away.  “Vadya’s probably waitig for you.”  His throat was suddenly tight.  He had the urge to ask Allison not to go, and the hell of it was that she probably would stay if he asked. If he broke down and admitted that he felt absolutely awful, Allison would stay without hesitation.

But he couldn’t.

“I… I know,” she whispered sadly, almost like she could read his mind, closing the door behind her.

When she was gone, Luther crossed his arms and laid his aching splitting head atop them.  He was feeling worse by the minute, but wouldn’t let himself crawl into bed.  He pictured it longingly in his mind: soft pillows, warm blankets… Allison’s cool hand on his hot head…

But there was still that voice in his head – dad’s voice – cutting and harsh as it pointed out every flaw, every failure. “Sleeping is only permitted between the hours of 9pm and 5am.  Eight hours’ sleep is optimal for physical and mental wellbeing, and…”

Groaning, Luther dragged himself upright, sniffling wetly and blinking glassy eyes at the stack of dad’s papers he was desperately trying to decipher.  Words swam in and out of focus, his chest feeling heavy and tight.

Just a few more hours, then he could sleep…

[Bee]

oOOOOOHhh this is getting nasty in the best way!!! i love love love this. i dont ship alluther personally but the dynamic between them is so sweet and affectionate and you definitely captured that as well as the tension/when she mentions patrick. ❤️ "not comfortable writing fanfiction" WHO? you are bluffing 😛

[starpollen]

Ok @Bee we will play in this sandbox together.   *passes over a blue trowel and lime green bucket*  

I'm really, really happy to read your reaction.   Even if it's just the two of us, it means a lot that you like this.  

I went down the Allison/Luther alley because it's in the show - he's obviously head over heels for her, and she's obviously conflicted - so I tried to incorporate that faithfully.  I also couldn't really see anybody else in the house being the right person for the h/c trope to work as it should...  

No sneezing in this part.  Just the h/c fluff I wanted for myself.  Soon, though!...

- - - 

Part 3

Warning: V.  Main character.  Mess.

 

Allison tried to enjoy dinner, focusing on Vanya as she talked about her students.  But she had to admit she was distracted, only half listening to her ‘sister’s’ conversation.  Her thoughts kept circling back around to her sick ‘brother.’

None of them were related, not by blood.  They had all grown up together, but… even as she and Vanya had started forging a real sisterly relationship?… at some point she and Luther had gone beyond that.

And she wasn’t sure how she felt about it.

When they came back to the mansion, she made a stop at the kitchen to make hot tea and get a couple of bottles of water, not knowing if Luther had done it for himself.  If he had, well, more was better, right? But she was willing to bet he hadn’t.

His door was ajar, and she could hear vicious, hacking coughs as she came down the hall.  Pushing the door aside, she gasped at the sight: Luther was sitting up on the edge of his bed, coughing so hard that he was gagging, had pulled the small trash can into his lap as he coughed his way into throwing up.  The little water he had taken earlier soon gave way to dry heaves, coughs and gags still ripped from his chest.  Everything on his face was streaming – tears from his pinched-shut eyes, strings of greenish-yellow mucus and vomit from his nose and mouth.   His huge body was trembling.

Luther had been on a downward spiral since Allison had left for dinner, growing increasingly more feverish and less lucid as the hours passed.  At one point his last coherent thought had been to call for Grace… but his memory flashed with images of her looming over him after he’d woken… like this… and he just couldn’t.

After fighting it for what felt like hours, he finally succumbed to the worst coughing fit ever, so bad that he’d scrambled for the small trash can by his desk as he proceeded to empty his body of almost every drop of fluid it had ever had.  It was – hands down – the second-worst experience of his life.

He didn’t even register when Allison nudged his door open with her foot.

“Oh my god.”

Quickly setting the tray on his desk, she ducked out of the room.  Klaus was in the kitchen when she rushed in, and barked some weird orders at her when she told him what was happening.  He helped her load up a second tray, balancing a bowl of hot water and a bowl of cold water along with a few other medicinal necessities, and a basket full of washcloths.

Klaus outright refused to set foot in Luther’s room.

When she returned, Luther had finished coughing, was sitting hunched over the bin panting and shaking, breathing shallow and fast so as not to set off another round of coughs.  His chest was burning badly, each breath in like a tongue of fire, each exhale crackling and wet.  He couldn’t focus on anything other than simply trying to stay upright and breathe.  Just breathe...

Allison had been a mother long enough not to be squeamish. Setting both bowls carefully on the floor next to his massive socked feet, she wrung a cloth out in the cold water and pressed it to his sweat-soaked forehead. Luther flinched.

“It’s okay,” she murmured in his ear.  “It’s just me.”  He relaxed, still trembling.  “Are you… done?”

He gave a small nod, and she eased the plastic bin from his lap with her free hand and set it on the floor.

Cupping the back of his neck with cool fingers, she gently pulled the cloth down, wicking away the sweat and fluids, pinching it around his nose and wiping his upper lip.  He continued to shake, and her other hand kneaded the taut muscles of his neck as she murmured soft nothings while she worked. Folding the cool cloth over, she cleaned up his mouth and chin before tossing it into a corner.

The second cloth she wrung out in hot water, folding it over his eyes and pressing it into his sinuses.  A small whimper escaped his throat, along with a hitching sigh that descended into a small fit of nasty coughs.  Her hand skimmed south to rub up and down his enormous back until it passed, thankfully not causing a repeat of the earlier episode.

Unfolding the hot cloth one-handed, she tucked it around his nose.  “Blow.”

He obeyed, too highly trained – and too miserable – to resist.  He felt the heat from the cloth loosening some of the suffocating congestion in his head, coming after the cool cloth feeling so incredibly good.  He was still shivering from chills, but the shaking from puking up half his guts was slowly dying down.

Tossing this second cloth in the corner with the first, she picked up another cool cloth and gently dabbed at his sweat-soaked hairline, pressing it against his forehead and cheeks and the back of his neck, wiping away the tracks of tears. He was listing dangerously, no longer in full-body-earthquake mode and quickly losing energy.

"You're burning up," she whispered needlessly.

Stacking all the pillows as high as possible, she helped him ease back and lifted his heavy legs onto the bed, straightening all the covers.  His eyes were closed, pinched with pain, breathing shallow.

Plucking a water bottle from the tray, she uncapped it and slid a hand behind his neck.  “Drink.  You’re dehydrated.”

His gloved hand came up to the bottle, shaking, and in three long gulps the bottle was empty. She swapped it out for a mug of hot tea liberally laced with honey.  A purr rumbled up from his chest as the soothing, sweet heat eased some of the ache. 

“Okay, some cough medicine…” she gave him a triple dose, knowing that his size and metabolism required extra to even make a dent.  “… and some Tylenol…” She didn’t need the thermometer to tell her that his temperature was up there.

Then came the weird bit, but she’d promised Klaus she’d do it.  “A half a cup of pure honey…”  Which Luther swallowed with a ghost of a smile.  He’d always liked sweet things, and the thick honey coated his throat and took most of the sting away.

Draping one more hot cloth over his eyes and cheeks, she did the final thing she had decided when she’d found him hacking up half his insides over the bin…

“I heard a rumor… that you fell deeply asleep.”

Edited August 21, 2020 by starpollen

[Bee]

AHHH this is so whumpy UGH i love him being completely incapacitated by illness. 😈😈

[fieldofflowers]

luv ( not quite as much as tommy and hayley but you write beautifully either way )

[starpollen]

Love me some whumpage and h/c smarmy goodness.    Next part!...

---     ---     ---

Part 4:

He slept a solid twelve hours.

In that time, Klaus badgered Five into poofing out and buying a humidifier, into which Klaus added drops of eucalyptus and mint oil that filled the room with cool, clean air.  Grace listened to his chest with a small frown, then produced an old-fashioned poultice which greatly reduced the thick wheeze rattling from his massive chest.  Allison continued to monitor his temperature, draping his head and neck with cool cloths to try to keep it down.  She watched as his hair and beard grew – she never realized how fast it did that – but he didn’t move a muscle. 

Finally, she had to intervene.  As much as he needed sleep, he also needed food and medicine.

“I heard a rumor… that you slowly woke up.”

Luther sucked a quick breath, shifting wide shoulders against the stack of pillows and slowly rolling his head to one side. It took a few minutes before he began blinking bleary eyes in her direction.

“There you are,” she smiled, squeezing his lax hand.  “How’re you feeling?”

His eyelids fluttered, shifting with a raspy grunt and a wincing swallow.  A huge hand came up to rub at his chest, and when he discovered bare skin and hair he flinched. She’d removed his gloves and shirts in order to combat his fever. His eyes stretched wide, fingers scrambling for the blanket.

“It’s okay,” she took both his large hands, stilling his movements.  His gaze, stricken, stared into hers.  “It’s okay,” she repeated, giving a soft smile.  His cheeks flooded with color, and he shifted uncomfortably, eyes squeezing shut.  Stroking his hair, she pressing her lips to his too-warm temple, then frowned. “You’ve still got a fever.”  Slipping a palm across his forehead and then the backs of her fingers to his furred cheek, gauging.

His brows drew together. “H-how log did I sleeb?” he rumbled, congested, shifting in an attempt to sit up.  She noticed his face contorting, nose wrinkling with irritated sniffles, and knew exactly what was coming.

Whipping around, she snatched four tissues and layered them together, draping them over his palm just in time.  His hand flew to his face as he roared a huge sneeze, shaking the entire bed. 

“hh’—rR’EEEHtSSSHHHIIIeOooo!”

Cupping her hand over his, she commanded, “Blow.”

He did, a flood of congestion streaming out into the papery folds.  “Dow you dow why I stifle,” he grumbled, voice deep and hoarse.

“Don’t.  It’s just me, and I don’t mind.  Here,” she picked up the now-clean trash can for him to drop the soaked knot into as his breath hitched again.  She put a new four-layer stack down, and another massive sneeze thundered forth.

They repeated the process eight times.

By the end, he was sagging back against the pillows, nostrils crimson, sucking wheezy gasps for air.

“That should have cleared your sinuses,” she mused, bringing another cool cloth to help him clean up his face and cool his burning skin.  “You need to have something to eat and some more medicine.”

He grimaced, giving a couple of chesty coughs and shifting with a grunt.  “… by back hurts…”

She mimicked his pained expression.  “We’ll see if we can fix that, too.”

The next few hours were patchy and strange.  Luther slipped in and out of sleep, waking when Allison or Grace nudged at him.  They brought damp cool cloths, water, pills, small dishes of applesauce, mugs of soup.  Luther never fully woke, or at least that was how it felt.  He was woozy enough that leaning against them - resting his head in the crook of Allison’s neck or against Grace’s cold arm - seemed reasonable. 

Klaus brought more oils and a hot water bottle, Vanya brought a wicker laundry basket with a huge blanket in it, and Five brought Tylenol and ibuprofen. 

“Alternate the two,” he instructed, lining the bottles up on the dresser with another bottle of water.  “Every three hours.  It will help keep his temperature down.”

“Where’s Diego?” Luther croaked, pinching another stack of tissues around his running nose.

“Running an errand for me,” Five replied with his usual enigmatic expression.

He endured four body-shaking fits of coughs and sixteen more wrenching sneezes before he began to fade into true unconsciousness.

“Ah-ah,” Allison’s voice as she pulled back the covers, slipping an arm behind his enormous shoulders. “Bathroom.”

His brow wrinkled with consideration, then a terse nod. 

Getting him on his feet was an ordeal, one she would have much preferred to have Diego there to help with. Or Grace. But Luther had flinched away from their ‘mom’ during his less lucid moments.  Understandably. So, somehow, between one arm flung over her shoulders and the other braced against the wall the two of them managed the few steps to the bathroom.  By the time Allison got him there, he was pale and shaking, swaying even with the extra support.

“Can you manage?” she bit her lower lip, definitely not up for volunteering and not sure Klaus would be able to stop haranguing long enough to be of any use.

Another terse nod, eyes steely with determination, and he lurched into the room and closed the door.

Allison lingered, unsure whether to wait outside (kind of creepy) or to wait down the hall a bit.  In the end, she opted for down the hall.  When she came back to his doorway, she was startled to find Vanya changing the bed linens.

“It’ll make him feel better,” the smaller sibling murmured softly, tucking a clean sheet over the corner of the mattress.

The room was too small for Allison to help, so she watched for several long minutes.  Much longer than she thought the usual bathroom business should take. She had almost decided to go ask Klaus to knock when the bathroom door rattled open, and she rushed to catch him before Luther fell out face-first.  Somehow he’d managed to wash and shave, the smell of soap and toothpaste strong in her nose as she tucked herself under his arm. His pale face had gone a ghastly shade of grey, massive chest heaving.

Luther’s head was spinning, the little exertion having taken every ounce of energy he had.  But he was determined not to collapse.

“…sorry…” he gasped.

“It’s okay, it’s okay,” she struggled to get his arm around her shoulders, praying he’d keep his feet under him.  He weighed too damned much for her to manage on her own… “I got you, it’s okay…”

Halfway back to his room he started coughing, deep and ugly, the sound like wet fabric ripping.  Vanya appeared in the doorway with the laundry basket full of old sheets, quickly dropping it to the side and rushing forward to help Allison get their brother back to bed.

He dropped onto the edge like a stone, barely upright, and the frame gave a worrying creak like it might give way. 

“Vanya, can you get mom?” Allison panted as Luther continued to cough, reaching for the last washcloth and wringing it in a bowl of tepid water.  She wiped his face and neck, pressing it to his forehead when he hunched over with his arms on his knees, coughing hard at the floor, lips turning blue.

"Hurry."

[Bee]

Ugh poor babe 😭allison is being an absolute angel with him.

But UHM!!?? That ENDING!??!😰im nervous for luther.:(

[Bee]

heyyy 👀 were you planning on continuing this? bc i really like it, and i certainly would not mind more 😊

[starpollen]

@Bee I do have more written... just... had surgery this summer and then stayed away from the Forum for various reasons... Here's what I have next.  ❤️

 

Part 5:

By the time Grace appeared, Luther had stopped coughing and was wheezing dangerously, no longer able to lift his head.  Slipping a tympanic thermometer in his ear, the blonde tutted, “103.4.  That’s a fever, young man,” pressing a stethoscope against his back and asking him to take deep breaths.  Each one was a battle.

Ibuprofen, cough syrup, more honey, some hot tea, cold & flu pills, another bottle of water… then Grace brought a nebulizer for a breathing treatment.

“Upper respiratory infection,” she declared clinically. “Almost pneumonia, but we’ll work hard to keep it from turning that corner.”  She’d patted his arm, oblivious to Allison’s worried expression.

“Are you sure he doesn’t need a hospital?” Vanya asked from the doorway, teeth worrying at her bottom lip. “He sounds…” terrible...

“Now, now, dear,” Grace interrupted. “Don’t you worry. He’ll be just fine.”  The two girls exchanged nervous glances, Luther laying listlessly.  They’d never seen their big brother so out of it.  His eyes were mere slits, all energy focused on simply breathing.

After another hour, his temp was down to 101.9, breathing much easier, with everyone no longer in crisis mode.  Vanya took off with the laundry and Grace with the instruments.  Allison stroked her fingers through his hair, his freshly-shaved face slowly returning to simply pale rather than deathly grey. 

“I think you overdid it a bit in the bathroom,” she murmured, not truly chastising but also unwilling to let it go.

“Have to… wash…” he rasped, eyes closed.  “… gets… bad if…”  His hands clenched into fists, and suddenly she understood.  She closed eyes burning with tears.

He shifted in the bed, grimacing; the abnormally grown muscles were sore, aching with fever.

“It’s okay,” she repeated, although this was anything but ‘okay.’  “Here,” she nudged at his shoulder.  “Roll onto your stomach.”

Lips pursed with confusion, he obeyed.  Kneeling on the bed, she dug her hands into his shoulders, rubbing deep into the muscles with as much pressure as she could.  A low, stuttering groan told her it was helping.  She worked his back until sweat was dripping down her neck, not caring that the rhythmic creaking of the bed made it sound like something else was going on.  Klaus would give them shit for it later, and probably Five, but anybody who’d seen Luther in the last few hours would know that he just didn’t have the strength for that kind of nonsense.  When her hands started cramping and she just couldn’t massage anymore, she flopped back into his desk chair with a sigh.

Surprisingly, he was still awake – barely – peering at her through heavy-lidded eyes.  “Thagks,” he breathed.  He’d slipped off the stack of pillows, head hanging half off the edge of the bed, boneless.

“Here, let’s get you fixed up,” she swiped a wrist across her sweaty face.  “You need to sleep elevated so you can breathe.”

He grunted, pushing himself up on shaking arms and twisting his big body as she helped him turn over to lay against the stack.  Between the medicine and the massage, he was feeling a lot less achy.  She steadied the bottle as he drank more water, happy to feel less warmth radiating from his skin. 

“I think your fever’s gone down a bit more,” she smiled, kissing his cooler brow in confirmation. “You need anything?”

“Mm,” he made a soft noise of contentment in the back of his throat.  The heat of the shower earlier had made him so dizzy, and now that his body was cooling down he was feeling more clear headed but still god-awful sick.  His body pulsed with a tight shiver. “… cold.”

The hot water bottle had long expired.  Looking around, she saw the huge blanket Vanya had folded at the foot of the bed.  She reached for it… and was surprised at how heavy it was.  Tucking it up over his arms, she saw him sink into the bed with a relieved sigh.

“Weighted blanket,” he whispered, words slurring and sluggish with exhaustion.  “Vanya said… helps… her nerves…”

“And it’s warm,” she smiled down at his handsome face.  “Do you want me to ‘rumor’ you again?  So you can get some deeper sleep? You really need to sleep…”

He gave a small shake of his head ‘no,’ and another shiver.  “…stay…”

Even though there wasn’t enough room, she slipped into bed on top of the covers. He turned until he was spooned against her side, head tucked under her chin.  A full-body shudder that had nothing to do with the chills rippled through him.

She pressed her lips to his crown. “Sleep… I’m not going anywhere.”

[Bee]

@starpollen ahh that's okay I understand!!!! and this chapter was rlly sweet btw and well worth the wait :) hope all went well with your recovery from surgery! <3