Jerrie Oneshot Book

Under the Weather

Summary: Jade gets sick, and Perrie takes care of her.

PowerPoints, Perrie thought, were an excellent example of a tool that was only as good as its user. Ms. Daly, 60-something with a nose that never came down from the air and an ego almost as large as the rims of her glasses, was not a good user.

At least the TA made sure the slides found their way online. If Perrie actually tried to read the paragraphs of information in tiny print on these slides, she'd end up needing glasses herself.

Class was nearly over, and the whispers of zippers pulled slowly, and notebooks deposited into backpacks were growing louder with every passing second, forming a sort of echo of anticipation as their professor finished rattling off dates and started to wrap up with reminders of upcoming quizzes over the sudden roar of shuffling feet and laptops closing all around.

Perrie slung her bag over her shoulder and filed out behind the others for a deep breath fresh air. She had an hour between classes, not quite long enough to make going back to the apartment worthwhile but plenty of time to have lunch with her girlfriend.

Perrie didn't make it to the line for food. She spotted Jade in the cafeteria nearly as soon as she walked in. Jade's notebook was lying closed on the table with a pen laid neatly on top – was she asleep? Concerned, Perrie approached and quietly looked her over.

Jade's brow was creased slightly even in rest, forehead and cheeks shiny and a little pale in the light. It took a lot to slow Jade down, and Perrie knew the brunette was far too restless to sleep in a public place. What could possibly be the reason Jade was so tired today? The concern for her girlfriend made something twist inside of Perrie, but she didn't have time to dwell on it as Jade startled awake and snapped straight up at the sight of the blonde.

Sort of.

Jade didn't make it more than a few inches up before her brown eyes started to flutter shut again, and she groaned as her head came to rest again on the table with a dull thud. She made a noise that had something of a greeting inside of it, but no words.

"Hi, Jadey," Perrie whispered softly. "You're shivering." She reached a slow hand to rest on Jade's shoulder and found her skin clammy and cool to the touch. Maybe it wasn't the lights making her look washed out.

"S'cold in here," Jade mumbled.

Concern became proper worry when Perrie pressed the back of her hand against the side of Jade's face and found it flushed and dry. Jade's head rolled into her touch with a soft, barely-there groan.

"Jade, you're sick." Perrie reached for the bag over her shoulder and set it down to shed her light coat. Cool morning had already given way to the warm sunshine of mid-autumn, but it wouldn't have mattered if it were snowing – Jade needed the warmth and Perrie had it to spare. "Why are you on campus? You need to be resting."

Now Jade did raise a feeble arm to gently swat at Perrie, but seemed to lose momentum halfway through and let it drop back to dangle beside her in the chair. "Don't worry 'bout me, Pez." She sighed and gave a full-body shudder as Perrie's coat settled over her shoulders. "M'fine."

Jade looked so small, curled in on herself alone at this table meant for four, and a bolt of fierce protection flickered through Perrie's chest. "You can barely string a sentence together. Come on, I'm taking you home." The words came out on the line between urgency and harshness, and Jade's droopy eyes squinted up at her with obvious effort.

Perrie took a deep inhale and rested her hand again on Jade's forehead. Again, Jade turned slightly into her hand, eyes fluttering shut. Perrie couldn't resist a soft, slow stroke of her thumb up the space between Jade's eyebrows. "Have you at least had any medicine?"