Why Don't We Sickfics

Diabetes

"You did really good today." Jack smiled. "I know this isn't really your jam, but you're totally getting better."

Zach shrugged. "I don't know. I don't really see anything different."

Jack squeezed the younger boy's shoulder. "You're so fricking adorable, you know that?"

A faint blush creeped over Zach's cheeks, and he gently shoved Jack to the side. "Oh, shut up."

They reached their room, and Jack used the key card to let them in. "Here we are! Dibs on the first shower."

Zach sighed, but quietly he was relieved Jack would shower first. This workout had left him so exhausted and fragile that all he wanted to do was lie down. He set down a towel on his bed and flopped down, quickly falling asleep.

~~~~~~

"Wake up, sleepyhead."

Zach blinked his eyes open, a hazy outline appearing in his sight. "What?" For some reason he was on edge, almost scared. He felt lost. His vision wasn't sharpening, the world was blurry and he could feel his heartbeat fluttering.

"Zach," the voice said again, "get up. It's your turn to shower." Somewhere in his head, he realized it was Jack's voice.

Zach rubbed his eyes, suddenly feeling dizzy. "Can you get me something to drink?" He kept his eyes closed.

"Um, yeah... Here. I still have some Gatorade."

Zach felt a cool plastic bottle in his hand, bringing it to his lips. He sipped on the sweet liquid, but the sips quickly turned into gulps. Something in his head begged him to drink more, more, until the entire bottle was empty.

"Are you okay?" Jack laughed uncomfortably. "You just chugged an entire bottle, and you're not even opening your eyes yet. Are you dehydrated, or..."

"Ugh, I'm just tired from working out." Zach mumbled, finally feeling some of the cloudiness leave his head. Still a little disoriented, he stumbled his way over to the shower, hoping the cool water would wake him up.

Jack watched him go, frowning suspiciously. Zach always got tired after workouts, but he always thought it was just because his bandmate wasn't that fit. But it was true what he'd told Zach in the hallway-- the boy was getting a lot stronger and working out with much better technique. So, if he was getting more fit, why was he still tired?

Zach cringed at the blast of freezing cold shower water, but it still wasn't much help. He vowed to stick it out, and after a few minutes he did realize he felt a lot better. Not great but any means, but his vision has cleared up and he didn't feel as shaky as before. Maybe it was the shower, maybe it was something else, but whatever it was had worked.

He left the bathroom with the towel wrapped around his waist, his hair still wet and messy.

Jack looked up from where he was sitting at the edge of his bed. "Hey, you feeling better?" Zach could almost swear he saw Jack's gaze falter.

"Oh, yeah, a lot better." Zach smiled. "How much time do we have?"

"Ten minutes." Jack responded, looking down at his phone.

"Cool, okay."

~~~~~~

The band was collectively sitting in the back of the tour bus, listening to a song Jonah and Daniel had written the previous night, trying to see if it was a song they could continue with as a song for the band.

Jon came into the bus, walking down to the back. "Hey guys, breakfast." He opened a brown paper bag to pull out five plastic containers.

"Hm, salads again?" Daniel pouted playfully. "Jon, I miss my bacon."