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Part Twenty-Six

The three boys tried to ignore it as best they could until it was unbearable, as was the case when they sat in the booth of Leo's favorite restaurant for dinner and even the waitress had to speak up about his apparent illness.

"I'm fine," Eli whined, because ending their date would mean Leo had to go back home and worry about Sam all over again.

One glare from Skip, and Elijah decided that maybe he wasn't fine enough to spend the rest of the night out. And if Eli couldn't make it, neither would the rest of them.

Which lead them back to the home where Sam resided in the walls with his family, and where Leo and Skip practically forced Elijah onto his guest bed underneath the most comfortable blanket they could find.

"You really should've said something earlier. You're probably gonna get even worse because we went out all day," Leo worried like a mother hen, after preparing some herbal tea from his pantry.

"How was I supposed to know I would get this bad?" Elijah wheezed, coughing immediately after.

"Stop talking," Skip repeated, practically growling to get his point across. Elijah stopped talking after that.

"It might just be a cold that'll get better in a few days," Said Leo. "Don't get too worked up about it. I'm gonna grab a humidifier."

Skip nodded him off, taking a seat on the edge of the bed and watching Elijah with an eye that dared him to get up. Fortunately for him, Eli wasn't feeling up to an argument.

Leo padded into his own room, eyes darting around for a sign of where he last left out the trusty humidifier from when he was left Ill about a year ago. He never got sick easily; something he was quite thankful for, though after a while, he never really noticed. If Elijah got him sick now, he would never hear the end of it.

He couldn't find it. He checked the closet, the dressers, even under his bed, but Leo couldn't find the damn thing for the life of him. Still, determined as he was, he paced around the wooden floor and began whispering to himself out of habit.

"If I was a humidifier, where would I be...?" He asked, his voice too hushed to be heard by anyone other than a borrower.

"Probably the top of the wardrobe," Answered a voice from the ground, right in between his feet.

Leo furrowed his brows, glancing down toward the voice, and practically shouting out when he saw him.

"Sam!"

Sam had difficulty admitting that his position on the floor was somewhat terrifying, especially when Leo was looking down like that.

"Oh my god, why are you here?" The human bent to his knees, getting as close to the little borrower as he could without intimidating him with his stature. His hands came from around both sides, silently asking permission to pick Sam up when he grew impatient.

"Nice to see you, too," Sam nodded, allowing himself to be picked up (though it wasn't tedious on his part at all), relaxing once the warmth of the soft palms scooped him into a position he could easily fall asleep in. It was nothing like the suffocating heat from his nest; this was a fire that he was glad to be a part of once again.

"No, I mean I missed you! But what about your family? Did they let you come see me?"

"Not exactly..."

"If you snuck out, I'm putting you down. I don't wanna get in trouble with your parents," Leo warned, holding Sam close with no intentions of putting him down, despite his words.