Coming home, I did not expect to see my boyfriend's jacket next to the door already. Just this morning, Mikey had moaned about how Gerard wanted to work overtime to finish this song. And now he was home already, despite the fact that I was technically early today.
"Baby?" I shouted into the house as I got out of my coat.
Instead of a proper reply, I only got a cough from the general direction of the living room. Concerned by the sounds, I let the coat be a coat and followed the sniffling noises. The picture that presented myself was an odd combination of cute and pitiful.
Mikey was buried under multiple blankets with only his head peeking out from the pile. His nose and cheeks were unnaturally red and covered in sweat. The worst was the expression my boyfriend was sending me. He stared up at me, sniffling and his eyes glazed over. I crouched down next to the blanket burrito and put my hand on his forehead only to feel his skin burning under my fingertips. The skin that wasn't red, was awfully pale.
"Hey Darling," he whispered hoarsely and got shaken by violent coughs a second later.
I helped him sit up and rubbed my hand over his chest. My mom had always did this when I had been sick and it had always helped. It seemed to help Mikey as well as he calmed down slowly. He gave me a grateful smile and mumbled, "I don't feel good."
"I see that, Baby," I told him and pulled a strand of hair that stuck to his forehead. Now that I thought about it, Mikey had complained along with the long workday ahead of him about a stuffed nose and a headache. Then, I just thought it was just a way to get out of Gerard's vice like grip when it came to recording.
But for the moment, Mikey was my priority so I stroked his cheek and rose up from my place next to him. "Stay right there. I'm gonna get you a tea and some cough syrup."
"No cough syrup," he whined but I ignored him and went to the kitchen.
As I came back, Mikey had moved back down and had rolled in on himself like a little kid. He perked up as he heard me approaching but started to pout as he saw the little brown bottle with the medicine. "No, it tastes bad."
"But it helps, Mikey." I was aware that I sounded like a mother hen but I couldn't find a care to stop. Mikey was feeling bad and I was determined to change that.
Even if he decided to be a stubborn little kid. With an accusing stare, he pressed his lips together and shook his head. But I could be stubborn too, so I just kept my hand with the syrup extended and stared him down in return. I knew that I had won as Mikey sighed heavily. He opened his mouth and gagged as soon as the cough syrup hit his tongue.
Like the nice person I was, I handed him the tea to wash it down with. It didn't save me from Mikey's betrayed glares though. I could live with it. "You're worse than Gerard, you know that?"
I beamed at him happily. "Thank you!"
"That wasn't a compliment," Mikey grumbled but visibly had to suppress a smile, "That fucker sent me home after I started to sneeze just the slightest bit."
And because karma was a thing, my boyfriend immediately fell into a sneezing fit. Wordlessly, I handed him the box of tissues. At least that answered my question why he had been home so early. I wasn't the only mother hen fretting over him but Gerard too. That was our job as his older brother and partner and it was even more entertaining when Mikey protested loudly. But at the moment he didn't seem to be capable of much protest. In fact, he looked worn out from the sneezing already so I coaxed him gently back down.
The lack of fight and rather the little sigh told me just how bad Mikey felt what made me feel bad for him in return. I wanted to cuddle up to him to make him feel better but my grumbling stomach stopped me. Mikey didn't look like he would be able to hold much down though. "Hey Baby, what about a soup for dinner."
"Do I have to eat? Can't I just sleep?" Mikey croaked out and gave me big puppy eyes.
It was really hard to not just say yes to these tired eyes that pleaded for mercy. "Mikey Baby you need to eat something. The last time you ate, was this morning and it was only a toast."
"But I'm not hungry." I swore these coughs were faked for sympathy points. And this was the only reason why I actually got up again.
"I know but you need to eat or you will feel even worse. Can you get to the bedroom and put on some pyjamas? This way it'll be more comfortable and I just bring the soup, okay?" I coaxed gently and helped him unwrap himself and get up.
Mikey nodded and let me help him, His face lit up at the mention of soup. "Can you make mom's? She always made this chicken soup when Gee or I had been sick?"
So I made sure that my boyfriend got into his Star Wars pyjamas safely and tugged him under the covers before I went to the kitchen and called Mrs Way. I had to talk her out from coming over and let her explain to me step by step what to do. And she made me promise to call her the second Mikey would get worse before she let me actually cook.
With a tray loaded with the soup, two bowls and a bit of bread, I went back to our bedroom. I stopped in the doorway and just admired my boyfriend for a bit. He looked so peaceful right now, upper body slightly elevated, his legs spread out widely and his right arm resting on his chest. His eyes were closed and his head was turned to the ceiling.
"Stop staring, Y/N," Mikey stated nasally, his eyes remaining shut. I giggled and came closer to rest the tray on the bed.
Mikey sat up against the pillows and let me hand him the bowl. "And what if I liked the view?"
"Yeah because I'm so sexy right now," he snorted an instantly regretted it. Another violent coughing fit shook his body and he had to double over, the bowl in his hands luckily still empty.
I waited for him to calm down again and then pressed my hand on his burning forehead. "You're hot though."
While Mikey rolled his eyes at my horrible pun, I snickered and gave him some of the soup. "Here. I called your mom for the recipe so it better be good. Eat, and I'll be back in a second."
I felt his gaze following me to the bathroom where I grabbed a washcloth and a little bucket and filled it with cold water. After I had felt his burning skin, I had remembered that my mom used to put wet washcloths on my forehead to calm the fever. So I did just this as I plopped down next to my boyfriend on the bed.
He watched me curiously dunk the cloth in the ice cold water. Then, he sighed in a mix of surprise and relief as the fabric touched his sweaty skin. "Better?"
Mikey only hummed happily and even let me gently pry the bowl from his hands to feed him. God, he must have been feeling pretty shitty because normally he wouldn't let me baby him so much.
We continued like this for a few spoonfuls until my rumbling stomach made another guest appearance. Mikey's eyes snapped open and he studied the situation. "Oh no. You eat something too. I'm not a baby, I can feed myself."
"You're my baby though," I teased but handed him his food and got myself something of the soup.
After the first bite, I made a mental note to write down the recipe from Mrs Way. This was delicious. My stomach was doing standing ovations right now. I felt Mikey stare at me so I stuck out my tongue and grinned cheekily. Mikey chuckled hoarsely and if he hadn't been so sick, this would have been one of the hottest noises he ever made. What can I say? I was a sucker for deep, raspy morning voice-Mikey and his current sick-y hurt-y voice came close to it. But instead of melting at the chuckle, I felt concerned as I could practically hear his throat grow rawer by the second.
"You want another tea for your throat?"
Mikey shook his head tiredly and he handed me back the bowl. "'m sleepy."
"Okay. Come on, lay down while I clean up," I said softly and collected the things back on the tray.
I shortly rinsed out the bowls and then made myself ready for bed, too. It was only six in the evening but Mikey's sleepiness was contagious and I wanted to cuddle him. So I crawled back into bed with him.
As I tried to nuzzle myself into his shoulder, he spoke up softly. "Stop."
Immediately, I did and looked at him in concern. Did I hurt him? "Is everything okay, Baby?"
"Don't want ya gettin' sick too," Mikey said and sneezed again.
I just rolled my eyes and handed him another tissue. "I don't care, dumbass. I want to cuddle you to give you warmth and be close to you when you don't feel good so open these lanky arms and let me be."
"My arms are very strong, thank you very much," Mikey grumbled but did what I told him.
Instead of laying down on his chest like I had originally planned to, I pulled Mikey by his arms on top of me. This way his head would be elevated. Also he loved to be held when he wasn't feeling well so it was a win-win.
Happily, he situated himself on my chest and wrapped his arms around my torso while I put my hands on his back where I drew soft comforting patterns with my hands. I felt Mikey relax under my touch so I kept moving my fingers until I noticed him doze off.
"Y/N?" he spoke up groggily.
"Hm?"
"Thanks. Love you," Mikey mumbled and pressed a close mouthed kiss to my collar bone.
I grinned stupidly as the tiny gesture made butterflies run wild in my stomach despite the fact that we had been together for quite some time already. "Love you too. And you probably can return the favour in a few days."
Mikey only groaned in reply.
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Thank you for this request @HeavyMetalBrokeMCR (my phone is being weird and probably doesn't let me tag you properly so I'll let it stand like this for now and hope that you still see it) I had so much fun writing this!
Fun fact: I am writing this while I'm talking about love with my best friend while he's playing FIFA
Love you guys and stay safe💜