Okay so gift one shot for Thatfrostybunnygirl because I know how much they like Tia and Veronica.
TW: Sickness, fainting, nausea, vomiting
Third Person POV:
Tia always had trouble getting up in the morning, but today was different. Tia's arms felt as if they were made of cement. Her legs on the other had felt like jelly. Something was obviously going on, but she decided to ignore it.
The light fluttering in through the curtains sent a sharp pulse of pain through her head, as she subconsciously lifted a heavy hand to shield her eyes from the dazzling sun. She could feel a lump rising in her throat, but she pushed it back down and slowly hobbled up.
"Oh god. Fuck me fucking sideways.." Tia groaned, pausing when hearing just how low and gravelly her voice sounded. The reality of what was going on had hit her. She knew that she was sick, but she also knew that she couldn't let anyone find out. Not a single person.
Awhora would tease her like she always does. Tayce would do the same. Lozza always believed that Tia was just sleepy. Bimini would preach about how if she ate more vegetables than she wouldn't feel this way. Joe would just look on in sympathy. Ellie wasn't of much help either.
Veronica on the other hand, turned even more overprotective of Tia, if such an occurrence was even possible. Veronica would make sure Tia was in bed most of the day. She'd keep the room nice and dark and made sure no one would disturb Tia. However, Tia liked that part.
The issue was, Tia knew that them finding out she was sick, would lead to Veronica finding out, and would lead to Tia not being able to work or preform. Normally, that'd be okay. But today of all days was the worst possible time for her to get so sick.
She had a very important show today. Not to mention she had to help Ellie and Joe with their choreography. She also was letting Awhora try a new makeup style on her. She also was helping Bimini and Tayce select new outfits for tonight's show. Tia was extremely busy today, she couldn't let them find out she was sick. She just couldn't.
"Hey there Kofi Bean. You don't look quite yourself. You doing okay?" A familiar, feathery voice spoke. Tia didn't know Veronica was awake. She turned to the smaller girl and smiled a weak smile, giving a thumbs up, insisting that she was okay. Veronica sighed, raising an eyebrow upon seeing Tia's red tinted face. She cupped Tia's face in her hands and studied her complexion, leaving her more worried than reassured.
"I'm okay Ronnie, honestly. Just a bit sleepy. You have nothing to worry about, promise!" Tia tried to maintain a facade, but she wasn't sure if Veronica believed her much at all. The smaller girl sighed. She didn't want Tia to think she didn't trust her, so she said nothing.
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"I gotta say, Baroness, it's really nice of you to let me try this out! Tayce wouldn't let me, Lawrence was busy and I don't know what the hell Bimini and Ellie are up to." Awhora rambled while Tia sat down, grateful that she could rest her legs for a bit.
"Uh... Baroness... You're looking a little, y'know...?" Awhora muttered. Tia rolled her eyes, expecting her to call her "basic" again. Normally this was playful banter, but Tia couldn't think clearly enough to have a clever comeback like she normally did. Her head was too stuffy for her to think.
"I know, I look basic. Let's do the makeup." Tia breathed. Awhora bit her lip, continuing to set her makeup out. Tia hoped that the makeup wouldn't make her face itchy like it normally did. She was too clouded with other sensations that she wouldn't be able to take it.
"No Tia. You look sick. Look at yourself, you're all red and sweaty. Look, maybe today wasn't the right day to do this. You're obviously very sick. You should go home and rest." Awhora spoke in an uncharacteristically motherly tone. She developed a motherly side due to caring for Tayce when she was ill.
"I'm not sick, 'Whora. Let's just get... This makeup..." Tia was cut off by the bile rising in her throat. Awhora ran off suddenly, returning with the trash can from the corner of the room, setting it in front of Tia before lifting her hair up.
A few minutes of heaving, then a fit of coughing. Tia's cough turned into hacking. Awhora's uncharacteristically motherly side started showing even more as she glided her hand up and down Tia's back to offer any sort of comfort that she could. This continued for a few minutes, until Tia started to cry.
"I-I'm sorry, s-sorry about th-this, R-Rory." Tia sobbed, not even noticing she was crying until Awhora thumbed away her tears before helping her stand up. Tia wasn't exactly sure where this side of Awhora was coming from, but she wasn't going to complain.
"It's quite alright. It's not your fault that you're sick. But you really should go home and rest. Or lay down for a bit?" Awhora spoke, leading Tia back to her car. She wasn't sure Tia should be driving in this condition, but the flat she shared with Veronica wasn't far.
"Okay, I will, Rory." Tia subtly tried to brush her off, secretly planning to still go straight to Joe and Ellie's and help them with their choreography like she had promised to do. She couldn't let a measly little cold stop her from keeping her promise, no matter what.
"I'm serious Tia. Go home and go straight to bed." Awhora spoke, an overprotective side of her taking over when she even offered to drive her home. Tia complied, there wasn't much she could do. She hobbled into the car and buckled in, before her dreary eyes reluctantly closed.
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Tia waited until Awhora had gone after thanking her for the ride home. Joe and Ellie were with Tayce and Bimini, so that was one less trip Tia had to make. She sleepily stumbled into the studio and tiredly made her way to the dressing rooms to find Tayce and Bimini.
"Hi Tay, hi Bims. What did... What did you need me for again?" Tia asked, she was becoming increasingly more delirious with every passing second. The two turned to Tia, each holding two outfits, but pausing in concern when they saw Tia's wobbly body. Bimini was first to investigate.
"Um... Are you doing okay, Tia? You look like you could topple over." Bimini's voice held an air of panic as they put down the outfits they had in their hands and rushed to Tia's side, helping her stand up straight. Tia shook her head and tried to balance herself.
"I'm okay, Bim, I promise. Now what'd you need from me?" Tia sniffled, rubbing her nose with her arm. She was becoming delirious and she knew that, but she made a promise to her friends and she always kept a promise. Always. To Tia, a promise is a sacred oath.
"Tia, Bimini is right. You look like you could fall asleep on your feet. I think you should go home. You're not fit to preform tonight." Tayce spoke. Tia's eyes narrowed and she tried to stand up straight, but she wobbled, falling back down and sitting with her legs crossed.
"I... I meant to do that." Tia pouted. Tayce rolled her eyes while Bimini shook their head. Tia obviously didn't mean to do that, and that much was obvious, at least to Tayce and Bimini. Soon, the three of them heard someone coming over to the door. It was Joe.
"Everything okay? Ellie and I heard something and- Whoa. Tia are you feeling okay?" Joe stopped short when seeing Tia's sickly complexion. Ellie entered the room soon after and was immediately taken aback. She tilted her head quizzically at Tia, who sighed loudly. She promptly looked up with tired eyes.
"Why does everyone keep asking me if I'm okay? I'm totally fine. I'll be there to help you with your choreography in a minute. I need to help Tayce and Bimini first." Tia hobbled up and rubbed her eyes sleepily. Ellie turned to Joe, and then turned back to Tia.
"You look sick." Ellie put simply. Tia rolled her eyes sleepily as Tayce nodded. Joe pointed out how much she was sniffling and breathing through her mouth. Bimini raised an eyebrow at Tia, before asking if she was sure she wasn't sick. Tayce, Joe and Ellie soon mirrored Bimini's movements.
Tia growled lowly and stood, but quickly hunched over when she started to cough as her lanky frame shook with intensity. She shook her head before checking the time. It was 5:30 p.m. currently. A half hour before the show. They all decided to carpool to the concert venue.
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When they arrived at the venue, everyone else was already there, including Veronica and Awhora. Tia's breath caught in her throat. If Awhora found out Tia was here, she'd never hear the end of it. Tia tried hiding behind Ellie, who promptly raised an eyebrow at her, before suddenly smirking.
"Awhora tried to make you stay home and rest, didn't she, Tia?" Ellie chided. Tia shrunk in on herself, her face turning even more red, if such a thing was even possible. Ellie grinned mischievously, as if she planned to go tell Awhora that Tia was, in fact, not resting.
"Ellie, please don't tell her. Please. She and Ronnie won't let me hear the end of it!" Tia murmured. Ellie sighed, nodding reluctantly as the two headed inside. Ellie went to talk to Awhora and Veronica, while Tia snuck away as quietly as she could while the two were distracted.
"Vee? I don't think Tia's doing too well." Ellie spoke, Veronica nodding and staring at the ground. Awhora looked at Veronica and then at Ellie, her right eyebrow raised. Awhora didn't yet know that Tia wasn't at home resting like she had instructed her to.
"I thought I told her to go home and rest. I even drove her back home. Wait... Did she leave after I drove away..?" Awhora finally put two and two together before her eyes widened. She turned to Veronica, who had also turned to her. The two shared a look.
"I'm gonna go find Tia. Thank you for telling us, Ellie." Veronica spoke, before running off to look for Tia. The venue wasn't small, but there weren't a lot of places to sneak off to. She hadn't seen her sneak away, and she hadn't seen Tia sneak into the hallway.
"I'm not sick, I'm not sick, I'm... I'm not sick.." Tia tried repeating to herself as if it would magically make her sickness go away. Tia spotted a water fountain, and immediately made her way to it, thinking she was just dehydrated and that would make her ailments go away.
She hunched over and drank, not even caring about how long she was there for. She water felt very nice and refreshing, after all, she was a tad dehydrated from all the traveling. She wasn't sick, she'd be just fine. She just had to make it through the show tonight.
When Tia finished drinking, she made her way over to Tayce, who was still busy picking an outfit. Tia noticed this and was about to speak and suggest one, when she started to feel dizzy. She suddenly put a hand on Tayce's shoulder to try and steady herself before coughing.
Tia felt herself wobble as dark stars started dancing around in her vision. She stumbled away from Tayce and tried to find something more stable to lean on. She was sure she was experiencing vertigo, as everything started to spin. Tia then heard a panicked shout before her vision went black.
Tia had passed out.