As night appoached, I was feeling restless. My whole day was spent in bed basically, and I was still feeling pretty sick, which was frustrating. I hated being sick. Sean was being the biggest sweetheart ever though, and I felt bad because I probably wasn't much fun to be around at this point. I was hoping beyond hope that I would get some good sleep tonight, but I was seriously doubting it. My stomach was still feeling icky and I just felt weak and achy all over.
"Here babe, I want you to eat some of this," Sean said as he set down some soup in front of me on a tray. I sat up in bed and leaned my back against the headboard.
"Thanks. What kind is it?" I asked, staring down at the bowl. The noodles looked delicious.
"The only soup you really like," Sean explained. "Chicken noodle!" He smiled warmly at me, but then his expression turned serious when he noticed I hadn't taken a bite yet. "You need to eat some Jake. I mean it."
"Aw. You're cute when you're mothering me," I teased. Sean stuck his tongue out at me and chuckled.
"I just want you to get better. Then we can have fun together," he replied, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively at me. I nearly spit out the spoonful of soup I had just brought to my mouth.
"You perv! I'm sick here and that's what you're thinking about? How selfish!" I scoffed playfully. Sean shook his head smirking.
"I think maybe someone is starting to feel better," he said, tapping his chin with his finger. I took a deep breath and continued forcing myself to eat the soup. Don't get me wrong it was delicious, but I just didn't have the appetite I normally would. Fortunately I hadn't thrown up for a few hours, so maybe I'd be able to keep this down. "You eat at least half of that and I'll let you have some ice cream!" I rolled my eyes.
"Now you're controlling what I eat and when I eat it. Great," I smiled softly. Sean bent his head down a little bit to look into my eyes. He was sitting on the side of the bed while I focused on the soup in front of me. When I brought my gaze up just a little bit, our eyes met, and he gave me a soft smile.
"I love you," he said sincerely, his voice far more serious.
"I love you too Sean. Thanks for putting up with me," I told him.
"Aww I love putting up with you. I wouldn't have it any other way," he said, moving closer to me and pulling me into a hug. "Are you feeling any better?" I shrugged.
"A little. Hopefully I get some sleep tonight. If I can do that I'll probably feel much better tomorrow," I replied. He nodded his understanding. I was also hoping I wouldn't keep him up tonight. I knew how miserable it could be to be kept awake because someone else couldn't sleep.
"What are you worrying about? I can tell you have something on your mind." Sean said, interrupting my thoughts.
"Nothing. Just don't want to keep you up," I said sheepishly. Sean glared at me.
"Jake! Don't worry about that! I'm here for you and I want to make sure you're okay," he said sternly. I sighed.
"Okay," I whispered. He jumped up off the bed. I'm gonna go get that ice cream for you. Oh and your dad called. He wanted to see if you'd heard from your mom. I told him you were sick." I winced, remembering my mom calling this morning and her text afterward. "He said if you need anything to let him know." I simply nodded my head as Sean disappeared to fetch the ice cream. I rubbed my face. Sean was right though, I shouldn't worry about anything but getting better. Although with our wedding coming up in about a week, I was determined to have everything ready in time.I was just glad we already had most of the preparations done. Kristen had helped Sean and I pick out our suits, separately of course so that each of us didn't know what the other was going to wear to keep it something of a surprise. We already had our pictures taken and invitations delivered to those invited. Our rings were safely bought and given to each other, though we gave them to my dad for safekeeping until the ceremony. It was strange, I already felt somewhat naked without the ring on my finger even though I had only had it on there for a couple of days.
"Here's some ice cream for being a good boy!" Sean teased, holding up the ice cream playfully for me to see. I shook my head at his playfulness. I loved that he was trying to lighten my mood and distract me. It was so cute. He settled into his side of the bed with the tub of ice cream and I leaned my head on his shoulder. "Do you want me to feed you?" He asked. My face went a deep shade of red. Scoffing, I grabbed the spoon and shoveled a small bite of the mint chocolate chip ice cream into my mouth.
"I'm not a baby," I said with my mouth full. Sean just laughed and I could feel the vibrations in his chest. I made sure to set the tray of my half eaten soup on the nightstand before laying back down. Sean slid down a little so his head was propped up on pillows. I laid my head on his chest and sighed contently.
"You know, this isn't my favorite ice cream, but I've come to like it because you do," Sean told me, spooning some into his own mouth.
"Oh come on! You know it's good!" I replied. He chuckled again.
"It's alright," he replied jokingly. I took another bite of ice cream and wrapped my free arm around Sean's stomach. He was really really warm. Maybe I just thought that because I was cold, but he was like my heater. We settled into a comfortable silence watching some more T.V. Sean would occasionally make a silly comment or joke about someone or something on the screen which would make me laugh. I looked at the clock on the bedside table. It was already 8 p.m. I felt tired enough that I might fall asleep early tonight, but then, it didn't matter. This was right where I wanted to be, in the arms of my love.
* * * *
I woke up in the middle of the night. I didn't even remember falling asleep. The lights and T.V. were all off so the room was completely dark. I guess Sean must've turned everything off after I'd passed out. It took some time for my eyes to adjust but I knew Sean was asleep beside me. I could feel his warmth and hear his gentle, light breathing. I needed to pee really bad and so I slid out of bed carefully and into the bathroom as quietly as I could. After I'd done my business I headed back to the dark bedroom and slipped into bed.
"You okay?" Sean whispered groggily as I laid back down. I realized he was facing me and so I put my hand on the side of his face.
"Yeah," I whispered back, giving him a small smile. I didn't know if he could see it or not. He hummed slightly to himself as if he was content, and then slung his arm over me and pulled me closer to him. I smiled at his sleepy antics, loving how tender and sweet he was with me.
"My beautiful boy," he mumbled. "So cute. So glad he...s..feeling better," He yawned. I bit my lip to stifle my laughter. Obviously Sean was half asleep. It was so adorable. I laid there for a little while. I could feel Sean's breath against my skin as I began to drift off to sleep again. I seemed to be feeling better and my stomach wasn't feeling so queasy. I sighed and snuggled closer to my babe before closing my eyes again.
* * * *
I woke up and stretched. My arms felt around the bed and I opened my eyes when I realized Sean wasn't there. The daylight was steaming into the room. I checked the clock and it read 9:00 a.m. I heard the shower running and realized Sean had gotten up and must've not wanted to wake me. I slipped out of bed, feeling a little hot and sticky since I wore my sweats to bed last night. I never did that unless I was cold, and being sick made my body temperature all out of whack. I ran my fingers through my hair and made my way into the bathroom.
"Sean?" I called as I stepped through the doorway. He turned to look at me through the glass door of the shower.
"Hey how did you sleep? Did I wake you up?" He asked as he rinsed his hair of shampoo.
"Nah you didn't. I slept good last night actually," I replied, getting out my toothbrush to brush my teeth.
"How are you feeling?" He asked, turning the water off and opening the door. He stepped out and grabbed a towel, dabbing his face with it before wrapping it around his waist. I blushed when I realized I was watching his every move.
"I'm feeling a lot better. Still a little weak though," I said, turning back to the mirrior. He came up behind me and whispered in my ear.
"You don't have to be embarrassed for looking at me," He breathed, causing me to shiver and blush even more. He laughed.
"You are too cute," he said before turning and heading into the bathroom presumably to get some clothes. I heard a phone vibrating on one of the bedside tables. Sean's was always on his side and mine was always on my side. Sean answered it as I finished brushing.
"Hello?" I heard him say. "Yeah. Yeah he said he's feeling better this morning. Yeah sure," Sean was saying. He suddenly appeared in the doorway and I looked at him through the mirror. "It's your dad," He said, handing me the phone.
"Hey dad," I answered.
"Jake! Sean says you're feeling better. You doing alright?" He asked.
"Yeah dad I'm doing fine. It was kind of a rough day yesterday but hopefully that's behind me," I replied. I heard him sigh on the phone.
"That's good. I'm glad to hear that. I just wanted to make sure my son was feeling okay, if not I was gonna have you go to the doctor," he explained. I cringed at the word doctor. I hated going to the doctor.
"For my sake I'm glad I'm feeling better then," I chuckled. Dad laughed.
"You and doctors," he sighed. "Anyway, take care kiddo. I'll talk to you later."
"Bye dad," I said, and ended the call. Sean reappeared with a pair of purple boxer briefs on and nothing else.
"Just seeing how you were doing?" He asked of my dad. I nodded, not being able to peel my eyes off of him. He smirked at me.
"You are such a tease! I've been sick you horn dog," I said teasingly. I wasn't mad at all, but he was teasing me the sexy beast. Damn!
"I'm not a tease," He replied, raising an eyebrow and laughing a little. "What? You're the one with the naughty thoughts every time you see me in my underwear." I scoffed, causing him to laugh even harder. "You're fun to mess with," he said winking. He then disappeared back into the bedroom. "Take a quick shower," he called from the other room. "I want to take you out to breakfast if you're feeling up to it. You don't have to though!" I smiled to myself. Of course I would love to go to breakfast with him! Now that I think about it I was kind of hungry. I think I'll be okay.
"I'd love to babe!" I called back as I hurried and undressed and stepped into the shower. I hurried and washed before getting out and quickly drying off. I went to the closet after wrapping the towel around my waist and decided what to wear. I ended up picking some comfy jeans and a nice black sweater. I met Sean out in the kitchen, where he was looking at his phone. He grabbed the remote when he saw me and turned the T.V. off. He was wearing a grey long sleeve shirt with a black jacket over it and dark blue jeans. He looked hot as always.
"Ready?" He asked. I nodded and we slipped out the door after putting our shoes on. We got into the car and Sean quickly turned the heat on as it was freezing. I huddled against the seat as we drove out of the parking lot of our apartment complex and pulled out onto the street.
"Do you have somewhere already in mind?" I asked as he drove. He smiled at me before looking back at the rode.
"It's just a little place that I've been wanting to take you. I figured since you were feeling a little better we could go, and I know yesterday you were feeling a little couped up," He replied. He reached his hand up and felt my forehead. "You don't have a fever anymore so you're not contagious. It was just a bug I'm sure." I nodded my head in agreement. "I don't know about you, but I'm starving!" He said excitedly as we pulled into the parking lot of our destination. It was just a little diner which wasn't too crowded. I liked the quaintness of it. The atmosphere was friendly and quiet as we took our seats at a table and looked at the menu.
"What are you having?" I asked, unsure what to get.
"I'm thinking about waffles with bacon and eggs. What about you?" He replied. I shrugged.
"I don't know. I wanna get something small," I said.
"Dont worry Jake, we can take anything home if you don't finish it okay? I don't want you to stuff yourself and make you sick," Sean said, taking my hand in his across the table. I smiled.
"I think I'll get a breakfast burrito. The bacon one sounds pretty good," I replied. A short girl came over to our table to take our order. She had bright blonde hair that was cut pretty short, and I could see a small tattoo on her wrist. It suddenly made me curious about tattoos when I had never really thought about them much. Her name tag read 'Jenny.' She smiled warmly at us as she took our orders.
"Would you like anything to drink?" She said, still smiling. Sean looked at me before answering.
"I think I'd like some orange juice," he replied.
"I'll just have water thanks," I told her. She wrote down everything on the little pad.
"Alright I'll be back with the drinks in a minute," She said kindly before shuffling off back to the kitchen. I smiled at Sean.
"Thanks for taking me out. It's nice to get out of the apartment sometimes," I acknowledged. He nodded.
"Jake! Sean!" a girl's voice called out. We looked around to see who was calling our names. Pretty soon Kim came striding over to our table.
"Hey Kim," I nodded to her. She smiled at me.
"It's been forever you guys! How are you both?" She asked.
"We're doing good," Sean answered. Even though Kim was being friendly, it was sad really because her and I had been pretty good friends and things had been kind of derailed in recent months. It was as if Collin's death set off a chain of events that forever changed things.
"I'm so excited for the wedding! We got the invitation and your pictures are so cute!" She exclaimed. I had wrestled for a long time about whether I should invite her or not. But after she had apologized, Sean reminded me that she had been a friend for a long time, and her family had known mine since we were kids. I invited them but I didn't know if they would come.
"Thanks Kim. We're definitely excited! It couldn't come sooner," I replied, squeezing Sean's hand.
"Well we definitely need to catch up sometime. It's been too long. Probably sometime after the wedding?" She asked. I nodded
"Sure."
"Great! Well it was good to see you both," she said.
"Who are you here with?" I blurted.
"Oh," she blushed, "this guy Matt asked if I wanted to get some breakfast. He's pretty sweet," she replied awkwardly.
"Where is he?" I asked, looking around to spot this mystery guy. I didn't know Kim was dating anyone, but then again, I was kind of wrapped up in my own life at the moment.
"He's oustide already. See that blonde guy over there?" She pointed out the window. Sean and I nodded. "That's him. He's 24."
"Well that's cool," I said, unsure of what else to say.
"Yeah. Listen I've got to go, I'll see you guys at the wedding?" She asked. Sean and I both nodded. She turned on her heel and gave a small wave before exiting the diner. Sean and I waved back.
"Well that was kind of...weird," Sean told me after she had left.
"Yeah just a little," I replied.
"She apologized to you right?" Sean asked, bristling slightly.
"She did. But that was the last time I talked to her. It's been a while," I shrugged. "Maybe she's just really happy because she's dating someone or something," I wondered.
"Yeah that's probably it," Sean said. The waitress came back with our drinks and food.
"Here you go," She said, setting down each of the plates in front of us. "I don't mean to be a nuisance or anything, but I just wanted to say that you guys are like...the most adorable couple I've ever seen!" She squeaked. My face went bright red and so did hers. Sean grinned broadly.
"Why thank you Jenny," He said, causing her to blush even more as if that were even possible.
"You're welcome," she replied, her voice really high. She skipped off quickly, leaving Sean and I to enjoy our breakfast. I ate as slowly as I could so as not to disrupt my stomach after yesterday, but the food was so delicious.
"Glad to see your appetite's back," Sean smirked as he ate his food. I'd be damned if I didn't catch the little wink he gave me when he said that.