Sweating With the Chills

Alex sat staring at the other side of the bus. He couldn't concentrate on anything besides the itchy, scratchy feeling in his throat. He heard Matt digging through drawers in the kitchenette but didn't make the effort to look over at him.

"Motherfucker, where is the damn thermometer?" Matt mumbled, while looking through the same drawer again. "I could've sworn we put it back here last time you got sick."

Alex finally looked over at Matt. He frowned at the tone of the older boy's voice. "Matt, it isn't my fault I got sick!" Alex pulled his feet up onto the couch, before he shivered. "I obviously have a fever, so finding the thermometer is pointless." He shrugged, picking up the blanket beside him, and wrapping it around his shoulders.

Matt groaned, standing up straight. "I just want to make sure it's not too high, babe." He raked his hand through his hair, before going back to looking for the object.

Alex shrugged again. "I'm sure I'm fine." He pulled the blanket around himself tighter, before laying down on couch, facing the back of it. He closed his eyes trying to forget the feeling in his throat, the impeding anxiety, and the fact that it actually was his fault.

"Found it!" Matt exclaimed loudly, causing Alex to wince. Everything was sounding louder, and he couldn't block it out no matter how much he tried. Matt walked the short distance to his boyfriend, forcing him to roll over.

"Matt!" Alex whined, staring up at his boyfriend with a pout on his lips. Matt frowned at how pale the younger looked. He pushed the sweaty brown strands of hair falling in Alex's eyes away.

Matt pushed his hand against Alex's head. "Lex, you're burning up." Matt held the thermometer in front of Alex's mouth. "Open," he demanded.

Alex rolled his eyes, mumbling, "Of course I'm burning up, dipshit. I have a fever." Matt just stared at Alex, not amused with his comment. Alex mustered up a smile, and then opened his mouth allowing Matt to put the thermometer under his tongue.

As Matt was waiting for the thermometer to beep, he ripped the blanket off of Alex, making him whine. Matt shook his head, mumbling something Alex didn't quite understand. He was too tired to focus on Matt's mumbling. When the thermometer beeped, Alex whined at the noise clutching his ears.

"I'm getting you a cold washcloth. We have to get your fever down. Tylenol too. No blanket, your fever is too high." Matt shook his head as he walked back to the small bathroom, locating a wash cloth. He knew the water in the fridge would be colder than the water that was sitting in a tank underneath the bus, so he opted for using the water from the fridge. He grabbed a bottle, pouring out some over the wash cloth, and taking the rest of the water to Alex.

He groaned realizing that he forgot the Tylenol. “Hold on. Let me get you medicine,” he muttered leaving Alex’s side yet again, causing Alex to whine. Alex just wanted his boyfriend to sit down with him, hold him, and make him feel a little better. But Matt apparently had other ideas. Matt returned holding the pills out in his hand for Alex to take. Alex grabbed them, and quickly swallowed them down with a few gulps of water.

“Happy?” Alex asked while rolling his eyes. He started to feel his head spin, as he held his head in his hands rubbing his temples. “Make it stop,” he whined lowly. He hated being sick, but he knew that Matt hated it more because he became a whiny mess.

Matt sighed, running a hand through his hair. He looked down at Alex, who was looking up at him with a pout on his lips. "Please lay down with me," Alex whispered. Matt didn't say anything, just nodded.

Alex scooted as far back on the couch as he could get. Matt laid down beside him, and as soon as he did he pushed more hair off of Alex's forehead, leaning down and kissing the newly uncovered skin lightly. He regretted it from all the sweat that was on Alex's forehead, but he knew how much Alex liked forehead kisses.

"Where's the wash cloth? Put it on your forehead, please.". Matt spoke in a soft tone, knowing that if he spoke any louder, he'd be dealing with Alex whining.

Alex rolled his eyes, as he reached around for the wash cloth. He felt stupid having to put it on his forehead, but he knew if he didn’t, Matt would bitch. So he took the bright blue wash cloth and rolled it up, placing it on his forehead. He looked at Matt, rolling his eyes again, “Happy?” He asked again, in the most sarcastic tone he could muster up.

Matt was tempted to hit Alex, wanted to really, but didn't. "You're lucky I love you," he muttered more to himself. "Get some sleep, maybe your fever will come down."

"I'm cold though! And you won't let me have the blanket!" Alex whined, with a very evident pout on his face. He wanted his damn blanket back, now. He didn't care if his fever was spiking, the rest of him was really cold. He got agitated when Matt just shook his head. "I hate you," he mumbled, snuggling into Matt's chest.

Matt just hummed, wrapping an arm around Alex and playing with the ends of his hair, knowing that Alex loved having his hair played with, and also knowing it helped put him to sleep.

"Sing to me," he croaked out. He wrapped his arms around Matt’s waist, his right hand creeping under the other’s t-shirt. Matt’s skin was much cooler than his own, serving as a reminder that he was in fact very ill.

Matt sighed, thinking about what he should sing. He wasn’t in the mood to sing. He had so many other things that he could be doing in this moment. He twirled some of Alex’s hair between his fingers as he started to sing I’ll Make a Man Out of You. He had only gotten a few lines into the song, when Alex picked his head up and glared.

“No, a different one. Something I like,” he ordered. He didn’t even think Matt would sing a Disney song, but that was probably his own fault for not remembering how much his boyfriend did in fact like Disney movies and songs. He laid his head back down on Matt’s chest, waiting for him to start singing again. “Matt,” he whined, when the other didn’t start singing.

“I don’t know what to sing!” Matt exclaimed, louder than he wanted to, causing Alex to whine. "Sorry," Matt muttered. He stayed silent for a few moments, until he started to sing You and Me by Lifehouse. Alex sighed happily snuggling more into Matt the more he sang. He closed his eyes, drifting into a restless sleep.

When he awoke a few hours later, he was laying on the couch alone and shivering. He pouted, but didn't make an attempt to find where Matt was. He figured Matt would show up eventually, so he just closed his eyes, waiting for that moment. Thirty seconds later he heard Jack running on the bus screaming at a high pitch, yelling at Zack to stop chasing him. Alex clutched his ears, tears threatening to spill because he was frustrated.

Jack knew he didn't feel well, hell it was half Jack's fault he was sick. Jack was the one who pushed him in the ocean when it was only 40 degrees outside. He had kept pushing the younger about fucking Zack in secret, and it had pissed Jack off.

"Jack!" Alex whined. "Shut the fuck up!" He opened his eyes so that Jack could see he was serious. He expected Jack to apologize, but instead he just shrugged and continued to yell when Zack started to tickle him.

Alex groaned, standing up to go back to his bunk, but immediately fell back onto the couch. His head had been spinning too much for him to manage to walk. "I think I need to go to the doctors," Alex mumbled more to himself. "Matt," he yelled as loud as he could manage.

Matt walked out from the bunk area a few moments later, muttering to himself about how he had cancel interviews for tomorrow. He wasn't trying to snap at Alex when he harshly asked what, but he was definitely annoyed about having to cancel things, and after getting bitched at by different media people, he was just upset.

Alex frowned and covered his face with his hands. "Never mind," he mumbled, uncovering his face and standing up again. He ignored the fact that his head was spinning as he pushed past Matt to get into the bunk area.

Matt rolled his eyes as he turned around to follow Alex. He wasn't in the mood to put up with Alex's drama queen attitude, but he followed the other anyway. "Lex," he said lowly as he crouched down beside Alex's bunk.

"Go 'way," Alex muttered into his pillow making it difficult for Matt to hear, but he managed anyway.

Matt bit down on his lip ring. He knew Alex didn't want to be alone even though he was saying so. "Babe, I didn't mean to snap at you. I'm sorry." He pulled Alex's bunk curtain back, and crawled in beside the other. "What'd you want, babe?" He wrapped his arm around Alex's back, trying to roll him on his side so it was more comfortable in the small space. But, he didn't have luck. Alex just laid there.

"Go away!" Alex demanded. He pulled his arm from under himself to push at Matt, but he didn't have enough energy. His eyes teared up as he gave into Matt and scooted toward him, then rolling on his side, facing Matt. "I think I need to go to the doctors," he mumbled with his face buried in Matt's shirt.

Matt nodded, wrapping his arm tighter around Alex. "If that's what you think is best, we'll go. I think it would be good, though," he whispered.

Alex weakly nodded. His head was feeling heavier, and was pounding, and yeah, he officially needed to go to the doctors. He hadn't felt this bad since he had mono a few years ago. He looked up at Matt, with watery eyes. “Can we go now?” He whimpered out.

Matt sighed, not because he didn’t want to go but because he knew it was necessary to go. He pressed a light kiss to the top of Alex’s head, before rolling out of the bunk. "C'mon," he instructed holding his hand out for Alex to take.

Alex clambered out of his bunk, his head was spinning even worse as he started to stumble backwards. Matt quickly wrapped his arm around Alex to stop him from falling back anymore. "Just stand here until you feel okay to move."

Alex looked at Matt with sad eyes. He didn't think he'd get this sick from Jack pushing him in the ocean. He had been pushed in before and hadn't gotten this sick. His eyes were threatening to spill tears again, and he hated it. He nodded just a little when he felt good to move.

Matt got them out to the front lounge where Zack and Jack were just laying on a couch together. He walked Alex to the other couch, and had him sit down while he called a cab company and looked up a place to take Alex. He found an office and called them, getting Alex an appointment within the next hour. The process of getting into the cab was just as difficult and by the time they were in the cab, Alex was a whining mess.

Matt swore to himself he would never take Alex to the doctor’s again. He was whiny and clingy, and there were toddlers acting better than him. Matt wanted to comment about how Alex claimed he wasn’t even that bad earlier and now they were sitting in a doctor’s office, but he knew that Alex would pout tremendously and that would make Matt feel bad. So he just sat there and let Alex be clingy.

By the time they got out of the doctor’s office, it was two hours later. Matt was so aggravated with everything going on that when Alex wrapped his arms around him, he pushed him away. When Matt got irritated with anything, he didn’t want to be touched, and this was just him not thinking about what Alex wanted and needed.

Alex pushed a pout on his lips again, and turned away from Matt, resting his head on the cool glass of the cab window. He closed his eyes as he felt Matt wrap his arm around his own waist, and scoot closer to him. “You’re mad at me, aren’t you?” Alex whispered.

Matt shook his head. He wasn’t mad, of course not. “No,” he mumbled pressing his lips against Alex’s neck. “I’m just annoyed by having to sit in the doctor’s office.” He was agitated that Alex got sick, after he told him not to go for that walk with Jack, but he couldn’t do anything about it now.

"I'm sorry," Alex whispers. Matt shakes his head, pressing another kiss to Alex's neck. He doesn't say anything just leaves that one kiss, and his lips linger a little, making Alex smile slightly and feel better than he has all day.

When they get back to the bus, Matt made Alex take the medicine he was prescribed, and then walked with him to the back lounge. They pulled the flimsy door shut, while hearing comments from Danny and Vinny about having sex. They both ignored the pair, and just curled up together on the couch. Matt turned the television on, and left it on whatever channel it was on. Alex fell asleep quickly. Matt kissed the top of his head, mumbling a quick 'I love you,' before shutting his own eyes. He tightened his grip on Alex just to make sure he didn't fall off the couch, before he fell asleep, too.