To Call My Life My Own

A few weeks passed after Willem’s meeting in the park with Noah. Willem couldn’t help remembering how cute Noah looked out of his uniform, the shy smile he wore and the way he looked so happy when Willem kind of invited him round to dinner. Sure, that invitation hadn’t been set in stone yet, but the intention was definitely there.

There was just something about the younger boy that drew Willem in, something he couldn’t ignore. He just hoped he could get his head around it before he screwed anything up.

Unfortunately, Willem had been struck down with a horrible case of the flu for just about a week now. He’d felt really ill on the Wednesday but by Thursday morning he could barely move. Willem had struggled through work for the remaining two days of the week but hadn’t left his bed since Saturday because he felt that crappy. On Monday he’d gone to the Doctors because he still felt really rough, and the Doctor had given him some super strength medicine to clear the flu up. It was Wednesday now and he still could barely get out of bed, but luckily his company were okay with him having the time off. And Lucy, being the best friend that she is, had kept the twins around her apartment so they didn’t catch Willem’s flu, so he’d been alone. Completely and utterly alone, and it sucked.

But on Wednesday evening, that changed.

“Will?”

Willem frowned at the soft voice, not understanding how he could hear it. Was he hallucinating now as well?

“Noah?” Willem rasped.

Noah winced and walked a little further into the room, until he was at Willem’s side.

“Yeah, it’s me. Lucy let me in. I hope you don’t mind,” Noah said.

Oh good, he wasn’t hallucinating.

“Of course I don’t but why are you here?” Willem asked, confused.

“When Lucy and the twins were in the bakery on Saturday they mentioned you were sick but today’s the only day I’ve been able to finish early to come by even thought I’ve been trying to get out early to see you all week,” Noah rambled.

“Oh,” Willem said, a small smile spreading across his lips.

Noah had been trying to see him all week? That’s just adorable.

“I brought some soup with me too, to help you get your strength back,” Noah added, indicating the Tupperware box he was carrying.

“It better be homemade,” Willem teased.

Noah blushed slightly, but nodded.

“O-Of course, it’s my mom’s recipe hearty winter vegetable with shredded chicken. She told me it cures all sickness,” Noah said.

“You asked her?” Willem frowned.

“W-Well she did wonder why I was making soup from her recipe book and I can’t lie to her,” Noah admitted.

Willem stayed silent for a few seconds, trying to process that. Noah’s mom knew that Noah was making soup for him? What the hell did she think of that?

“She doesn’t mind that you’re making soup for a guy 5 years older than you?” Willem eventually asked.

Noah blushed again and shook his head.

“No, she thinks you’re wonderful,” Noah murmured.

Willem couldn’t help but laugh…and that laugh immediately turned into coughing. Noah helped him sit a little more upright to ease the cough, before putting pillows behind Willem’s back to support him. Willem smiled at the gentle hands on his feverish skin. This boy was far too sweet for his own good.

“I’ll go heat up a portion of the soup, okay? And I’ll get you some more medicine. I won’t be more than 10 minutes, I promise,” Noah insisted.

Willem closed his eyes for what felt like 5 seconds, and then Noah was back by his side. The younger boy smiled, lightly brushing Willem’s fringe from his forehead, before starting to feed Willem the soup. Willem was a little surprised at first, the younger boy not even saying a word while he did it, but the care and concern in Noah’s eyes stopped Willem from protesting. Noah just wanted to help, and who was Willem to say no to that?

Once the bowl was empty, Noah set it aside and picked up the medicine.

“I could only find the drowsy stuff, so you’ll probably fall asleep in a little while. Um…Lucy is taking the twins out tonight and can’t check on you so do you mind if I stay? I can sleep on the sofa, obviously, but I just don’t like the thought of you being here by yourself while you’re ill,” Noah rambled.

“You’re adorable,” Willem blurted.

Noah just blushed.

“So you don’t mind if I stay and look after you?” Noah asked, hopefully.

Willem just shook his head. He didn’t want to admit it out loud but just the thought of having Noah wanting to be around him even when he was ill made him happy. Yeah, that wasn’t something he really wanted to admit.

Noah smiled shyly at Willem before uncapping the medicine bottle, pouring just enough out and feeding it to Willem. In silence, Noah helped Willem lie back down on the bed, rearranging the pillows and pulling the duvet up properly. Once Willem was comfy, Noah bit his bottom lip before leaning down and pressing the gentlest of kisses to Willem’s forehead. Even through his fever, the light touch tingled his skin, making Willem smile.

“Thank you,” Willem mumbled, closing his eyes.

As he drifted into sleep again, Willem felt Noah squeeze his hand, vaguely hearing a mumble of ‘clear up mess’ and ‘clean kitchen’ before he passed out completely. He could only hope that Noah was still here when he woke up.