Chicken Noodle Soup

Logan found himself outside her door, his deep brown eyes staring up at the bronze apartment number almost helplessly. He struggled to balance the items in his arms so that he’d have a free hand to knock, shifting each object in hopes of finding the secret combination, but it was a lost cause. With a large brown paper bag cradled in one arm and a thermos gripped tightly in his other hand, he settled on using the toe of his sneaker, kicking the bottom of the door as he called out as inconspicuously as possible, his coffee-colored eyes darting around the empty hallway.

“Hey, it’s Logan! Open up!”

He could hear footsteps against the linoleum coming from the other side of the door, but he knew it wasn’t her. The footfalls were too light, too quick, and she’d always been a heavy stepper.

He was right; Autum peeked through the crack in the doorway. With her short, highlighted hair swept up into ponytail on top of her head, he couldn’t help but think that she resembled Snoopy’s companion, Woodstock, in the moment, but Logan could never tell her that.

“Hey, what’s up?” she asked. Her bare toes traced the threshold between them as her stare stayed focused on the floor. It seemed like, no matter how much time Logan spent hanging out in their apartment, there was always this unspoken awkwardness between him and his girlfriend’s roommate. A part of her had yet to trust him, overly wary of any guy her best friend was involved with, if only because she didn’t want to see her get her heart broken again.

“Nothing much, thought I’d stop by with a care package for the patient,” he joked, nodding towards the assortment of gifts in his arms. “How’s she feeling?”

“I have no clue. She’s been holed up in her room for a couple days.” She stepped aside, helping him with one of the bags as he walked through the door. “I will warm you though, I doubt she’ll let you see her.” Autum laughed as she peeked into the paper bag. “Hell, I haven’t even seen her, and I live with the girl.”

A soft chuckle brushed past his lips. “Well, I guess we’ll just have to see how it goes.” Dark eyebrows wriggled against fair skin as his hand curved around the doorknob.

“K?” He kept his voice low as he stepped into her room.

With her frame stretched out across the bed, one leg slung over a pillow, and her mouth hanging wide open, Logan would’ve guessed she was asleep until saw the jerky flutter of her hand grasping for the blanket.

“You can’t see me like this.” Instead of her usual carefree southern drawl, her voice was raspy and hoarse as she croaked out the words.

Though Kandi tried to pull her blanket up over her head as quickly and fluid as anyone achy with the flu could possibly do, he still caught a glimpse of her, clad in her blush-colored bra and a pair of baggy charcoal gray basketball shorts that were, no doubt, stolen from her brother. She and her mom were close, but it seemed like every time she needed a reminder of home, she gravitated towards her brother’s oversized clothing. Her rubbed-raw red nose, washed out complexion, and even the pile of crumpled tissues on the carpet beside her bed failed to scare him away as he inched closer to the bed. Even with her face hidden beneath her fuzzy blue blanket, Logan could see the frizzy wisps of chestnut hair poking out of her messy bun.

“Don’t be like that.” He laughed to himself as he took a seat on the edge of the mattress. “How’re you feeling?”

Her pillow muffled her response. “Like shit.”

He let his hand lazily rub the stretch of back between her shoulder blades. “I brought you a little something to help you feel better…”

Kandi shifted beneath the covers, her brown eyes cautiously peering over the edge of her blanket. “What is it?”

“Chicken noodle soup.” He held the Tupperware container up for her to see before he continued to shuffle through the bag. “Dayquil…Nyquil…Kleenex. Oh, and I saw this while I was at the drugstore.” The fluffy white fur brushed against her skin as Logan pressed the little teddy bear against her forehead, his lips smacking to form exaggerated kisses. His shoulders lifted and slumped in a shrug. “It reminded me of you.”

“He’s cute.” Her eyes creased at the corners as she smiled. “What kind of chicken noodle soup? Is it the Campbell’s stuff from the can?”

Logan’s eyes stayed glued to the lump under the covers as he shook his head. “Nope, I actually used my stove. James was watching Rachael Ray, and she happened to be making homemade chicken noodle soup, so we went out, bought the shit, and made it ourselves.”

Her irises were lined with countless questions that she was too tired and her throat was too sore for her to ask, all cumulating into a half-hearted “what?”

“No need to thank me, just doing my awesome boyfriend duties.”

She was too worn out to debate the label.
“My mom makes me the Campbell’s chicken noodle soup whenever I’m sick.” He could hear the slight tinge of disappointment in her voice, but even when she was sick, Kandi was quick to mask it. “Wait, why were y’all watching Rachael Ray?”

“James likes her. I don’t question it.” He offered her the thermos. “He sent you this. It’s hot tea and honey, I think. He says it’s good for sore throats.”

It was then, as she reached for the tea, that the blanket fell to her chest, leaving her completely exposed. Faint purplish circles were embedded beneath her doe brown eyes, her lips dry and her face devoid of even the slightest trace of makeup, but Logan couldn’t have cared less. With anyone else, he would’ve made sure to keep his distance, but there was something about her, about the way she so rarely let herself be that weak or vulnerable, that when she showed that other side of her, he instinctively felt the need to take care of her. If he thought about it too much, it scared him a little bit, so he tried to keep the notion at the back of his mind.

Before she had a chance to realize her own error, as Kandi held the thermos to her lips and took a sip, he leaned over and planted a soft kiss on her forehead.

She swallowed before she offered him a weak smile. “You should go home. You’re gonna end up catching the flu.”

“Hey!” He protested, but his tone remained soft as he flicked a loose strand of hair out of her eyes. “I already got my flu shot, so you’re not gonna get rid of me that easy.”

She looked like hell, but at least she still had her sense of humor intact, that roll of her big honey-brown eyes. “This soup is actually pretty good. I mean, it’s not bad for a couple of bachelors.”

Her spoon chased a chunk of chicken around the bowl, and Logan suddenly remembered the last thing still hidden in his bag. He’d rented her favorite romantic comedy for them to watch together, and although neither of them were huge fans of romcom, this movie was different. It had that quick, quirky type of humor that was so characteristic of the two of them and the relationship they had that they couldn’t help but laugh.

“I also brought you this,” he said, holding up the DVD case for her to see. “I know we’ve already seen it, but I thought it would be nice to just chill out here, since you gotta be all sick and everything.”

In that instant, her face seemed to light up. “Put it in, put it in.”

As he got up to put the DVD in, she put the rest of the soup on her dresser, nestling the teddy bear beside her on the bed and clutching her tea in her hand. He was quick to settle in bed beside her, weaving his arm around her shoulders as she eased into the curve of his frame.

Her gaze flickered up to meet his, her palm rested against his chest, and even though her lips parted, she didn’t say anything.

“What is it?”

“Nothing, it’s just…thanks for coming over. I know I act all tough like I don’t need the help, but I really appreciate you just being here for me.”

Logan knew it was the most he could expect to get out of her, and truthfully, he was grateful for what she could give him.

“Don’t mention it,” he said with a soft chuckle. “I get tired of hanging around the apartment with James all the time anyway, him and his Rachael Ray obsession.”

Kandi wrapped her arms around his chest, giving him a quick squeeze before she leaned up to kiss his chin. He shifted down the pile of pillows, catching her kiss with his lips. Her lips were chapped, and he could smell the strong stench of menthol embedded in her skin, but none of that turned him away. Even at her worst, he couldn’t shut off his feelings for her. It was so natural that when he tried to fight the reflex, it felt like holding his breath underwater.

She kept her head against his chest for as long as she possibly could, laughing along with the movie and her boyfriend’s smartass comments until she was too tired to keep up with it all, eventually shifting onto her side. With her back turned to him, Logan’s body filled the space between them, wrapping his arms around her and pressing his lips to the nape of her neck as she drifted off to sleep.