Stomach Flu

It was dark in the room when Alex woke up, momentarily confusing him. A glance at the clock showed the time to be 4:06 and he was about to roll back over and return to sleep when he realised the reason he’d woken. Jack was sitting upright next to him, leaned back against the wall and crying softly.

Alex’s drowsiness immediately vanished. Dragging himself into a sitting position, he put his arms around Jack and pulled him close, trying to calm him down.

“Jacky, hey, shh, what’s wrong? Are you going to be sick?”

He was only marginally reassured by Jack’s small shake of the head but continued to hold him regardless.

“It just hurts so much.” Jack whimpered, clinging to Alex’s t-shirt.

And maybe it was the sleep deprivation, or maybe just overwhelming feelings getting the better of him, but Alex acted on impulse.

Whispering softly, “I can fix that.”, he tilted Jack’s tearstained face up towards his and pressed a gentle kiss to his best friends lips.

As he came to his senses, he pulled away quickly, shocked at himself. Jack just sniffed and blinked up at him with confusion written across his face.

“Shit I’m sorry; I shouldn’t have done that…”

The confused look began to fade and Jack huddled closer to Alex, arms wrapped tight around his stomach. Instinctively, Alex hugged him back.

“How long have you wanted to do that for?” The younger boy asked quietly.

“I don’t know. Just… yesterday. I was watching you sleep and you just looked so adorable and cute, even though you were ill and totally drooling all over me. In that second I knew I wanted you to be mine, I wanted to be able to take care of you on all of your sick days.”

They sat in silence for a few moments as Jack processed what he’d just been told. The quiet was broken when Alex noticed Jack rubbing his cheek against his shoulder.

“Stop bloody wiping your face on me; I’m not a towel.”

“Are.” Jack argued stubbornly. “My towel.”

“How are you feeling?” Alex asked, pressing another kiss to Jack’s temple.

“Shitty. Stomach hurts so bad. Need another kiss to stop it.”

Alex obliged, smiling contentedly. “Lie back down with me.”

Jack muttered something dismally into Alex shoulder and shook his head. His arms were still folded protectively around his stomach and he winced every now and then in pain.

“Come on.” Alex persuaded. “You can lie on top of me. I always curl up with a pillow when I feel like this and I promise I’ll feel better than a stupid cushion.”

Jack pouted but reluctantly wiggled down the bed to lie on top of Alex, hooking their legs together and snuggling into him.

As another wave of cramps his him, he tried to draw his legs up to his chest, whimpering slightly.
Instantly, Alex began to rub his back and kiss his forehead, trying to distract him. When that failed, he slipped his hands under Jack’s shirt and began to massage gently, working away at the cramps to bring relief to the sick boy.

Jack helped, guiding Alex’s hand to the right places as he pressed himself back into Alex’s chest. It wasn’t long before the pain had been soothed enough for Jack to drift into sleep, one arm draped across his stomach and the other clutching Alex’s hand for comfort.

---

Alex woke up before Jack and lay there blissfully, contented holding the younger boy. He began to absentmindedly trace lazy patterns over Jack’s cheek with his finger.

Jack mumbled in his sleep and frowned, swatting at the offending hand before twitching awake. He rubbed his cheek perplexedly, trying to remove the tickling feeling.

“How’re you feeling?” Alex asked as Jack rolled over.

Wrinkling his nose, Jack replied. “Still kinda shitty. Still hurts but I don’t feel sick anymore. Well I do, but not like I’m going to puke which is a bonus for you and Zack.”

Laughing, Alex agreed. “Good, and I can make the pain go away.”

“I just want to stay here all day.” Jack complained.

The second he’d said it, Matt knocked loudly on their door, startling them both.

“I’m coming in so put some clothes on.” Yelled a voice through the door.

“You’ve seen it all before and you love it anyway.” Jack yelled back.

Apparently taking that as his cue to enter, Matt walked in, raising an eyebrow at the two of them cuddled up in bed together but knowing better than to say anything.

“Come on you spoilt rockstars. Be on the bus in twenty or I’ll chop your dicks off when you’re asleep.”

Shoving his face back into his pillow, Alex moaned loudly in response.

“And how’re you doing Jack? Be able to play later?”

“Yeah probably, just make sure we’re near bathrooms.” Jack joked, sticking his tongue out at Matt before flinging Alex’s pillow at him.

“Bus. Twenty. Be there. Or lose your dick.”

As the door slammed behind him, Alex moaned again before dragging himself out of bed. He winced slightly and pressed a hand to his stomach before shrugging off the feeling.

“Come on you. I’m good to go but you might want to take a shower. You fucking stink of puke.”

“If I do, then you do too.” Jack complained. “You slept next to me all night.”

Alex just rolled his eyes. “There’s only really time for one shower anyway, and you smell worse.”

Jack just looked at him like he was stupid. “Then let’s only take one shower.” Grabbing Alex’s hand, he pulled him to the bathroom, yanking off his sleep wear as he went.