S'Agapo

It was December. It was gym. And where were we exactly? Outside. In the freezing cold. Playing soccer. 'What the hell?'

I started to jump up and down in place to stop shivering. My teeth were chattering. Suddenly I was on the grass. Teeth chattering, face red with the imprint of a soccer ball.

My immune system wasn't feeling so great, and that cold that had miraculously vanished three days after I had contracted it was back with a vengeance. Probably Pneumonia or Bronchitis. 'Oh, just great.'

I decided not to get up. Maybe if I just lay there, I would warm up and the class would play soccer around me. I had no problem with that. Unfortunately, everyone ran up to me to see if I was okay. I didn't understand these people. I was an evil bitch to them, and they still were
kind to me. Well, at least most of them.

Angie bent down and tried to make me stand up. I shook my head furiously. "Just leave me here. Play around me, I don't want to get up."

She laughed. "Oh, come on, Laurel!"

"Leave me here, please. I just want to die in peace."

"Oh, stop overreacting!"

I shivered and sat up. "Oh, I'm dizzy."

Angie crab walked away from me. "You don't look so great. Maybe you should go home."

"You think?" I replied sarcastically.

I didn't go home. I made it up until eighth period, where I promptly fainted on top of Kevin. I woke up in the nurse's office, three boys hovering over me. I sat up, holding my head. Jake was on his cell phone, talking rapidly to Tom. Apollo sat on the bed next to me, making Kevin keep his distance. I was grateful, and collapsed back against the wall. "So, I fainted, huh?" I smiled sheepishly. "Oops."

Apollo pressed his hand against my forehead. "You're burning up. I think I ought to just bring you home."

"Apollo, that's sweet and all, but you can't drive."

He grinned and pulled out a license. "Says who?"

I stared. "No way am I letting you drive. You'll hurt my car! I love my car!"

He rolled his eyes. "I promise I won't, and if you want I can always ask Cathy to drive us home."

"Okay, fine, be that way. We'll take my jeep. But you hurt him, and I hurt you."

Kevin looked at me and said, "If you want I can drive you home, I don't mind."

Apollo glared at him, and before I could say a word, replied, "I think she's had enough to do with you Kevin. It's probably your fault that she became so hard to talk to, and I doubt she wants you near her, so I suggest you back off, or I'll make you."

I stared at Apollo, stunned and grateful.

We drove home, and I was surprised at how well Apollo could drive. "Did you learn all this modern stuff before coming down here?" I asked, collapsed in the back seat.

Apollo nodded. "I've come down here loads of times to meet women, so I naturally had to learn how to drive and act like I was from this century at least."

My respect for him had been lost. "You learned so you could be more of a pervert. I see." I turned away from him.

Apollo's POV

I pulled into the driveway and opened the back door. Laurel was cuddled up in a spare blanket, fast asleep.

"You're so cute." I muttered. Pulling her out, I slammed the door shut and cradled her in my arms. She was so small for such a loudmouth. Laurel sighed and pressed her head against my neck to make herself more comfortable.

I smiled and kissed her on the forehead, almost involuntarily. "I wish I wasn't with Cathy, I'd rather be with you. But I don't cheat on women. They seem to like cheating on me, though."

Laurel's POV

I woke up in bed. My temples were pounding so I pulled the blanket over my head to block out the light. I felt like my brain was boiling over.

"Laurel, I've gotten some soup for you." A soft voice entered my scrambled mind. I deciphered it as Apollo's.

"Can you get me an aspirin?"

"You can't have medicine on an empty stomach. Come on, get up and eat this first."

I moaned. "At least shut off the light first."

"Okay." Apollo stood up and I felt rather than saw the lights shut off. I sat up, my head feeling a little better.

"Thank you." I yawned. I glanced at my clock. It was three a.m. "Three a.m.? Apollo, why are you feeding me food now?"

I saw his silhouette sit down on the bed side. "Because you haven't eaten all day, and you're awake."

"You shouldn't worry about me like this, it's not good for you, you might get sick!"

"I doubt it. Now open up!"

The soup was delicious, better than anything I'd ever made. "You cook better than I do."

"Yes,but your food tastes better than mine."

"What do you mean?"

"You cook with emotion, so you can really feel the warmth or the coldness of the food, I just cook."

"Why didn't you just tell me my cooking wasn't so great?"

"You hated me, and I like your cooking better than mine."

"You hated me too!" I couldn't process two different things at once so I focused on the first one.

"Not really, I just was annoyed with you. But now, I understand you better, and I've decided that I like you." His hand brushed over my cheek, warm and comforting, "You're burning up!" He stood up and left, came back in a few minutes with some medicine.

I got better quickly. A few days before Christmas break, however, Apollo contracted my ailment. And it was about a dozen times worse. He was collapsed in his bed, wheezing. I ran in with a new box of tissues, a plastic bag filled with used ones in my hands. I threw it
haphazardly in the garbage can downstairs, and then ran back upstairs with stew and more blankets. He was eternally cold. As I tucked him in with another blanket, Apollo looked at me blearily. Even with a runny nose, he managed to look absolutely gorgeous. All of Apollo's guy friends had visited him this week, even Tom and Jake's band members.

"Has Cathy come by yet?"

I felt hollow inside. "No. I'm sorry Apollo. But you really shouldn't focus on that right now. She'll probably come tomorrow." I nodded optimistically, but I knew she wouldn't come. Cathy wasn't a softhearted person. She didn't care about anyone except herself, and was probably cheating on Apollo at the moment. But I didn't want to tell him. He might go into a state of depression, or get angry. Either way, his condition would worsen, and I couldn't let that happen. "Just rest for now. I have some more stew ready for when you want to eat, so just tell me. I'll be right here." I sat down on the floor and leaned against his bed. Apollo moved his hand to my cheek and stroked it lightly. I took his hand and said, "Go to sleep. You'll be better soon."

After he fell asleep, I slipped into the kitchen and grabbed some cold water and a bounty. I went back upstairs and pressed the wet bounty against his forehead. Apollo probably didn't know I did this, seeing as I only did it while he was sleeping. I was too embarrassed to do it while he was awake because of the fact that he would be staring at me, and I didn't like people watching me take care of them. I wiped some excess water off his face with my hand and pushed back his hair. I was surprised at how soft it was. I took off the towel and soaked it in the bowl again. My hands were wet. I placed the towel back over his forehead, and cleaned my hands off on his cheeks and neck.

'Eh, might as well cool him off somehow.' I smiled at my stupidity and pushed my hair back.
Apollo's hand moved and touched my leg. I blushed and moved it away, but he turned over, upsetting the towel. I moved my hand to pick it up, but he woke up. I pulled back, surprised.
Apollo looked at me as if through a haze. He grabbed my wrist and muttered, "Lie with me." I blushed again, but he pulled me onto the bed with him. I collapsed on my side next to him and he fell back asleep. I gently removed the towel from under his head. As I was about to stand up, something caught my eye.

It was our hair. Some of my curls had mingled with his, and they were all curling around each other. One of his blond locks was curled around my brown one. It looked so pretty. I smiled at him and ran one of my fingers over the contours of his face, barely touching him.
"I wish you weren't with Cathy. I want you all for myself." I nuzzled my head under his chin, than realized what I was doing. I pulled away and got off the bed. I was putting my trust in something that could not be trusted. Like Kevin. Apollo was going to go away after he fell in love with someone. And that would probably be his punishment. To feel pain, like how Zeus claimed he felt when Apollo took his girlfriend. I pulled away, sat back down on the floor. I couldn't be with Apollo. I would only get hurt again.