♡ ♡

I let out a huff.

"I'm fine, Nico," I hid the congestion in my voice. "We can train today."

He shook his head, "Nope. You need one more day of rest."

"Well, Winters' party is tomorrow," I said while kicking my feet since my butt was planted on the kitchen counter.

He turned to look at me over his shoulder while he made soup, "Do you still want to go?"

"Yes, I think it could be nice to meet some new people," I shrugged.

"Why?"

"To make friends."

"Boring."

I tried to kick his butt, but my leg didn't reach. He turned the stove off and I crossed my arms, "Making friends is nice. You and I were friends at one point."

"Yea, we were," he said while walking to be standing between my legs. He leaned forward and pressed his lips against mine, and if it didn't make me feel all warm inside I would've pushed him away since I was still a little sick. "And now I get to do that."

I bit my bottom lip while I smiled. He made a soft noise and lowered his head while he shook it. He moved it back up and his green eyes locked on mine, and he pulled my bottom lip so that I was no longer biting it, "Don't do that unless you wanna get fucked on this kitchen counter."

"Maybe I do-"

He cut me off by putting a spoonful of soup into my mouth. He tucked some hair behind my ear, "Not while you're sick."

He put his hands on my hips and helped me down from the counter. He held the bowl while we walked into his living room, and I took a comfortable seat on his couch.

Once I was sitting, he carefully handed me the bowl, and I blew on it since steam was radiating off of it.

I put it into my mouth, and he started to tie my hair back since it was falling in front of my face. Nico brushed my hair again when we woke up this morning, and it's a good thing he did because I literally looked insane.

"Thank you," I smiled at him once it was tied.

"I told you," he spoke sternly. "Don't thank me."

I held a spoonful of soup for him to eat, but he shook his head. His hand ran from my shoulder to my hip as he asked, "Is your body still sore?"

"Not really," I shook my head. But then I regretted it realizing that I was missing out on his hands touching me. "Actually, yea. A little."

"Where's it hurt?" he asked me, placing his hand on the nape of my neck.

In between my legs.

"My back," I blurted, knowing if I waited a second longer my instructive thoughts would've won and I would've said that out loud.

He moved to be sitting behind me, and I was now in between his legs. His hands went underneath my shirt, gently rubbing up and down my muscles as I ate the bowl of soup that was still in my hands.

The TV played in front of us as I ate. He never complained about how long he was rubbing my muscles for, even though I was eating pretty slowly. He pressed his hands against my shoulders as I finished my soup, and I went to stand up to wash it.

He quickly grabbed onto my hips and pulled me back down.

"I'll wash it later," he said in a stern yet soft voice.

I nodded and set the bowl down on the table in front of me, and he grabbed the blanket that was hanging on the couch cushions behind us. He moved back to be sitting beside me, and he motioned to his lap and said, "Lay down."

If I wasn't feeling a little tired, I would've asked him to say please. I lay my head down on his lap, and he pulled the blanket to be covering my body.

I looked at the TV in front of us, and his hands played with my hair.

I nearly fell asleep, but I found myself wanting to stay awake. I knew his arms were probably getting tired of playing with my hair, but he still never stopped.

My eyes went to a notepad that had a marker on it, and I smiled to myself as an idea came into my head.

I reached for the black marker that was on the table. I turned in his lap so that my face was now staring straight up at him, and I grabbed his hand.

"Are you gonna draw a dick?" he asked.

I laughed slightly that that was his first guess. I shook my head, "No."

I drew a heart on the top of his hand, and his other hand massaged my scalp.

"Like it?" I tilted my head up at him while I let him move his hand.

He smiled slightly while he looked at it. He leaned down and kissed my forehead, "I love it."

His hand went to the side of my face, and I leaned into it.

"Are you tired?" he asked, his voice soft.

Although I felt like yawning, I kept it in my mouth. I knew that if Nico saw me yawn, he would force me to upstairs and sleep. But I wanted to spend time with him.

I shook my head, "Nope."

"Do you wanna watch some movies upstairs?" he asked, and I felt like this was a plan to try and get me to nap.

"Sure," I agreed, knowing that I wasn't going to fall for it.

I sat up in his lap, moving the chocolate brown hair that was in my face for a moment. I pulled the blanket off of me and stood up to my feet, smiling at the large socks I had on. When we got to his house last night, Nico made fun of my socks. They looked like dog paws and I bought them when I went thrifting one time because I thought it was funny.

He gave me a pair of his, but they're way too big for me. I still like them though, because they're his.

I nearly tripped while walking up the stairs, so Nico picked me up and threw me over his shoulder. I laughed while my hair hung over my face, "Put me down, Nico! It's only because of your huge socks!"

"You'll fall down the stairs and die if I put you down," he replied.

I laughed as he dropped me down onto the bed, making my hair sprawl out around me. He looked down at me, the faintest smirk on his face.

"You should get ice cream with Rio and I tomorrow before the party," I told him.

He instantly nodded, "Okay."

I pushed myself to be sitting up, but Nico used his hand to push me back onto my back. I pushed myself up again, but he pushed me down again. After the third time, I put my hands over my stomach, "Now my abs hurt. All one of them."

"Sorry," he said in an 'I'm not sorry' tone.

He put his hands around my back and pulled me to be sitting up.

"I need to change into a t-shirt," I told him, my body starting to feel hot under the sweater.

I grabbed one of his t-shirts because they're more comfortable than mine. I changed in front of him, even though I wasn't wearing a bra, so he got to see for a quick second.

"Jesus, Elle," he muttered under his breath.

I did a little smile to myself as I walked into his bathroom and retied my hair, since it had gotten messed up from Nico picking me up.

Once I was done, my eyes fell onto the little bag of stuff I brought.

"Let me paint your nails," I suggested, poking my head out so that he can see me from the bed.

He shook his head, and I grabbed a bottle of clear coat. I held it up, "It's just a clear coat, it'll make your nails look good."

"Are you saying they look ugly now?"

"If I call them ugly, would that make you okay with doing a clear coat?"

He let out a sigh and stood up to his full height, "Honestly, I'd let you either way."

I clapped my hands together and smiled. I hopped up on the counter and crossed my legs, and he took his sweet time entering the bathroom. He took one step. Then another. Then another.

"Hurry up before I turn 35," I told him, making him walk at a normal speed.

I tapped my knees, "Put your hands on my knees."

He made a noise like he didn't want to, but did it anyway. I carefully put the polish on, making his nails shine. As I did it, I asked him, "Can you knit?"

"Do I look like I can fuckin' knit?"

I shrugged, "You never know."

He shook his head, "I can't. Why?"

"I was going to ask if you could knit me a stuffed animal. One that I won't decapitate this time," I said before blowing on his right hand which was now finished.

"I could buy you one," he said while I started his other hand.

"You don't have to do that," I told him.

"And if I want to?"

I tapped his hand that didn't have a heart on it, "Then you'll get a dick drawn on this hand."

"Oh how ever will I survive," he said sarcastically as I finished his second hand.

I blew on it and made him hold his hands out once they were dry. I smiled, "Doesn't it look good?"

He moved them closer to his face, looking at them carefully. He shrugged, "Not bad."

"You should do mine some time," I suggest while hoping off of the counter.

He followed me back to the bed, and my body felt way better once I was laying. He sat down beside me while I turned the TV on, purposefully not checking my phone because I couldn't handle a headache if my parents were trying to call me.

Nico pressed his hand against my forehead, "I don't know about the party tomorrow. You're still a little warm."

"I'll be fine," I removed his hand from my forehead to try and get him to stop worrying. "We'll get some ice cream in the afternoon, and at the party, I won't drink. Do you drink?"

"Not something I like to do," he said while pulling me to be laying on him. "Need to be sober to watch over your ass."

"I don't need much watching over," I said, but bit the inside of my lip remembering all of the times where I almost fell and Nico caught me.

He noticed my face and raised his eyebrows at me. I smacked his chest slightly, "Shut up."

"When are we painting?" he asked me. "Want to make sure I clear that day off from work."

"After tomorrow," I decide. "I texted my grandma that I was sick, so I have the next few days off."

His lips pressed against my hairline, "Good girl. You need time to heal."

"You know, I think I know something that would make me feel better," I tilted my head up to look at him. "Face masks."

"I don't have any."

"Okay, so lets go to the store and get some."

"You're sick, Elle. You need to relax, not walk around a busy store."

"I'll wait in the car?" I suggested. "Please?"

He stared down at me, not saying anything for a moment. But then he gave in and sighed, "Fine. But you aren't coming in, okay?"

"Okay," I nodded.

----------

I walked around the store with Nico.

He kept giving me glares, trying to show me how unhappy he was with the fact that I unlocked my door and came inside once he got out.

But when I grabbed onto his hand, he kept mine tightly in his.

We stopped in the aisle, and I picked up two light blue ones. He asked me, "What's it even do?"

"I don't know. I'm sure it says so on the back, but I just use them because I think they're fun," I shrugged.

We walked over to the self-checkout, and Nico demanded that I didn't touch anything so that I didn't get sicker. He still held onto my hand while he bought them, and then he carried the tiny plastic bag out with us.

Once we were outside of the store, I coughed a little bit. He spoke in a disapproving tone, "Elle. I want you to get better, baby. You were supposed to stay in the car."

"But wasn't it more fun with me in there?" I smiled at him.

"Not the point."

I laughed as we approached his car. We got in and he drove home, keeping his hand on my leg as he drove.

Once we got back to his house, I made him sit on the bed while I washed my hands. Once my hands were clean, I walked back over to him with the two liquid masks. I sat in front of him, and started peeling the top off of the one I was going to put on him.

I sniffed as I opened it, and he asked me softly, "You okay? Need me to go back to the store and get you some medicine?"

"Hush," I said while poking my finger into the liquid, and I started to spread it across his face.

I used my fingers to cover his face with the mask, and his green eyes stood out in the blue color filling his face. Once it was on, I told him, "Now put mine on."

He used some hand sanitizer from his bag before starting to put it on my skin, and he was going slowly and carefully as if it would hurt if he didn't.

I smiled while he put it on, and once he was done, he grabbed a handtowel. He wiped the blue off of his hands, and handed it to me so that I could do the same.

He tossed it into the laundry basket after and took a seat across from me again.

"You look like Megamind," I told him. "You even have the same color eyes."

"You look like Dory," he teased back. "Same brain capacity, too."

"Hey!" I laughed while hitting his chest.

I set a 10-minute alarm, and once it went off, I dragged him to the bathroom with me. We took turns rising it off in the sink, and I dried my face off with a towel.

While I dabbed the towel against my face, he looked at himself in the mirror, "I don't look any different."

"Well, it was still fun, right?" I said while putting the towel down.

He nodded, making the corners of my mouth turn up. I leaned my hip against the sink while I looked up at him, and I lifted my hand to rub off a spot of blue that he missed.

He let me, just looking down at me with a content look.

"You're fucking doing something to me, Elle," he shook his head slightly, but the faintest smile was on his face.

"Yea?" I asked. "And what's that?"

He leaned down and kissed my lips quickly, clearly not caring about the fact that I could make him sick.

"I don't know," he confessed as his warm breath hit my lips. "But I fucking love it."