Enigmatic Circumstances

Chapter Three

Texas had fallen asleep in a chair near the couch that California was passed out on. He could never stay asleep for long with how worried he was. After waking up for the fourth time, he went over to California to check his temperature. Still burning.

This woke the burning state up.

"Where... oh yeah... is that you Tex?" California mumbled out in a feverish haze.

"Yeah, it's me," Texas says relieved to hear California speak, "Cali, how are ya feelin?"

The western state took a moment to try to process what Texas is saying. "It's really hot," California states before he sat up. He immediately grabbed on to Texas to steady himself.

Texas looked down at California and short circuits. Something inside Texas wanted him to hold on forever. He just wanted to protect the smaller state from everything right now. It was starting to become clear to Texas that he may like the sunny state.

While Texas is having his revelation, California started to pull the tall state next to him. In his fevered state brought on by the fires, Texas felt comforting and kind of cool to California. California started to lean into Texas once he got him on the couch next to him. Texas starting to come out of the initial shock of finally confronting his emotions, realized what was happening, and he wrapped his arms around the smaller state. Soon the two states fell asleep in each others arms.

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As California wakes up the next morning, his fever is starting to die down significantly. Since his first fires, his body had gotten used to it, so now he normally feels the effects of the wildfires for only a couple of days.

California felt himself in the embrace of another state. It was comforting and made the lonely state feel protected. He opened his eyes to find a sleeping Texas cuddling him on the couch.

Once California realized who was holding him, he panicked. How did this happen? He was pretty sure Texas hated him, so why was he sleeping on the couch with California. California tried to get out of Texas's grip as to avoid any awkward interaction when Texas wakes up, but California couldn't seem to get loose. In fact, Texas seemed to only hold on tighter whenever California tried to wriggle free. 

Eventually, California just resigned himself to his fate since he was clearly not getting up anytime soon. It was still quite comfortable, so he wasn't too upset by this.

That was until he realized he was in the middle of the living area in the statehouse and anyone could walk over and see the two sleeping with each other. He was not in the mood to deal with whatever Florida would say about this, so he started struggling again, hoping to either free himself or wake up the other state. 

Unfortunately for California, he was still relatively weaker than normal since he was still on fire, so this second attempt didn't change anything about the situation. It didn't take long before California heard footsteps come into the living area. Shit! California, in an attempt to avoid dealing with the reaction of the other states, pretended to still be asleep.

The footsteps drew closer before suddenly stopping and walking away. California hoped that whoever that was didn't notice him and Texas.

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"The plan is ready to start a lot earlier than we initially anticipated," New York says to the two states in on his scheme. 

"Great, should I get photos?" Florida asked with excitement.

"No, I want to see what happens when they both wake up. It will work better if they don't have something to distract themselves."

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California laid in Texas's arms for what felt like hours. After he had given up on getting free, he took some time to examine how Texas looked. He looked relaxed and happy, and as much as California didn't want to admit it, he looked really attractive. His hat had fallen off in his sleep leaving his hair an uncontrolled mess. 

Eventually Texas started to stir awake. California froze when he felt the movement next to him. Much to California's displeasure, the sleepy Texan dragged California closer to him as he woke up. This was not going to be fun to explain.

Texas slowly opened his eyes and looked over to California before quickly letting him go.

"Oh goodness!" Texas shouted in surprise. He then went silent, seeming to be having some form of internal conflict about this.

California had never seen the Texan this flustered. He looked very cute like this.

"Good morning," California states to break the silence that had fallen between the two.

"Oh, uh... good morning," Texas says snapping out of his thoughts, "Are you feeling okay? you were on fire last night."

"Yeah, I am feeling better, but why..." California says as he decides to drop the question he was about to ask, "I think I should go to my room to rest now."

Texas looked almost disappointed to hear California say this, "Alright, that's good to hear."

California got off the couch to head to his room when suddenly Louisiana walked into the room. 

"Cali! It's good to see ya up!" Louisiana said when he saw California. The western state was not used to seeing anyone happy to see him. "How are you feelin' with that fire Cali?" the swampy state asked.

"Uh..." California was getting flustered by the sudden attention he was receiving. Texas got up behind him.

"I get you're happy to see California, but I think we should let him get some more rest," Texas stated.

"Ah, I see," Louisiana said with a smirk, "You don't want you sick boyfriend to be talking to anyone else."

Both California and Texas froze when Louisiana said this. 

"That's not- We're not-" Texas sputtered in an attempt to respond to the accusation. 

"It's alright, I understand," Louisiana says before he walked off, leaving Texas and California standing there beet red with embarrassment. 

Once California managed to get a grip on his composure, he decided that he would need to get some more sleep before he would have the energy to deal with whatever was happening.

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AN: Thanks for reading this far! I may have no self confidence in my writing, but I have still managed to finish another chapter. I hope y'all are enjoying this so far! Also, make sure to not die! It is detrimental to your health and will make me sad!