A collection of Mericcup

"Fight me"

Setting: Modern AU, our time.

 White walls, white bedsheets, a nasty beeping sound all day long. She didn't knew how she was able to keep up with this. Oh right, because she was used to it. Even though it's been a while since she had to visit a hospital because of her lungs she knew everything was the same. 

"Same old walls, same old beep, same old bedsheets.", she mumbled, rolling around before the door opened and her nurse came in. "Same old-", she started as she rolled over to the door to be faced by someone new. A man with brown hair. He was wearing a uniform but he didn't look like a doctor. 

The girl kept starring at her nurse while he entered and walked towards her bed. "Let's see.", he started and the patient squinted her eyes. "DunBroch, Merida.", the brown haired guy read after he picked up her medical file. "And you're here because of your lungs, as I can see.", he added while skimming through the file. "Yes, that's right.", Merida remarked and pulled her blanket over her head. 

She was tired of going to the hospital. She was able to breath for two years without any- cough, cough, cough- Quickly, the blanket got pulled away by the male nurse. "Bad idea.", he uttered and shook his head and the redhead groaned. "By covering your face with some sort of cloth you're most likely to suffocate, young lady." 

Another groan from Merida, paired with a set of rolling eyes. "Don't call me young lady. I'm probably as old as you are, duh.", she replied with a pout. She pushed away the blanked and sat up, starring at the guy. He was looking back and waited. She kept starring and he kept waiting. After a while, he sat down on a chair next to her bed and stopped looking at her. 

He too, started starring. They had an intense starring competition. It was silent, besides the beeping monitor and Merida's rather loud breathing. The nurse was happy that she was breathing at least. While starring at him, she though about why not inspecting him. He had a nice jawline and a light beard. His hair was brown and quite long for a man. He even had a few braids in there. There was a small scar on his chin and his eyes... those green eyes. They sorta left her breathless in that moment. 

Literally. The redhead had a coughing fit but the nurse reacted quickly. "I won.", he added after helping Merida. "Hey that's not fair", the patient complained and crossed her arm. She would have hit him if she was allowed to. Or at least not punished afterward. 

"You know what's fair? Not life.", he joked and turned to leave. "I'll have to leave you, I need to check on some dude...", he explained but Merida cut in "Hey can you bring me some pillows when you come back for me?", she asked and he turned back frowning. "Why?" - "Because I hate it to sleep so flat. I'd need a few more. Besides I'll cough less if I sit up a bit.", she explained and he nodded. 

"Fine, how many should I get you?", the nurse asked while making a note and Merida started to grin. "Five.", she grinned and he looked up with an expression that basically said 'are you kidding me?' He closed his notebook and sighed. "I'll get you three, not more.", he mumbled and left before Merida could protest.

The next day was way more fun. After the nurse came back to get her the pillows, she placed then on her bed. Into a fort. A blanket fort. The door opened. "Alright, according to- What the hell, Ms DunBroch?", the man said as he saw what she actually wanted the pillows for. 

"Fight me!", she hissed at him, hiding under pillows and blankets. It was actually hard to breath under there but Merida thought it was still worth it, for the time it lasted. "I told you, bad idea.", he said and began to lift up the blanket. "No! Don't dare to tear down the walls of my humble castle!", she joked as he placed the pillows where they should be. Even though she wanted to it to stay she was ok with that. 

She probably could have suffocated under there and if no one came she might have died. The nurse was quiet for the time he rearranged the bedding. Merida got bored and looked out of the window, listening to the sweet sound of the monitor and- hiccups. She frowned and turned to face the nurse again. 

"Did you just hiccup?", she asked with a grin. Denying it would be no use so he just nodded. Merida started to laugh, slowly but then at full volume. The male nurse rubbed his forehead. "Yeah I know, ha ha, funny.", he said sarcastically and rolled his eyes. Merida hasn't heard a single hiccup in ages. This just made her happy. 

"F-Fight me, Hiccup!", she uttered between laughter, wanting a revenge for her blanket fort and gave him a new nickname. The nurse, Hiccup, rolled his eyes. "You know, that would be quite unfair, again, right?", he asked and Merida shook her head, while her laughter turned into coughing. 

"It would be, really. I mean, how am I able to win against you? But Ms DunBroch..." - "Merida. Just Merida is ok.", corrected after her cough wore off. "Fine, Merida. I suggest you to rest now. We can fight later.", he ended and went. "Goodbye, Hiccup!", Merida yelled after he left and the door was just about to close. She started to like this guy.

Time passed and just as everyone expected, Merida started to feel better. The doctors said she would be able to leave the next day. Her family was glad she was feeling better and her mother always told her how her father took care of Angus while she visited her daughter. 

"Isn't it great? You can go home again, sweetie.", her mother said, helping her pack a few things already. "I guess. Yeah.", Merida replied, sitting on her bed. Her mother frowned, not sure why Merida wasn't excited to leave this place already. She always told her how boring it was in here. "Merida are you ok? Should I go get a doctor?", her mother asked as she stopped packing and sat down. 

"No, I'm fine. Guess I'm just gonna miss this place.", the redhead explained and found her mother's hand on her forehead. She pushed it away. "Mom, I don't have a fever, I'm ok.", she mumbled annoyed, shooting up from her bed and walking towards the window. Her mother frowned at her, again. Elinor couldn't understand what happened. 

There was a knock on the door and it opened. "Hey, Hiccup!", Merida smiled and he sighed. "I guess I'm not gonna lose this nickname. Even my colleges started to call me that.", he uttered with a light smile. "I bet you already heard the news, huh?", she asked, and her mother looked at Merida, then at the nurse. 

"Oh my. What a handsome doctor you have. Now I understand why you would miss this place.", Elinor laughed and Merida blushed while Hiccup just rose a brow, holding back a grin. Merida started to like him after all this time. She always proposed him to fight her and he always said things like "I'd lose anyways" or "I really don't like a predetermined defeat." and it always made her smile, because even though he saved her often enough, he didn't treat her like she was helpless. 

"Mom, please.", Merida whined and turned away from Hiccup. "By all respect ma'am, I'm not a doctor. I'm a nurse.", Hiccup replied and Elinor apologized for mistaking him as a doctor. "I'll check on your father. God knows what he did to the poor cafeteria people while I was here.", Elinor uttered and went. She wanted to give them more space. After she left, it was silent. 

Merida still had her back turned at Hiccup, looking out of the window. "Hey Hiccup. Fight me.", Merida said but with a lack of certainty. "I'm not going to fight you.", he said, slightly annoyed. "Why?", she asked, even though she didn't really wanted to fight him as well. Or anyone. She just liked saying it. There was no answer. Silence again. Merida turned around to face Hiccup. He was still there, she knew because she saw him in the reflection of the window before. 

They looked at each other and Hiccup started to talk. "You know, even if you would have stayed longer, I wouldn't have been here anymore. I got a job at a different hospital so I would have moved tomorrow anyways.", he explained and Merida nodded. "That's good. I mean, moving on. No wait, I mean uhm... Fight me?", she uttered and Hiccup started to laugh. 

"Look, it's been fun around you, but I need to tell someone else. We'll see each other tomorrow, I guess.", he explained and Merida nodded. There was no goodbye, no wave, nothing. He just went and Merida watched him. She just needed to get her papers and then she was ready to go, but the docs said they would have them finished tomorrow.

She woke up the next day and stared at the white walls. The same beeping sound filled her ears and the smell of coffee filled her nose. She turned to face the table, spotting a stack of paper and a coffee-to-go. After she stood up and got dressed, she inspected the table. Her finished papers, and a coffee-to-go with a note reading Fight me ;) and a number below that.