𝖜𝖆𝖓𝖉𝖊𝖗𝖊𝖗 | ᴄᴏʀᴘꜱᴇ ʜᴜꜱʙᴀɴᴅ x ᴏᴄ | ʙᴏᴏᴋ ᴏɴᴇ

The Lift Up

The next morning, Jack went into the kitchen to grab the Covid test and found a plate wrapped in plastic wrap with a 'Get Well Soon' card. On the plate were peanut butter and jelly sandwiches cut into stars and a small handful of gummy vitamins along with some cough drops and another huge bottle of Nyquil.

"What the fuck..." He muttered to himself. Why was she being so nice? Why did she have to make it so much more difficult? Was she rubbing it in his face that he couldn't even take care of himself? Did she get some sick pleasure from this? Nothing with her ever added up. He sighed and unwrapped the plate trying to keep his mind as clear as possible, he couldn't feel that anymore, she said it herself- friends... He mindlessly sat and ate the sandwiches, ignoring the feeling in his chest that she'd cut them into shapes for him. He took a deep breath and opened the card.

'Take it easy, you've been running yourself ragged lately and you deserve to rest. Take care of yourself and let me know if you need anything. I know you're capable, but you don't always have to be, you can relax for a bit :) -V"

He closed his eyes and took another deep breath, gently tossing the card aside as he tried to just stop the emotions. Why was he being so weak?! He buried face in his hands as his breaths started to falter. He knew it was his fault, and that he needed to just accept it- but it didn't stop the onslaught of emotion. It was stupid- to be emotional over such a small gesture, but she was always surprising him with them and he hadn't had someone do that for him before. He'd come to the decision that either he needed to speak up, or he needed to accept whatever she chose if she spoke up, it was just a lot easier said than done.

He took a deep breath and reread the card again. It was so simple but still said everything that he needed to hear, from anyone- not just her. But it meant the world that even after the "blowout"-which he'd expected to be nastier if he was honest, she was still not only thinking kindly of him but went out of her way to actually show him. So why was he so opposed to friendship?

He felt guilty and selfish, was that really the only way that he could accept loving her? If he really did love her shouldn't that be good enough? All he really wanted was to be a part of her life. If friendship was all she wanted, then he could give that to her.

He quickly took the vitamins and washed them down with enough Nyquil to numb more than just his fucking throat before grabbing his Covid test and reading through it before swabbing his nose, simultaneously coughing and gagging at the same time. He texted her a simple 'Thank you.' and watching some of his friends on a recent VOD as he waited on the results.

He knew what the result would be without even looking, why wouldn't it be positive for Covid? Seemed life was the only one that wanted to fuck him anymore so of course it would be. He sighed heavily as he made his way to her door, keeping a firm foot on the trapdoor inside him holding his emotions at bay until the Nyquil fully kicked in, he was already having the visual sensations- now he needed the numbing effect. He knocked softly on the door and waited- silently hoping to himself she was asleep or in a meeting. Unfortunately for him, she answered the door in her pajamas.

"Hey, how are you feeling?"

"Uh, kinda shitty to be honest." He chuckled hoarsely, keeping a distance from her for more than just once reason now. "I uh, I just figured I should let you know the Covid test was positive."

"Shit, okay. Fuck, that sucks. I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry." He leaned far from her door, trying to cover his face as best he could while another coughing fit began. She reached over to her desk to hand him a few cough drops.