...And It's Blue

7

After years of being a pathetic mess, I could finally move on from everything that had happened. I hated how I lived for the past few years and I was not going to relive that or think about it. I freshened up after waking up from a dreamless sleep and had my usual breakfast – cereal. I had planned on learning how to cook during the holidays so hopefully I could get around to eating actual food and not processed food.

I had been feeling very tired since I woke up but I had planned on going to the mall for some shopping. I had to get stuff done and being lazy was not going to cut it anymore. I wore something comfortable and grabbed the house keys. I stumbled a little on my way to the door and managed to open the door.

I probably should've gone back to bed and rested but before I could step out of the door, I blacked out.

***

I woke up to the familiar warmth of my bed. I tossed around a little before remembering I had blacked out in front of the door. I shot up from my bed and ran out of the room only to find someone in the kitchen.

"Who the fuck" a sharp pain shot throughout my head.

"Why are you out of bed? You should be resting. You're burning up" it was a voice I could recognise from a distance. That same voice which had somehow managed to make me forget everything and make me happy in the moment.

"Aiden?" he hummed in confirmation. "What are you doing here?"

"Let's get you back to bed first yeah?" I nodded my head. He supported me while I walked back to my room and helped my lay down in bed. He exited the room and came back with a tray. He placed a warm wet cloth on my forehead and passed me a bowl of oatmeal.

I groaned, looking at the mushy oatmeal in front of me. I looked at him and shook my head. The one thing I hated more than anything else was oatmeal and one sick episode was not going to make me eat something that tasted horrible.

"You don't want it?" He asked and I nodded my head. "Too bad you are going to empty everything in this bowl"

"But it's oatmeal!" I whined.

"Do you want me to feed you Lacey?"

"That's not gonna make it taste better Aiden"

"Okay that's it. Open your mouth" He grabbed the bowl from my hands and scooped a spoonful of oatmeal.

"You're not serious" I deadpanned.

"I am. Now open up"

I shook my head and pouted. I was a brat whenever I was sick and I was definitely going to hate remembering this later on. While I continued being a brat, Aiden grabbed my face and brought our faces really close to each other.

"Try a bite?" He asked, looking right into my eyes. I was lost in the specks of green in his eyes and I did not realise it when he shoved the spoon in my mouth. I was ready to spit it out but that would be disgusting and it did not taste half bad.

"Did you make it?" I asked him and he nodded his head. "It's not bad" I took back the bowl from him and silently ate the rest of it. I was never able to finish an entire bowl of oatmeal, even when my mom had prepared it.

"See? It was not so bad right?" he queried and I nodded my head, still pouting since he had managed to make me eat it all. He then gave me some pills for the fever.

"How did you get inside my house?"

"The door was unlocked. I thought I'd come here since I had nothing to do and found you fallen in front of the door. Were you planning on going out when you were clearly sick?" He asked in disbelief and shook his head.

"I was feeling fine in the morning" I lied.

"Do you need help with anything?" I shook my head. There wasn't anything to do around here. "Then I guess I'll leave" he grabbed his things from the table and got ready to leave. "Do you have a spare key? I don't want you to get out of bed just to lock the door"

I nodded my head.

Would I be too selfish to ask him to stay? What if he had something else to do? Why would he stay back for me anyway? But I took the shot.

"Aiden. Can you stay back?" I requested hesitatingly, waiting for the worst answer. I heard him chuckle. "What? You don't have to if you don't want to!"

"I just thought you wouldn't ask. I wasn't sure if you would've wanted me to stay back. I'm glad you asked" he smiled at me and I was relieved. "Now go back to sleep" he ruffled my hair and went of the room.

***

I could hear muffled voices from the living room after I woke up from the sleep. I was finally feeling much better after taking a rest. My head was not throbbing anymore but my body still felt hot. Aiden was sitting on the couch, watching a show on TV. I sat down at one end of the couch, away from him. I did not want to risk him falling ill because of me.

"Why are you sitting there?" he asked.

"I just don't want you falling ill as well" I said in a low voice.

"Don't be stupid. Sit comfortably, c'mon" He patted the space next to him and I shifted a little close to him.

I could not believe Aiden was at my house and he was taking care of me. He just did things that made me like him more and more. I wished I could spend every moment with him. I wished I could see him all the time. I just wished he was with me all the time.

"Did you bring your phone with you?" He asked out of the blue and I nodded my head. He put out his hand in front of me and I handed him the phone. "Call me if you need anything or if you just want to talk. You can call me whenever you want, I'll always answer" He smiled at me and I averted my gaze.

"Thank you" I stuttered to break the silence that was starting to surround us.

"I would love to stay back but I really need to leave. I'll see you next time Lacey. Take care of yourself okay? Make sure to rest well and if your condition gets worse-"

"I'm fine Aiden. I'll be fine for the rest of the night as well. You don't need to worry that much. Now go on, I'm sure you have things going on. I don't want to hold you back" I pushed him towards the front door and waved him goodbye.