As Long As We're Together

Sick

Nathan groaned as he read the email back from his client. Although it made his job twice as hard. He asked him to rewrite the whole ending with just a two sentence explanation about what he wanted to happen.

Deleting everything his client had written, Nathan wrote the ending as much as he could. Nathan doubted his client would be happy with the edit, but with nothing to base his work on, Nathan split into his own style, hoping it wasn't noticeable.

Around one hour later, Nathan had finished it and sent it off to be checked. He highly doubted his work was correct.

Biting his lip, Nathan continued onto his next client after he sent an email apologizing for the delay and asking if there was anything they wanted him to add or re—rewrite.

His next task was only three pages; Nathan knew it would only take around two hours if his client wanted nothing changed or added.

"Nathan, can I talk to you for a minute?" Nathan's hands got sweaty when he saw Mr. Smith walk in. Nathan knew Lucas told his dad about them knowing each other. Nathan just hoped that Mr. Smith wouldn't mention it.

"Of course, Sir," Nathan responded. He saved his work and logged off, before following his boss.

"There's something I want to talk to you about," Mr. Smith began, sitting down at his desk. "I noticed you just managed to scrape your deadline for your last task, I must admit I expected more from you."

"I'm not trying to make excesses Sir but, I started the task when I received it, but my client didn't make his work clear so I couldn't understand what he was trying to write, I emailed him on Friday night, he only responded this morning," Nathan explained.

"When that happens, you do nothing to it. Send it to... It's Mr. Watson that checks your work, right?" He continued when Nathan nodded. "You send it to Mr. Watson and let him handle it. Is that understood?"

"Yes, Sir. I'm sorry," Nathan apologized.

"I didn't inform you, so I will take responsibility for that. Alright, get back to work," Mr. Smith ordered, taking his eyes off the teen.

"Yes, Sir," Nathan responded, releasing a sigh of relief when he walked out of Mr. Smith's office.

Sitting back down at his desk, Nathan took a sip of his water before continuing his work. Nathan silently prayed the simple spelling and grammar mistakes were the only things he needed to correct.

Groaning, Nathan re-read the email again, silently hoping that it would go away if he stared at it for long enough. After around ten minutes of wallowing in self pity, Nathan decided his plan would not work and started adding more detail into the description, like he was requested.

After spending over an hour making alterations, Nathan was finally pleased with his work. Relaxing in his chair, Nathan smiled as his email was sent.

With only half an hour until his break, Nathan opened his next task and read it, hoping it would be simple.

Thankfully, he completed a couple of pages worth of editing in the time. His task wasn't that hard; all he had to do was change his countless grammar mistakes and alter some paragraphs so they made sense.

Logging his computer off, Nathan started walking towards the break room, ignoring the pounding in his head.

"Hey." Traydon smiled when Nathan walked in.

"Hey," Nathan mumbled, slipping into the couch and placing his head in his hands.

"What's wrong?" Traydon questioned, taking the top of his water, and drinking it in gulps.

"It's just a headache, it's nothing serious," Nathan assured, forcing himself to lift his head and send Traydon a small smile.

"How long has it been going on for?" Traydon questioned, placing his empty water bottle on the table.

"It's just started before I came in. It's nothing; I've just been staring at a computer screen for too long," Nathan assured before sighing.

"If your sure. Well, I should get back," Traydon admitted, standing up and sending Nathan a small smile.

"See you," Nathan mumbled as Traydon placed his empty bottle in the bin and walked out; leaving Nathan to deal with his pain on his own.

Walking into the computer room, Nathan unzipped the front pocket of his bag and smiled when he saw a packet of painkillers. Taking two out of the packet, Nathan just stared at the pills. Shaking his head with tears in his eyes, Nathan grabbed the remaining pills and binned them.

By the end of the day, Nathan's pain had only gotten worse. With Ryan and Erin at work, and Scarlett at college; Nathan was thankful Lucas didn't need any convincing to babysit.

Groaning in pain, Nathan unzipped his jacket pocket and took out his phone. Unlocking it, Nathan went into his contacts and hovered over Lucas's name. Finally, coming to a destination, Nathan called him.

"Hey, Nate," Lucas greeted kindly when he picked up. "It's not that I don't enjoy talking to you, but shouldn't you be at work?" Lucas questioned.

"I've just finished. How's Dylan?" Nathan questioned walking back inside the building when he felt a drop of rain.

"Oh, I'm fine thanks for asking," Lucas joked, causing Nathan to chuckle. "The little guy's fine. I have to agree with what you said when we first met; he loves abusing that bunny. He's just crawling in his play pen now. He's switched from eating his bunny to pressing the buttons on that new toy I got him," Lucas informed.

"Sorry about not asking how you are. I'm just not feeling the best today, I think I'm coming down with something. I just wanted to ask... Would you mind picking me up from work? I don't think I have enough for the bus," Nathan admitted as he bit his lip.

"Of course I can. I'll be there in around twenty minutes by the time I get Dylan ready. I can tell your not feeling well; did you honestly think I was serious? I'll see you soon, Nate," Lucas promised.

Only around ten minutes into waiting, Nathan had drained his water bottle. Deciding not to trail upstairs to the water fountain, Nathan suffered in silence.

Nathan instantly regretted not wearing his hoodie when he stepped outside. The droplet he felt had become heavy as rain.

Opening the door to Lucas's car, Nathan smiled when he saw Dylan sleeping in his car seat, with his bunny clutched in his arms.

"Thanks for picking me up," Nathan thanked as he slipped into the seat and placed his bag in the footwell.

"You're welcome, Handsome," Lucas said happily, turning off the radio.

"Shut up!" Nathan groaned, spreading out the word with a faint blush of his cheeks.

"I made you blush," Lucas said gently.

"Shut up," Nathan mumbled, resting his head on his shoulder and closing his eyes.

"Sorry if I made your headache worse. Just get some sleep," Lucas whispered, focusing his attention back on the road.

"We're home, Nate." Nathan opened his eyes to see Lucas smiling down at him.

"How are you feeling?" Lucas questioned gently as he took Dylan out of his car seat.

"My head kills, I feel like I'm going to puke," Nathan mumbled, grabbing his bag as he got out.

"Alright. I'll get everything, you just get changed and get to bed. Don't worry, I'll take care of everything," Lucas promised.

Nodding, Nathan unlocked the door and dragged himself to his room. Placing his bag beside the door, Nathan took his jacket off and slung it over his chair. Placing his phone on charge, Nathan changed into more comfortable clothes, before climbing into bed and closing his eyes.