Azzi knows Paige is not one to skip practice without warning. She also knows that, while she might be one to occasionally be late, she usually bursts in along with her roommates, all of them talking and laughing and shouting apologies at Geno while he rolls his eyes. Her girlfriend might not be the most punctual person, but she’s not a slacker. She’s usually good at communicating with Azzi and their teammates when she’s not able to make it to practice.

This is why, as Azzi watches the clock tick closer and closer to the start of practice and her roommates are all here but there is still no sign of Paige, she’s worried. Paige had said nothing about skipping practice. She hadn’t said anything to Azzi, period: they haven’t texted since the night before, when Azzi had left Paige’s room because she insisted on being alone while sleeping off the last lingering effects of the flu she had caught a few days ago in order to not infect Paige.

She finds KK in the locker room right as they’re about to all head onto the court. KK is slipping her practice jersey on over her undershirt, the navy of the pinnie pulling over the gray of the t-shirt. Azzi nudges her as she’s sticking her head out from the neck hole. “Hey, where’s Paige? She didn’t say anything about skipping practice.” Azzi’s voice isn’t quiet, but it’s still written over by the loud talking and laughing of all of their teammates. She hopes that the worry that’s leaking into it is hidden, too.

KK looks at her with slightly furrowed brows. She runs her hands down her front to smooth over the layers of clothing she wears. “Oh, shoot, yeah. We left her in bed. She woke up sick, prolly fell back asleep before she could text anyone ‘bout it.” Guilt immediately finds Azzi. She frowns, thinking back to the previous night, when she had still been feeling a little achy and periodically sniffling but still let herself cuddle Paige for hours. KK pats her hip as if she’s remembering something. “I gotta tell coach, I forgot.”

Azzi starts to walk with her, her feet in time with KK’s against the carpet of the locker room. They start to walk towards the door to the court. “Bro, I prolly gave her my flu,” she says, features twisting with her guilt. She can practically hear KK roll her eyes next to her. Azzi’s frown only deepens. She hates being sick, knows Paige hates it even more. Paige had been careful to carry around hand sanitizer and avoid people she knew were sick because she didn’t want to get the flu when they were about to start playing games. But she’d let Azzi stay around even while she was sick and now she’s infected.

KK shrugs. “She was gonna get it eventually. Even if it wasn’t from you. Literally, like, half the campus is sick right now. And she got lucky and didn’t get mono when that was goin’ ‘round. It’s her karma.” And despite herself, Azzi rolls her eyes a little, face relaxing some of its guilt in favor of a more playful emotion. KK opens the door out to the court. The sound of some of their other teammates standing around, shoes squeaking slightly on the wood, meets them.

“Oh my God, of course you’re gonna bring up the mono thing,” she almost grumbles, elbowing KK in the side. KK shoves her back. Azzi laughs and it echoes along the high ceiling of the court and the dark walls and seats that surround it.

“Yeah, I will, ‘cause that shit sucked! I can’t fuckin’ believe no one else on the team got it. I was fighting for my life, Fudd.” Azzi just laughs again. KK turns to face her, shoving her again. She’s smiling. Azzi stumbles slightly to the side to catch herself. “Only got empathy when it’s your girlfriend. Fuck you, fake ass friend.” Her face is still shining with a small smile as she says it. Azzi just rolls her eyes at her, grinning. They both walk farther onto the court to find their friends.

Practice starts and it’s fine. KK tells Geno why Paige is gone. He offers only a small frown at the mention of her absence and then starts their playing. Azzi’s worry for her builds in the spaces between her bones as practice goes on. She misses her girlfriend, misses the streaks of blonde hair she’d see out of the corner of her eye while they were running, misses the way she’d laugh during their water breaks, misses her little smiles she’d send Azzi’s way every time they’d make eye contact. It’s stupid to miss her when she knows they’ve only been separated for a few hours. But she doesn’t care. She misses Paige when one of them leaves for the bathroom during practice. That’s just how it is with them, how it’s always been.

Practice ends. Azzi files into the locker room after all of her other teammates, sweat slicking her skin, curls springing from their ponytail and sticking to her face and the back of her neck where they can. Her body aches with a good soreness, a type that brings satisfaction and the promise of rest. She finds KK before they leave the locker room. “I’m prolly gonna come over, is that okay? I’ll stop at my apartment to, like, shower, but I just wanna check on Paige.” She tries not to let her worry sink its claws too deep into herself in fear that KK will mock her for it.

KK shrugs at her, slinging her bag over her shoulder. “Yeah, that’s totally fine. I’ll honestly prolly try to get outta y’alls hair. Don’t wanna bother her too bad if she’s sick,” she says, offering Azzi the child of a smile and a grimace. Azzi mimics the expression. It feels like her heart is trying to beat through a thick coating of molasses, like her body is trying to work itself while she swims through a sticky thickness that makes time run slow.

She spends entirely too much time showering at her apartment, in her humble opinion. November has a firm hold on Connecticut and rattles the air with chill, so Azzi smoothes lotion over her skin and oil through her hair and then covers it all with a sweat set she pulls the hood up of as she slips into her slippers and pockets her phone and key ring. The apartment building is cold despite the constant hum of the heaters. Her hands find her pockets. She rocks back and forth on her heels as she waits for the elevator to get her.

Azzi frequents Paige’s apartment so often she has her own key. Paige has one to hers as well. She walks up to the familiar door and stuffs the key into the lock, the rest of the ring clinking softly as she twists it where it is. She pushes against the door until it gives, sliding open with a soft creak that reminds Azzi of the chill that warps the wood of the door and its frame. She’s immediately stepping into a small sitting area, the kitchen to her side. 

It’s all empty. Echoes of quiet laughter find her from the door KK’s bedroom is on the other side of. Azzi looks to the side of the door as she kicks her shoes off and finds a pair she recognizes as KK’s practice slides. She’s here. Azzi doesn’t even care to be annoyed by that fact. She just starts to pad down to the door to Paige’s room, a frown finding her face before she can even see the girl. The door is white and shut. She raises her hand and knocks twice. The impact of the solid wood echoes itself through her knuckles. There’s no response. She allows herself only a few moments of just standing there before she’s leaning down to open the door, careful to do it slowly to not disturb the girl inside.

Azzi peaks her head in the room. Paige is there on her bed, curled up under her blanket, skin shining. Her eyes are shut. They flutter a little like she’s fighting them to keep them from opening. Her mouth is parted, jaw slack where her head rests against her pillow. Her hair is a mess of blonde strands that wisp around her face and what few inches of neck Azzi can see before her covers block her vision. Her nightstand holds her water bottle, a tissue box, and a pile of used tissues. She’s sick. Azzi can sense it before Paige can even move.

Azzi softens impossibly at the sight of her girlfriend like this. Paige’s eyes open. They’re lidded with clear fatigue. Azzi frowns at her a little, closing the door behind her without looking. “No,” Paige says before Azzi can even say anything. Her voice sounds raw and scratchy and a little nasally. She sniffs and Azzi can hear how stuffy she is. This sound is followed by a cough. Azzi starts to step forward towards the girl laying miserably in her bed. Paige squeezes her face together, eyes shutting. “Azzi, ‘m gonna get you sick.” Again with the very clearly sick voice.

She stops when her thighs brush the edge of the bed, looking down over Paige. The blonde girl’s face is still screwed up. Her mouth is still slightly parted to allow breathing. “It’s the flu?” Azzi is careful to keep her voice soft as she peers down at Paige. The older girl opens her eyes, glances up at Azzi, and then immediately moves her arm to pull her blanket up over her face. The fabric of it clings to her mouth and nose like a mask. Azzi reaches down and tugs lightly at the blanket. Paige shivers, still holding it up. Both Azzi’s worry and her frown deepen at the reaction. “P, stop it, let me look at you.”

Paige is only still for a few more moments before she gives in, lowering her arm again to reveal her face. She’s already looking up at Azzi when the blanket is pulled away from her head. She looks miserable, eyes downturned with a hollow tiredness, the skin around her nose raw from how much she’s clearly been wiping at it. Her hair is moused up around her head and Azzi can tell she’s been sweating into it despite the round of shivers that wracks her body again. “Everything hurts,” she whispers, voice cracking with how raw her throat is.

“Oh, baby,” Azzi coos softly. She reaches a hand out and presses it against Paige’s cheek, palm cupping the apple of it, thumb brushing softly along the skin between her eye and her cheekbone. Paige’s lashes flutter at the touch. She surprisingly doesn’t push Azzi away. Azzi’s brows furrow when she feels how warm her skin is under her hand. “You’re really hot. D’you guys have a thermometer?” Azzi can tell something really is wrong when Paige doesn’t make a sleazy joke about Azzi calling her hot, instead blinking up at her.

Her eyes are so blue. So blue and so sweet, the irises of them nearly swallowed by her pupils. She looks up at Azzi and it looks like she’s dying in this bed. She sniffles again. Azzi can hear that barely anything moves, that her sinuses are so clogged it does nothing. “‘m gonna get you sick, go away,” she croaks, but she says it as she’s reaching a hand up and placing it over Azzi’s, her palm against the back of Azzi’s hand. Her hand is clammy.

Azzi frowns further down at her. She runs her thumb over her skin again, touch gentle. She can feel Paige leaning into her. Her commands for Azzi to leave her are weak and the younger girl knows to not listen to them. It makes her feel sad for the girl in front of her, though. Paige is never shy about asking for attention. The fact that she’s even trying to get Azzi to go away is making her worry about how sick she really is. “You can’t get me re-sick. I already got it last week, I probably was the one to give it to you, anyway. I’m so sorry, honey,” she says softly, face twisting with guilt.

Paige shakes her head so slightly that Azzi doesn’t think she’d notice she had done it if her hand wasn’t pressed up against her face. “You weren’t as bad as this, it’s prolly not even from you. I prolly have the black death. I don’t wanna give that to you.” It’s said stubbornly. Her voice is hoarse and grows more soft concern in the pit of Azzi’s stomach. She thumbs against her face again. Paige’s eyes flutter again at the gentle comfort of the touch.

She frowns at her girlfriend. Paige’s eyes shut. “You don’t have the black death, Paigey, it’s fine. Lemme take your temperature and get you some meds.” Paige groans quietly and it sounds like one of refusal, one of forced disdain at the thought of Azzi helping her. She shakes her head again and Azzi watches as a gentle wince pulls across her face like even the small movement hurts. Azzi’s voice firms slightly. “Paige. Even if you do have the black death, I don’t care. You look so miserable right now and I love you so much that I want to help you. ‘m not gonna leave no matter what you say. Where’s your thermometer?”

Paige opens her eyes again. They look a little rimmed, the way Azzi has learned they always do when she’s sleepy and sick. She swallows and it looks laborious. Azzi just looks down at her in silence, waiting for her to give in, still cupping her cheek. “There’s a thermometer and DayQuil in the bathroom, I think,” she eventually says, voice nearly rasping. Azzi offers her a small smile in reward. Her hand slips off of her face gently, fingertips dragging lightly along her skin. The touch is careful. “My throat hurts so bad. Can you fill up my water bottle, too?”

Azzi steps to the side and grabs her water bottle off of the nightstand. She watches as Paige watches her, blue eyes large and following her movements as she lays on her side under her blankets. It’s almost childish. It evokes a feeling within Azzi she doesn’t feel this raw very often; the need to help, to soothe and nurse and love. “Yeah. I’ll see if you have cough drops, too, ‘cause those’ll help. ‘Kay? Hold tight, baby, you’re gonna be okay.” Even she can hear how soft her voice is, how clearly whipped she is for the lanky woman laying sick in her bed. Paige just hums.

Her water bottle is cold in her grip. Azzi steps back out of her room, shutting the door softly behind her. She’s immediately greeted by the sound of familiar laughter, of soft conversation and lightness coming from the kitchen. Azzi knows before she can really see that it’s KK and Sarah there. She steps out into the main room, walking towards the kitchen, feet quiet on the floor.

KK catches her eye as she approaches them. They shine, her face curved with her smile. They both quiet a little at the sight of Azzi. Her face twists into the middle of a smile and a grimace. “Did she catch the flu?” It’s KK asking, voice a little apologetic. Azzi’s face falls further towards the grimace.

She walks to the sink. KK moves to the side a little to make space for her. Sarah just watches them both from where she leans against the counter. “Yeah, she’s, like, miserable. What are your plans? I don’t want you guys getting too loud and hurting her head.” The sink starts running. The water streaming down against the steel of the sink joins the white noise of the heating. She holds the bottle beneath it.

KK laughs quietly. “Damn, getting kicked out of my own apartment,” she jokes. Azzi rolls her eyes before giving her a look. It’s slightly pointed but still holds a softness in it that silently asks KK to give in. She does, grinning easily at Azzi. “Nah, relax, ‘m joking. We were just stopping here so I could grab a few things before going to Saur’s. Knew better than to be loud here if Paige is sick.” She leans off of the counter as she says it.

Azzi’s face relaxes back into a small smile. “Thank you,” she says, looking back towards the water bottle. She waits a few more moments before shutting the water off and moving to twist the cap back on, droplets wetting her hands and hoodie. Sarah moves out of the kitchen as she does so. KK follows. “Where’s the DayQuil in the bathroom?”

KK pauses by the pile of shoes near the front door. She looks up as if in thought for a moment. “Cabinet next to the mirror. I think it’s the bottom shelf, but I dunno. You might have to dig around. See you later, Fudd,” she says. Sarah offers her a small smile as her parting remark.

Azzi smiles back at them. She, too, leaves the kitchen, but she starts walking farther into the apartment towards the bathroom. “Bye, you guys, have fun,” she says, letting Paige’s water bottle swing slightly at her side as she walks. KK waves cartoonishly at her as Azzi pushes the door to the bathroom open and steps inside.

She flicks the light on. It and the small frosted window against the wall pour light into the room. She looks at herself in the mirror, at the way her wet hair is a mess on top of her head and her skin is shining with lotion. The front door clicks shut. Azzi blinks once at herself and then moves towards the cabinet KK had told her to look in. Its shelves are slightly dusty and she makes a face when brushing one of her fingers along it reveals this to her. She turns to wipe off the residue on the handcloth hanging next to the sink.

Azzi rummages around for a little before finding DayQuil and NyQuil pills, a bottle of Advil, a bag of cough drops, a thermometer, and a half-used container of VapoRub. She counts this a satisfactory haul and shuts the cabinet while trying to hold multiple packages of medication and Paige’s water bottle. It’s not very graceful. She drops the Advil to the ground trying to turn off the light and swears under her breath as the bottle rolls out into the hallway, pills clattering inside the plastic. She nearly drops Paige’s water bottle onto her foot while bending down to pick it back up.

When she feels she has a good enough grip on all she’s holding, she walks back to Paige’s room. She opens the door carefully. Paige is still laying the exact way she had left her, curled up under her covers, blinking large blue eyes at her. Her blanket is pulled up over her nose and mouth. Azzi smiles at her softly. “I found a lot of stuff in your bathroom,” she says quietly. Paige’s brows raise slightly. Azzi’s grin widens at the look.

She walks to Paige’s nightstand and picks out a spot not covered in used tissues to set down all she grabbed from the bathroom. She nearly drops the Advil again while doing so. Paige just watches her from where she lays, clearly somewhat amused. “Can’t you not take Advil ‘cause DayQuil already has pain stuff?” Her voice cracks a little on the way out. Azzi feels herself soften all over again at how sick she sounds.

Azzi picks up the DayQuil and pulls out a sheet of tablets. She starts to tear one of the little boxes off, plastic not wanting to bend to her will. “First of all, I’ve seen you take five Aspirin at a time, so if you were gonna overdose, you would’ve already done it. And second of all, it has acetaminophen, not Advil. So you can take it at the same time.” She frees a serving of the medication and holds it out towards Paige.

The blonde hums. Her blankets shift as she reaches a hand out to grab the pills. “You’re so much smarter than me,” she mumbles, voice warm. Azzi laughs quietly at this. Paige starts to peel at the packaging on the serving of medication. Azzi watches her for a moment before turning to start opening the Advil. “Can I have my water?”

“Oh, yeah.” She takes the water bottle off of the nightstand and hands it off to her. Paige takes it gratefully and starts to sit up in bed. She’s still picking at the paper backing, nails and plastic making noises. She grunts a little as she moves. Azzi pours two Advil into her hand and twists the cap again. “Take the DayQuil and some Advil and then have a cough drop, too.”

Paige looks at her nightstand, clearly looking for the cough drops. Her eyes run lazily over what sits there on the surface. Azzi holds two pills for her in her hand. “You brought the VapoRub?” Paige looks over at her. One of her brows raises slightly. There’s a stupid grin on her face, small against the rosiness of her cheeks. She sniffs.

Azzi squints at her a little. Paige’s smile grows slightly. Azzi can’t fight a similar expression off of her own face. Paige looks down to sip from her water bottle. She’s still smiling. “You sounded…congested. ‘m tryna help, P,” she says.

Paige looks up, cupping her DayQuil in one hand and holding her water bottle in the other. “You just wanna rub somethin’ on my chest so you can touch my tits,” she rasps, and then she’s tossing back the DayQuil and taking a long gulp from her water. Her eyes don’t leave Azzi the entire time. Her eyes are sparkling with the promise of a smile Azzi knows she’d be shown if Paige’s lips weren’t wrapped around her water. Stupidly, the flirting makes her feel a little better, because she’s at least in a good enough mood to joke with her.

Azzi, despite herself, laughs a little. Paige lowers her head and grins at her. Her blankets puddle in her lap where she’s sitting. She’s wearing a plain t-shirt Azzi is fairly certain was hers first. Her bare arms look warm. “What is your problem? I come here to help you while you’re sick and you accuse me of just wanting to grope you.” She scrunches her nose a little at Paige and holds out the Advil.

She’s offered back a lopsided grin, the expression softening her entire being and making her unable to do anything other than smile back at her girlfriend. Paige grabs the Advil from her, fingers moving against her palm. They’re warm. Her entire body is warm. “I didn’t say groping, I said rubbing. A hungry man thinks of bread,” she says, raising her brows a little at Azzi. Azzi rolls her eyes. She’s still smiling. Paige is, too. And then she’s coughing again.

“Just take the Advil and let me take your temperature, you freak,” she murmurs. She turns to pick up the thermometer and watches Paige out of the corner of her eye as the girl takes more pain medication. “You sick freak. Get it?” She looks up and over at her. Paige swallows her mouthful of water and looks back at her blankly. Azzi looks at her for a moment longer before looking back at the nightstand. “Tough crowd,” she mumbles. This knocks a soft exhale of a laugh out of Paige, who leans over to put her water bottle back on the nightstand.

Silence suspends itself between them for a few moments as Azzi tries to figure out how to turn on the thermometer and Paige sits up in her bed in silence. “Can you give me a cough drop?” Her voice is quiet. Azzi hums and slips her hand into the package, handing her one. The wrapper joins the pile of trash on her nightstand. The thermometer beeps as Azzi finally finds the right button.

Azzi leans forward towards Paige. The girl turns and looks at her. Her lips are pursed around her cough drop. Azzi reaches her free hand out and settles it against one of her shoulders. “Hold still,” she murmurs, pressing the thermometer against her forehead. Paige looks at her. Her cough drop clicks against her teeth as she swishes it around. Azzi drags the thermometer across her skin until it beeps at her. “Damn. One hundred even. That’s kinda impressive. Very much a fever, though,” she says. She thumbs over Paige’s shoulder twice in a comforting gesture before turning to set the thermometer down again.

More silence, more clacking of the hard lozenge against the bone of her teeth. Azzi starts pushing things around on the nightstand so they won’t have to move too far to get what Paige needs, pushing medication closer to Paige’s bed. “You should prolly leave, then. So I don’t get you sick.” Paige’s voice is quiet. There’s a twinge in it that makes Azzi draw her brows together slightly and look at her. Paige’s hands are clasped in her lap and she’s looking at Azzi with large eyes and a straight mouth.

Azzi frowns at her. She abandons the nightstand, taking steps closer to her again. Paige looks up at her through her lashes. “Paige. Don’t be a martyr. If you seriously want to be alone, I’ll leave you, but I know you don’t. And I wanna be with you.” She speaks at the same volume as Paige just had. Her hands itch to touch her, somewhere, anywhere, just to offer her some sort of softness and comfort. She reaches out and brushes the knuckles of her hand back and forth against Paige’s cheek. It’s warm under her touch.

Paige looks at her quietly for a few moments longer. She sits there in her bed, lets Azzi gently stroke her cheek, watches her with blue eyes that swallow Azzi. “Can you cuddle me?” She mumbles. She looks down as she says it. The way it’s spoken makes Azzi look at her so softly her entire chest almost melts open like wax to a flame.

“Yeah, honey,” she whispers. Azzi removes her hand from against Paige’s cheek and then moves until she’s at Paige’s feet. She crawls over them, careful not to land on her girlfriend. The mattress dips to accept her weight as she does so. Paige starts to settle herself back into a laying down position as Azzi moves up to lay next to Paige. She coughs dryly and then sniffs again. The covers rustle as Azzi moves to settle next to her.

Azzi lays down. Paige lifts the blankets for her to slip her legs under and then immediately starts almost crawling on top of her, leg throwing itself over her hips, arm coming to settle over her chest. Azzi instinctively pulls her closer. She’s warm, so warm even from under her clothes. Her skin burns against Azzi’s. She wraps an arm around her and settles her hand against her back and Azzi almost convinces herself her own fingers are freezing. Paige shivers against her.

Her weight is comfortable and familiar on Azzi. The younger girl softens against the feeling. Paige sighs and tucks her head onto Azzi’s chest, her scalp not far from Azzi’s face. The blankets settle themselves to stillness on top of them. “You’re really warm,” Azzi mumbles, smiling down at the girl cuddled against her.

Paige sighs again. It’s softer this time, like the first had been one to try and soothe a softness into her entire body and this one was to be glad for the softness she had found. “You’re cold,” she retorts. Her words are slightly muffled by both drowsiness and the way her face is pressed against Azzi’s chest. She moves slightly, pressing herself farther into Azzi, the hand attached to the arm thrown over her gripping onto the sleeve of her hoodie.

Azzi exhales a soft laugh. She can feel Paige’s hair wave slightly at the brush of air. “I’m normal. You have a fever, honey,” she murmurs. She pairs this with a crane of her neck to press a soft kiss against her head. It lands split on the part of her hair, lips tickled by the small pieces of breakage peeking out from there.

Paige starts moving again. “Doesn’t even matter,” she mumbles as she tips her head up a little so that instead of her scalp being the closest thing to Azzi’s face, it’s now her forehead. Azzi looks down at her as she moves. Her eyes are fluttering like she’s fighting to open them at all, her mouth slightly parted to allow breathing even through her stuffiness. “‘m gonna…I couldn’t sleep last night. ‘m gonna fall asleep.” Her grip on Azzi’s sleeve tightens once more before relaxing, eyes shutting. Her lashes bat against the fabric of Azzi’s hoodie.

“You do that,” Azzi whispers. She reaches the hand that had been at her back up and combs her hair away from her face, nails dragging lightly against her scalp. She cranes her neck forward again and plants another kiss against her. This time, it lands on her forehead, skin burning on her lips. Azzi tucks her hair behind her ear, tracing the delicate cartilage with her nails. Her hand returns to her back. Paige exhales slowly against her. Azzi can tell it’s through her mouth, can tell her nose is blocked. She gently starts to rub light circles against Paige’s back through her t-shirt.

She’s surprised by how quickly Paige falls asleep. Her breathing evens out easily despite the fact her breathing itself is slightly labored. Azzi continues to smooth over the plane of her back and the knobs of her spine with her hand. Her skin is heated through the thin fabric of her t-shirt. She shivers a few times in her sleep. Azzi doesn’t understand how she can be so hot and so cold at the same time, that she can be in a t-shirt and burning against Azzi’s touch but also be under a pile of every blanket she owns and be wracked with chills. She doesn’t care. She just continues to comfort her.

Azzi doesn’t know how long they’ve been there together. It must have been for at least an hour, her body heating to almost match Paige’s temperature under the blankets, Azzi herself slipping in and out of consciousness as she lays cuddling a warm body. The quiet of Paige’s apartment is comforting and lets them bask in a sleepy laziness for a while. It’s simple in a way she’d enjoy even if Paige wasn’t sick, domestic in a way she both constantly craves and is constantly given.

Paige awakes against her with a long inhale and a smack of her dry lips. Azzi has already been awake for a little bit at this point, gently scratching her nails against the small of her back. She’s careful to leave the barrier of her t-shirt so as to not startle her with how cold her fingers are compared to Paige’s body. Paige hums while tilting her head down, dragging her face down the front of Azzi’s hoodie. Azzi continues her gentle tracing of abstract shapes into Paige’s back.

She coughs into Azzi’s hoodie. The sound startles her slightly. Paige sighs and it shakes a little on the way out like she’s shivering again. Azzi frowns a little, settling her hand flat against her back and rubbing it a little. Paige makes a small groaning sound. Azzi can feel her jaw working against her as she opens and closes her mouth, swallowing and trying to rewet everything that had gone dry while she was asleep.

Azzi moves her hand from against her back to on her shoulder. She can feel herself slightly rucking up the fabric of Paige’s t-shirt as she drags her hand up but hopes the older girl doesn’t mind. She thumbs absentmindedly against her shoulder, the muscle of her delts taught under her skin and her shirt. “You good? I thought you’d sleep for way longer.”

Paige tilts her head up again. Her hair is getting messier and messier against Azzi’s chest, a tousled mass of blonde splaying itself across her. She blinks slowly at her. Azzi blinks back at her. “Hard to sleep ‘cause my throat hurts from mouth breathing,” she mumbles. She looks up through her lashes, eyes slightly lidded, clearly still tired and still so sick.

Azzi frowns at her again. “Are you still stuffy?” Paige just sighs against her again. Her eyes are barely open as she does so. Azzi reaches her hand up and starts to tuck her hair behind her ear again. Her movements are careful and gentle and she can feel the way Paige softens impossibly more at them and the comfort they bring. “I need to get you Mucinex or something.”

A soft grunt of disapproval, followed by another cough. Azzi fights the urge to make a face at the noises. She instead continues petting Paige’s hair. “No, don’t leave. ‘s not even that bad, I’ll just blow my nose really hard later or somethin’.” Paige nuzzles her face against Azzi’s chest. Her mouth drops open again to allow her to breathe.

Azzi’s hand drops down from the shell of her ear to her jaw. She lets her hand cup it softly, thumb finding the baby hairs in front of her ear, pointer finger resting along the line of the bone while her other fingers just rest against the softness of the underside. She can feel it in her fingers when Paige inhales. “D’you want the VapoRub so your throat doesn’t hurt? When you do mouth breathe?” She thumbs softly against the edge of her cheek.

Paige sighs again. She coughs slightly while releasing it. “Lowkey, maybe,” she mumbles. Azzi fights the urge to smile at her giving in so quickly. She feels Paige’s grip on her sleeve tighten again the same way it had before they had napped. It feels almost childish, the way she grabs onto her and holds her with long fingers and a stuffy nose. Innocent in a way Azzi goes soft for. “I thought that stuff was for little kids. I dunno why we even have it,” she says into Azzi’s chest.

“No, it’s for adults, too. And if it helps, it helps. I wish you guys had a humidifier,” she muses quietly. Paige looks up at her. Her lashes bat a little, irises shining in what sun the window lets pour in over them. Azzi looks down at her and feels nothing but raw affection, sickly sweet in her body. “Let me get up and grab it. And then we can go back to cuddling so you can sleep more,” she says, craning her head forward to press a soft kiss against Paige’s forehead.

The girl groans quietly. Azzi lets them lay there and ignore what she had just said for only a few moments before she’s gently pushing Paige’s limbs off of her to reach over in bed and grab the container of VapoRub. It’s at the edge of the nightstand and she grabs it easily, scooting back over to Paige in bed. She’s on her back now, one arm thrown over her eyes, mouth parted as she breathes. Her hair is a mess behind her. The blankets are slipping down over her chest to reveal the top of her t-shirt.

Azzi unscrews the top of the container. “Lift your shirt up,” she says quietly. Paige silently obliges, removing her arm from across her face and reaching down under the blankets for the hem of her shirt. Her eyes are only half open and her mouth is still open for her breathing. Her cheeks are warm with fever. She pushes at the blankets and pulls at her shirt until it’s pulled up all the way on her, fabric puddling at her neck and collarbones. Her arms are held up to raise her shoulders to allow this. The backs of her hands rest against the headboard.

Azzi scoots towards her. Her chest is exposed, the skin there smooth and pale. Her nipples are peaked because of how much colder the air of her bedroom is than that of her own body underneath the covers. She’s beautiful, all soft colors and sweet skin and a fever that draws sweat along her and makes her chest rise and fall a little faster than Azzi thinks is usual for her. Her eyes are shut. Her lashes flutter a little like she’s having a hard time holding them that way.

Azzi prays her hands have been warmed enough by their cuddling for them to not shock the other girl’s hot skin. She dips her fingertips into the gel and pulls some out, wiping it in a smooth stroke across Paige’s sternum. It’s milky and colder than Azzi’s hands are. Paige’s breath catches a little when it touches her. Azzi begins to rub it into her skin softly, motions slow and gentle.

The gel is thick and it takes her a while to work it into a smooth layer along Paige’s skin. Paige is still the whole time. Azzi drags it all along her sternum, up until just under her clavicle, down right above the softness of her breasts pulls away from the rest of her chest. She gently wipes some at the bottom of the hollow of her throat. They’re quiet the whole time except for Paige’s breath coming in and out of her mouth. Azzi holds the container up to her face. “It says it’s good for joints, too. Any of your joints hurt?”

Paige is quiet for a moment. Azzi looks at her and sees that her eyes are barely open. She blinks at Azzi. “My hips,” she mumbles. She pairs it with slight movement: arms coming down, hands pushing at the blanket stopping halfway up her abs but not pushing it down fully. Azzi just hums, shifting so she’s closer to Paige’s hips than her chest. Paige pushes the blankets down until they’re at her thighs. She hooks her thumbs under her pajama pants and pulls them down until she’s even more exposed. Goose bumps rise along her skin where air can hit her. Azzi just scoops more VapoRub out.

It’s intimate in a way past sexual. It’s just them, Paige’s shirt still lifted as the sticky gel dries into her skin, Azzi rubbing her hips while the waist of her pants lays against her thighs. Paige sniffs and coughs a few times. Azzi says nothing. She just massages the gel into her hip flexors, along the line of the joint, tracing warm skin with her fingertips. Paige watches her without saying anything. She doesn’t have to.

When Azzi is done, she screws the lid back onto the container and moves to start pulling Paige’s pants back up, her shirt back down. Paige catches on and moves to assist her. “Thanks, Az,” she murmurs as Azzi pulls the blankets back up over her chest. Azzi is sitting up next to her in bed, blankets pooling in her lap. Paige looks up at her from where her head is on the pillow with sleepy eyes.

“Of course,” she says. She reaches down and smooths the side of Paige’s hair. Paige’s lashes flutter slightly at the touch. Azzi holds the tin in her other hand. She smiles down softly at the older girl. “D’you feel any better?” Paige turns her head slightly to press herself farther into Azzi’s touch. It’s a seemingly knee jerk reaction that makes Azzi warm deep in her being.

She hums quietly. It croaks a little in her throat. “I feel…mintier. And my hips and chest feel kinda numb.” She says this and then blinks her eyes slightly more open, reaching out an arm as if to silently ask Azzi to lay next to her in bed again. Azzi has never wanted to give in more, but she also knows her skin is still slightly sticky with gel. She doesn’t want to coat the inside of her pajamas with such strong-smelling gel.

“Let it dry for a little before moving too much so we’re not just smearing it all over your clothes.” She reaches out and grabs Paige’s hand instead, pulling it into her lap and thumbing over her knuckles. Paige huffs a sigh that is cut short by another cough. Azzi watches her eyes shut again as she inhales, tilting her head to the side to face Azzi. Azzi frowns a little. “Can I brush your hair? It’s really tangled. I can put it in a braid for you, too, so it doesn’t get as messy again.”

Paige opens her eyes to look at her again. “Yeah, please,” she mumbles, irises shining at her from where her head lays against her pillow. Azzi just hums in understanding and then lets go of her to start slipping out of bed. Despite the thick clothing she wears, she’s still not ready for how much colder it is when Paige’s fever isn’t crawling all over her. The air bites chill into her through her hoodie and sweatpants as she pads towards Paige’s bathroom.

She knows where Paige’s hairbrush and her hair ties are because she practically lives in Paige’s apartment. Azzi finds both easily and grabs them, the silence of the hallway warming her. She doesn’t know when KK will be back. She’s grateful, anyway, that they’re still being left alone, that Azzi is left a quiet carved into the space of their living to soothe wellness back into Paige. She’s laying the exact same way she had been when Azzi left as she walks back in. She smiles at her softly, shutting the door behind herself quietly.

Azzi walks back to her bed and crawls into it again. Paige looks at her silently. The mattress dips as Azzi nears her, gripping the hair tie and brush as to not drop them and lose them in the mess of unmade blankets. “C’mere,” Azzi coos as she tucks her legs underneath herself next to Paige. She pats her lap softly. Paige immediately catches on, sighing and picking her head up off of her pillow. It isn’t a sigh for any reason other than to exhale. It’s maybe a little relieved. She turns a little to the side and lowers her head into Azzi’s lap.

The younger girl is careful while she runs the brush through her girlfriend’s hair. She takes her time, pausing each time a bristle snags. It’s a little awkward to brush it while she’s laying down, but she makes do. She fans out her hair along her thighs and detangles it gently in sections. She softly uses her hands to tilt Paige’s face to the side or down when she needs to get closer to her scalp.

“I hate being sick,” Paige mumbles a few minutes in. Azzi is holding a particularly stubborn knot in her hand, brushing it gently and pinching the hair so it won’t tug on her scalp when the brush inevitably catches on it with every pass she attempts. Her brows furrow a little. She can’t tell if it’s more because she’s sad for Paige or frustrated with the tangles tying her hair together.

She hums softly. Looks away from the knot and to Paige’s face, tracing her features for any sign of discomfort. It’s just a general layer of it that blankets her skin the same way her fever does. Azzi knows it’s more about the fact she’s ill than Azzi’s brushing techniques. “I know, baby. But you’re doing so good, you took some pills and you’re sleeping and everything. And hopefully the VapoRub opens up your airways more so you can breathe.” Her voice is soothing as she speaks.

Paige blinks her eyes open and looks up at her, neck craning slightly. Azzi loosens her grip on her hair slightly to not pull it. Large blue eyes look at her from under big lashes and over eye bags that sweep an undercurrent of lavender under her skin just above the sweet pinkness of her cheeks. “Thank you for coming over,” she murmurs up to her. Azzi just smiles down softly at her. Her chest is warm. “‘m gonna be so mad if you get sick again.”

Azzi rolls her eyes and scoffs a little. She’s still smiling. “You were literally like this for me yesterday. Don’t worry about me.” She can see a small grin pulling at the corners of her mouth, the expression flipped as Paige looks up at her from where she lays on Azzi’s lap. It’s sweet. It’s promising, a warmth different from her fever, a goodness that hadn’t found her before Azzi had arrived.

“Yeah, and then I got sick.” Her nose scrunches a little as she says it. It’s cute. Azzi rolls her eyes again, looking away from her girlfriend’s face and back to her hair. The large knot in it stares back at her. She raises the brush to it again.

“You can’t get me re-sick if I was the one to get you sick, idiot.” Paige exhales a quiet laugh. The brush snags in Paige’s hair. Azzi had forgotten to tighten her grip fully again and it tugs a little on her scalp. The quiet warmth that had just spread itself like melted butter hardens slightly again as Paige makes a quiet, pained noise. Azzi frowns and pinches the hair above the knot again to place the tension back there instead of on her scalp. “I know, ‘m sorry, it’s a big knot right there.”

Paige is frowning. She’s still looking up at Azzi, still so sweet and so spread in her lap, their easy trust almost spilling between them. “Hurts my head,” she mumbles. One of her hands twitches as if to raise itself to her scalp. She doesn’t, though, and instead lets Azzi continue to detangle her hair. The brush finds the knot again.

“I know, but it’s so tangled. I don’t want it to be matted. After I braid it, it won’t be this bad.” She offers the girl another frown and continues to pick at the tangle with the bristles, careful to keep her movements gentle. Paige sighs quietly. Azzi watches her as she starts to relax back into the touch, face smoothing over, eyes starting to flutter shut again. Azzi keeps her movements careful while she finishes getting all the knots out of her hair.

When she’s done, she gently prods Paige to get her to sit up. She does so with a quiet groan that sounds like it’s about to turn into a cough. Azzi doesn’t know if she should laugh or frown at the sound of it croaking out of her throat. Instead, she just props herself up on her knees behind Paige’s back, looking down at her scalp. She parts the top third of her hair with steady fingers and splits it into chunks to begin braiding. “Feels good,” Paige says quietly.

Azzi laughs softly. “Good. And we won’t have to brush as many knots out of your hair after this.” She continues to add more hair, sure to drag her nail against her scalp when she parts it so the feeling soothes Paige. She’s silent the rest of the time Azzi is braiding. Her chest rises and falls evenly.

When she’s finished, she ties the hair tie at the end of the braid and tosses it over Paige’s shoulder to sit against her front. Paige stays sitting still for a few moments before she stretches up slightly, spine straightening. Azzi watches as she rolls her neck a little and the braid slips back to settling between her shoulder blades. “Okay, now will you come back to cuddling me?” She turns a little to look at Azzi over her shoulder as she says it.

Azzi grins at her. Paige’s face looks so soft in front of her, sickly but beautiful all the same. “Yes, obviously,” she says. Paige’s eyes squint with a smile Azzi can’t see over her shoulder but can tell is there. She starts shifting immediately, turning to face Azzi so they can lay down together. Azzi lifts up the blankets and lets both of them slide their feet underneath them. Warmth coats them.

They tangle. It’s the only way Azzi can describe the way they lay with each other. Paige is eager to tuck herself into Azzi’s front. Her face fits just below the jut of Azzi’s chin, the point of it pressing gently into Paige’s slightly clammy forehead. Their arms wrap around each other. Paige slots one leg between Azzi’s and settles her other on top, dragging her knee up so she’s almost pulling Azzi’s lower body closer to her own. Azzi doesn’t mind at all. She likes the solidness of Paige tucking herself into her and the even rhythm of her breath and the way she smells like herself when she’s so close to Azzi’s face.

They’re immediately silent again. Azzi can tell that Paige is still drowsy. She doesn’t mind lulling her girlfriend to sleep again and lets her own lids lower, another nap calling to her. Paige’s fever makes her feel almost like something that has melted in Azzi’s arms, a warmth she holds to her chest that calms her. They’re like that for a few minutes before Paige is speaking softly. “Will you stay the night?” Her voice sounds raspy. Her breath blows against Azzi’s neck.

Despite herself, Azzi smiles a little. The apple of her cheek pushes into the pillow case. Her eyes open a little. Paige is so tucked into her that she can’t see her, but she looks down anyway, catching the pattern of her blonde hair in its braid. “Baby, it’s literally, like, two PM. And you’re asking this now?” She scratches her back a little as if to emphasize the question.

Paige huffs softly into her. “That didn’t answer the question,” she mumbles. It sounds a little pouty and it makes Azzi’s smile grow a little more. The arm around Azzi tightens slightly. She’s tired. Azzi can tell she’s about to fall asleep again, that her body craves a catch up on the hours it had lost the night before when she could barely breathe and was too sick to find unconsciousness.

She sighs like she’s giving in. She isn’t. Not really, when she doesn’t think she’s ever objected to staying the night with Paige and doesn’t think she ever will. She thinks Paige can tell what that sound means before she even speaks because she can feel her exhaling a silent laugh against her neck. “Yeah, I’ll stay the night. But that means you’re eating something actually good for you for dinner. Like, good chicken noodle soup with a bunch of vegetables. You can’t eat like shit while sick.”

Paige doesn’t even argue. She hums and it sounds satisfied. Azzi fights the urge to roll her eyes at the sound, still grinning with her eyes barely open. “I don’t even care, that’s literally fine,” she murmurs into her skin. Azzi tilts her head down and presses a soft kiss against Paige’s hairline. Her skin is still warm, body still sickly, but she doesn’t mind at all. She tilts her head back up. “Jus’ wanna stay with you. You’re really good at making me feel better,” she whispers. This part is said so quietly Azzi almost misses it. This part finds her so easily within her ribcage that her grin widens impossibly on her face. She thinks she can feel the indents of her dimples in her cheeks.

“You’re so cute,” Azzi mutters. She tilts her head down to press a kiss against her forehead again. Paige nuzzles farther into her neck, moving away from Azzi’s lips. She fights the urge to laugh at her girlfriend’s sudden shyness. Instead, she just runs her hand up and down her back in a soothing motion, focusing on the way it feels when she exhales and it ghosts warmly down the skin covering her throat.

“Shut up.” It’s almost grumbled. Azzi knows it holds no real bite to it. It just makes her smile a little more, rub her hand against Paige’s back for a little longer. Even though the room is soft with the sunlight of the afternoon, she feels sleep easily finding the girl molded to her front. She can tell her exhaustion is starting to steal her, that an afternoon of napping and cuddling and a night of more sleeping and more cuddling is promised to her for the next few hours. She’s just glad she doesn’t have any classes today. “I love you,” Paige mumbles.