#lynchy8

“He’s not calling me back,” Dex grumbled, staring at the phone his hands, controller abandoned on the floor by his feet. “He never cuts me out like this.”

“Bro, have you actually gone to his room?” Ransom asked, bumping his shoulder against Dex’s. “Just go knock on his door and see what’s up.”

“He likes his space sometimes,” Dex replied. He shoved his phone back into his pocket with a frown. “I don’t want to be…clingy.”

“You’re not being clingy,” Holster said from the other end of the couch. “Clingy would be activating the GPS on his phone so you could track his every move.”

“That’s not clingy, that’s creepy,” Chowder said. “That’s actually stalking.”

“He’s gonna call me a fussbudget,” Dex muttered, standing up.

“He’s going to call you a what now?” Chowder asked quizzically, raising his eyebrows.

“A fussbudget,” Dex repeated. He zipped up his hoodie and pulled on his gloves. “You know, a worrywart?”

“Well that’s just uncalled for,” Ransom said, rolling his eyes. “I’ve heard you call him a fuckface, but fussbudget? Totally over the line.”

“Just go check on him,” Chowder said, making shooing motions with his hands. “You’ll feel so much better!”

“Not fucking likely,” Dex muttered, but he headed to the dorms all the same.

—

Nursey wasn’t answering his door, either. Dex felt a bit like an idiot, banging on Nursey’s door and calling his name, but that couldn’t be helped. Some passing students gave him odd looks, but he simply glared at them until they went on their way.

He thought he heard a groan coming from inside and raised his fist to knock again.

“Nursey? Nursey?,” he called, pounding on the door. “DEREK NURSE!”

No response.

“DEREK MALIK NURSE, IT IS THREE THIRTY IN THE AFTERNOON AND YOU AREN’T ANSWERING YOUR PHONE. OPEN THE GODDAMN DOOR.”

He heard the sound of a mattress creaking and somebody coughing, so he pounded harder. “Derek, are you alive in there?”

“‘Stop banging on the door,” Derek called hoarsely. “’m alive.”

“I’m not going to believe you until you open the fucking door,” Dex retorted, putting his hands in his pockets.

There was some shuffling from inside the dorm room, then the door creaked open.

Nursey blinked slowly at Dex, clutching his comforter around his shoulders. “I’m alive,” he croaked. “I can tell because of the pain.”

“Pain?” Dex looked his boyfriend up and down, taking in Nursey’s puffy eyes and clammy skin.“You look like shit,” he said finally, his anger dissipating. “Get back in bed, you’re sick.”

“I was in bed,” Nursey huffed, allowing Dex to grip his shoulders walk him backwards into the bed. “I only got out of bed to stop my boyfriend from breaking down my door.”

“It’s three thirty in the afternoon and you have ignored my phone calls and texts all day,” Dex shot back. He eased Nursey into a sitting position, then pushed him back against the pillows. “Where does it hurt?” he asked more gently, tucking Derek in.

“Face,” Nursey grunted, closing his eyes. “Sinus headache.”

“You taken any medicine?” Dex asked, opening Nursey’s bedside table. “Eaten anything?”

“‘m out of painkillers,” Nursey grunted. “Couldn’t get out of bed.”

“You should’ve called me,” Dex chided. “I’d’ve picked up some stuff for you.”

“Phone’s dead,” Nursey replied, closing his eyes. “Fuck, I feel like complete shit.”

“You couldn’t charge your phone?” Dex asked. “The outlet is right there.”

“But it hurts, Dex.” Nursey whined. “Deeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeex, it huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuurts.”

“Okay, stay here. I’ll be right back,” Dex instructed, rifling through Derek’s bag for his keys. “I’m going to grab some stuff from my room. Don’t die on me, Nurse, we’re playing Yale next week.”

“Love you too,” Nursey slurred, burrowing into his blankets.

–

Back in his dorm, Dex started filling his backpack with supplies, grabbing his boxes of Sudafed and Excedrin from a drawer, a washcloth from the closet, the box of Kleenex from his nightstand, and two bottles of Gatorade from the mini-fridge.

As he turned to leave, a grocery sack on his desk caught his eye; Dex had made a quick run to Stop & Shop for Bitty earlier in the week, but had forgotten to actually bring him the groceries. He went through the contents and pulled out a bag of rice.

“I could make something with this,” he muttered to himself, tucking it in his backpack. He grabbed a clean sock from his drawer, flipped the lights, then headed to the floor kitchen.

–

“I’m back,” Dex announced, carefully shutting Nursey’s door. His eyes fell on the round lump on the bed. “Still alive, Nursey?”

“Just barely,” the lump groaned, shifting a little.

“I can work with that,” Dex said, opening his backpack. He pulled out the sock, filled with rice and warmed from the microwave, and tossed in on Nursey’s bed. “Here, I brought you this.”

“Ugh,” Nursey moaned, sitting up and reaching for the sock. He quirked his eyebrows as he recognized what it was. “You brought me a sock?” he asked, turning to look at Dex. “What am I supposed to do with a sock?”

“Put it on your face,” Dex replied, popping Sudafed capsules from a packet. “It’s warm and will relax your sinuses.”

“Babe, I love you, but I’m not putting your dirty sock on my face,” Nursey said, wrinkling his nose.

“It’s a clean sock, jackass,” Dex retorted. “Hold out your hand.”

“It still smells,” Nursey whined, obediently putting out his hand.

“That’s because there’s rice inside,” Dex said, dumping Sudafed and Excedrin into Nursey’s waiting palm. “Fill a sock with rice, knot it, and it turns into a compress. I threw it in the microwave for you so it’ll be warm.”

“Doesn’t change the fact that you want me to put a smelly sock on my face,” Nursey grumbled. He popped the pills in his mouth, washing them down with a swig of Gatorade. “You’re so mean, Dexy.”

“Yep, that’s me,” Dex agreed, grabbing the sock and sitting on the edge of Nursey’s bed. “Billy Poindexter, meanest boyfriend this side of the Mississippi. Now put it on your face.”

“No,” Nursey pouted.

“Oh, come on Nurse,” Dex sighed. “I thought your face hurt.”

Nursey opened his mouth to retort before bursting into a fit of coughs. “You c-can’t m-m-make me,” he wheezed, eyes starting to water from the stress of the coughs.

“Ssh,” Dex soothed, rubbing his hand on Nursey’s back. “You don’t have to if you really don’t want to, but I think it would make you feel better.”

Nursey stared at Dex for a long moment. “Fine,” he grumbled, pulling the sock out of Dex’s hands. “I’ll put your smelly sock on my face.” He laid back, draping the sock over his eyes. “Happy?”

“Yes,” Dex said, leaning over and brushing a kiss on Nursey’s forehead. “Try and get some sleep, hm? I’m going to go get my laptop so I can get some work done.”

“‘Kay,” Nursey mumbled. “I’ll be here with the smelly sock.”

–

“Dex?”

Dex looked up from his spot on the floor. “Yeah?”

“Can you go heat up the sock for me? It’s cold now.”

Dex grinned triumphantly, lifting the sock off of Nursey’s face before giving him a quick kiss on the nose. “Sure thing.”

“Thanks babe,” Nursey said, reaching up to tweak Dex’s nose. “Love you.”