Slide Into My DM

Chapter Fourteen

Megara

One in the afternoon and I finally gather my curtains and draw the blinds. Extremely pleased to see blue skies, sunshine, and no snow, maybe today won’t be so bad after all. Probably still too cold to open the window, it’s not like I could smell the fresh air with my sinuses all jacked up. Possibly a cold, possibly the flu, maybe even a sinus infection? I groan.

Nox follows me around, knowing I’m uncomfortable. When I stop to put the kettle on, he rubs against my legs. When I sit on the couch, he climbs on my lap. I rub behind his ears, “Such a good, little, baby kitty.”

After a long moment of staring at the wall, I cough and search for my phone. It has to be somewhere in the blankets from when I tossed it on my way into the kitchen. And yep, I’m sitting on it. Seeing a new message from Triple G makes me smile, for the first time all day.

How are you feeling?

I’m alive…

I hop over to the Tri-C app, open student email, and write a message to my Tuesday professors. This is two days now that I’ve been out of class and I absolutely cannot miss tomorrow or Thursday. Especially not tomorrow though, because I don’t want another ten points docked in English.

That really was all I had to do today, so I close my eyes and just meld into the couch. Nox starts purring and I very slowly pet him. My whole body just aches and I just want to sleep until tomorrow. But then, there’s a knock on the door.

Mind fuzzy, head heavy, I slowly bring my chin down and look at the door. Squinting, I don’t remember ordering food and Frankie should have her key. There’s another knock. “f**k,” and I scooch Nox off me.

“Comin’!”

I look through the peephole, “Thomas Banks?” I whisper. Hand on my hip, I pull back to sneeze. What the f**k is Thomas Banks doing here?

“Meg?” he asks from the other side.

I groan and open the door a sliver. “W-uh-t?”

He shifts a bouquet of white roses in his hands, “Can I come in?”

Sniffing hard, I don’t have the energy to fight him. I open to door and make my way back to the couch. After closing it behind him, he stands awkwardly in the apartment. “Hi.”

I wave a hand. “Hi.”

He starts looking around the living room, a small smile spreads across his face. Then he holds the roses out, “Vase?”

I point to the kitchen, “Uh-bove the fri’ge.”

“Thanks.”

Head back, I close my eyes. I hear him run the water, “Thob-as?”

The water stops, “Yes?”

I peek over at him pathetically, “Can you, like, cut the en’s of the stembs? It helps make them la-ast. Plus, they’ll,” sneeze, “be une-i-form,” I sigh. “Sis-sors are in the knife block.”

“Of course,” when he goes back into the kitchen, I close my eyes.

“Th’nk you.”

Some minutes later, I hear him place the vase on the coffee table. I look and lean forward to touch a petal. “Roses are my fav-oh-rit. Thay’r so beautiful, th’nk you.”

He sits in the armchair, “You’re welcome.”

But then my fuzzy mind catches up with the situation. “Whut are you doin’ here, ah-gen?”

“You didn’t make it into class yesterday and I ran into Ralph today and asked how you were.”

I nod. I wasn’t in class. I am sick. Ralph does know where I live. “Oh… okay.” After another sneeze I ask, “Did I m-iss en-ee-thin’?”

“Not really, we went over some chapters and continued watching that video.”

My blink is long, “Quiz to-mar-oh?”

“Yes.”

I nod and grab a tissue for my nose. After a very difficult deep breath, I look at Thomas. Maybe it’s the cable knit sweater, but he seems more relaxed. His face also isn’t cocky or smolder-y, just pleasant with a nice smile. I never noticed how pretty his blue eyes are….

The teapot starts whistling, Thomas is quick to get up. Luckily, I’d left my bag of choice next to the mug. “Sugar?” he calls.

“Two scoops.”

Mug in hand, he comes to sink next to me on the couch. “Here.”

I pull the blanket around my shoulders before taking the mug into both my hands. “Th’nk you.”

While I slowly blow on the tea, he asks “Are you okay?”

I lift a shoulder and drink. Then I reply, “I real-ly need meds, but I c-an’t man-ig to get to the stor’. I think Frankie said she’d brin’ some.”

“What do you need? DayQuil?”

I slowly nod. “Sho’ld do fine-d enough to get me to class to-mar-oh.”

“I’ll go get you some, I passed a Walgreens on the way here.”

My brows furrow and my head tilts, “Why?”

I like his little smile. “Because I want to be your friend… if you’ll let me.”

Thomas

For someone who doesn’t drink, Meg throws back the medicine like a perfect shot. Directly after, she drinks a little more of her tea, (that’d I re-heated in the microwave). Her head bobs slowly, “Th’nk you.”

Even with being a sick mess, she’s beautiful and adorable. Her hair that matches the warm wood of her coffee table is in a loose braid, the length falling over her shoulder, and her bangs curling around her face. Her pink, oversized sweater brings out the rosiness of her cheeks. And though she says her mind is ‘fuzzy’, her ivy green eyes are sharp and expressive.

“How about some soup?”

“Oh-kay.”

Back in the galley kitchen, I guess that pots to be in the drawer under the oven. The cupboard across from the fridge is long and tall, I assume it’s used as a pantry and I’m right. All the can goods are on the lowest shelf and I find, “Chicken noodle alright?”

“Yes, pl-eese.”

Ten or so minutes later, I put the hot bowl on the coffee table and the box of crackers right next to it. “Do you need anything else?”

While waiting for an answer, I start petting Nox who’d just jumped on my lap. This draws Meg’s attention. “Huh.”

“What?”

“Nox usually do’sn’t like other pe-pole. It took him a few m’nths to even go ne’r Frankie.”

Trying to gain the courage to follow through with the plan I’d made up in the car, I inhale deeply. “So, whatever happen to that guy who was supposed to meet you at the café on Valentine’s Day?”

Very focused on the soup, she doesn’t even look to me. “He never showed. I just weh-nt homb after I left.”

“Well, that’s shitty, what happened?”

“I don’t know.”

“Really? I figured you must have liked him… since it was Valentine’s Day and all.”

“I do!” she says a little too quickly. “I do like him. It’s just… complicated, I guess.”

“God, don’t tell me he has a girlfriend.”

She glances at me then gets hyper-focused on crushing crackers. “No… at le’st, he told me he’s single.”

My heart pounding, readjust my watch strap. “What the matter then? Why not go on a date?”

After a couple of spoonfuls of mostly crackers and noodles, she sighs. “Well, if you muh-st know, I don’t actu’lly know him. We met online.”

When the bowl is cool enough to hold, she cups it with her palms and eases back into the couch. I reach around and pull the blanket over her shoulders, “Well, I think you should meet him. If you’re crazy about him, why not?”

It takes a moment but she seems to become aware of how close we are, her eyes searching my face. I brush back a few loose hairs off her cheeks and tuck them around her ear. Backing up slowly, I comment, “I hope you feel better, soon.” Once standing, I continue, “I’ll see you in class tomorrow.”