Cruel Summer

Sick

"Ew" Carrie scrunched up her face when I sneezed for what felt the millionth time.

"I can't help it!" My voice was raspy from coughing all day. I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow after Carter brought me home. Unfortunately, my late night adventure earned me a nasty cold.

"It's still disgusting." Carrie rolled her eyes as she filed her nails. I called her this morning when I realized I wouldn't be able to go to school and she took it upon herself to skip class and spend the day with me. Now we're in my room with me laying in bed, miserable, and Carrie sitting in my bean bag chair, commenting every time I make a noise.

"Well if I'm such a nuisance, why don't you make yourself useful and snatch some food from the kitchen." I glared at her when she huffed at me.

"Fine." She got up begrudgingly and made her way to the pantry. I sighed and closed my eyes, welcoming the silence. As I was drifting into a much needed sleep, the shrill of my ringtone startled me awake. I reached over to my nightstand and pulled the phone to my face.

"Yes?" I answered the call and rolled over, longing for sleep.

"You sound awful, love." My stomach fluttered when I heard Carter's voice.

"Thanks so much, you have such a way with words." I rolled my eyes.

He chuckled, "Your welcome." The corners of my lips tipped up in a small smile. "I was gonna ask why you weren't at school today, but your voice speaks for yourself - literally."

"Yeah, I caught a cold from being outside last night." I cringed when I heard Carrie drop a bowl on the floor. The sound rang loudly through my sensitive ears and the pounding in my head intensified.

"My bad!" Carrie hollered from the kitchen.

"Are you all by yourself?" Carter asked, the sound of a bell jingled like he opened a door to a*****e.

I sighed and my eyes drooped, "No, Carrie's here." I listened to her rummage through the cabinets and I curled up in a fetal position when I started to feel queezy. "Where are you?" I questioned him when the bell jingled again, signaling him walking out of the store.

"The pharmacy, and now I'm making my way to you." My heart warmed a little and then dread washed over me when I realized that he was going to see me. My hair was sticking to my sweaty face and the dark circles under my eyes looked like I smeared mascara everywhere.

"You didn't have to get me anything." I rose from my bed and stumbled to the bathroom to take a shower. Carrie gave me a nod when I passed by her just in time to see her shove a handful of chips into her mouth.

"I know I didn't have too, but what kind of boyfriend would I be if I let my girlfriend suffer?" I could feel his smirk through the phone as I turned on the shower.

"You're not my boyfriend and I am certainly not your girlfriend." I placed my phone on the counter and put him on speaker as I undressed.

"You're in denial, babe." I grabbed a hair tie and threw my hair in a messy bun and stepped into the shower, leaving my phone outside and still on call.

"The only one in denial is you, babe." I exaggerated the word 'babe' and rolled my eyes. The hot water felt good on my aching body and I grabbed my rag and poured my shower gel on it, lathering my body as fast and thoroughly as I could.

"The sooner you accept us, the better." After I finished scrubbing my body, I rinsed off and squeezed my face cleaner onto my hands. I washed my face in a not so delicate manner and then turned the hot water cold to close my pores.

"No, the sooner you realize we're never gonna happen, the better." I turned off the water and wrapped my towel around me, drying off. It was then I realized that I didn't bring my robe or any clothes with me.

"Whatever you say, darlin." Carter hung up the phone and I silently cursed myself after coming to the conclusion that I would have to walk across the house clad in only a small towel that barely covered anything.

As I made my way to my room, I stopped by the kitchen table when I noticed a note in Carrie's handwriting. "Hey girl, sorry to leave without notice but my mom called me home. See you tomorrow ;)"

As soon as I got done reading I heard the front door open. My eyes widened as Carter stepped into my house. He stopped short when he saw me standing there and his gaze darkened as he trailed down my body. He shut the door with his foot and placed a bag down on the table as he made his way towards me.

I walked backwards until I bumped into the wall and watched as Carter inched closer to me until our noses touched. He placed his hand on my waist and inhaled sharply when he saw me sucking on my bottom lip.

"Your blushing, darlin." His husky voice was laced with lust.

"It must be from the fever." I told him breathlessly. I was definitely burning up but it wasn't because I was sick. My bosom suddenly felt heavy as it heaved and I started to wonder how it would feel if Carter's big hands were to cup them and relieve me from their weight.

"I wonder how far down your blush goes." He looked down at the crease between my breasts. I was about to say something else when I got dizzy and fell into Carter. I closed my eyes as he caught me. "Woah there darlin, I didn't mean for you to literally fall for me." He picked me up and carried me into my room.

He placed me on my bed, grabbed an oversized shirt from one of my drawers, and placed it over my towel. After I was covered, he pulled the towel out from under the shirt and wrapped my blankets over me.

He left the room for a moment and returned with the bag he left on the table. While he was gone I quickly pulled on some underwear. When he came back, he took out the contents and I saw different kinds of medicine along with ice cream.

He poured the required around of the liquid medicine in the cap of the bottle and made me drink it. As soon as I threw it back, I immediately started to cough from the disgusting taste.

He handed me a glass of water and I drank half of it. After I handed the glass back to Carter, he lifted me off the bed just enough for him to sit comfortably behind me. He pulled me into his chest as he leaned against my headboard. Carter reached over on my nightstand and grabbed the ice cream and a spoon and handed them both to me. He covered us both with a blanket and I rested my head against him as I dug into the cold desert.

"Carter, I really appreciate this, but I don't want to get you sick." I felt guilty that he was taking care of me.

"Don't worry about me, darlin." He wrapped his arms around me after he turned on a movie. After about ten minutes I started to dose off. He took the ice cream away from me and placed it on the nightstand. Carter adjusted us so that he was laying completely flat on my bed and I was halfway on his chest. I closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep.