"...but you're not with him right now, right?"

Emily clenched her eyes shut as Kelly delivered the news over the phone. Carlos' favorite corn dog stand was shut down after the owner tested positive for Covid-19. He was to be quarantined two weeks to be safe. Meaning everyone had to quarantine for two weeks to be safe. 

Normally, Emily wouldn't see a problem with this. But she was with Carlos at the moment. 

"We're all in my apartment," she admitted, her voice quiet. Kelly hissed over the phone as the faint sound of Gustavo yelping echoed. 

"Moore, you and the dogs need to stay there," Gustavo said, taking the phone from Kelly.

"I'll just send them back to the crib now to quarantine."

"No, Griffin is serious about this. You cannot leave that room. He has some people coming over right now to secure your apartment." 

"Secure my–" She exclaimed, "Gustavo, five people can't live here for two weeks, especially the five of us! Griffin is overreacting, I'm not doing that."

"Great, thanks for understanding, Moore."

"Is Griffin staring at you right now?"

"Yes, I agree, Griffin is taking a reasonable and responsible approach to this situation." 

"Moore," Griffin's voice boomed. "I can't have word getting out that my boyband spread the virus. At RCM-CBT-Globalnet Sanyoid, we put safety over all else." 

"Since when?" She grumbled under her breath. 

"There will be a padlock placed on the door. Any groceries or necessities you need can be delivered up to your window with a pully-system. You are each required to submit your symptoms and temperature every day. But have fun!" 

"Griffin, this is imprisonment," Emily cried, the boys perking up their heads from the couch where they were playing video games. 

"No, this is safety." 

The call ended. 

"Em, what's up?" Kendall asked, pausing the game. 

She sighed, turning to look at them with a solemn look on her face, "We need to talk," Emily said, sitting on the other side of her coffee table in front of them. 

"Are you breaking up with us?" Logan gasped. 

"What?" 

"What?" James echoed. 

Emily shook her head, "Carlos the guy from the corndog cart tested positive." 

Everyone's faces fell as Carlos grinned, throwing his fist in the air, "Yes!" Silence echoed off the walls as Logan caught on first what his confusion was all about. 

"Positive means he has it," Logan said. Carlos' face fell. 

"But I was there today!" 

Emily nodded, "Griffin know," she rolled her eyes. "We all have to quarantine for two weeks."

"Then we should get to the crib," Logan observed, being sat back down by Emily's hand. 

"Griffin is taking this overboard and doesn't want us spreading whatever might be in this room, thank you, Carlos," she sarcastically snapped. "So, we're being locked in here for two weeks." 

"What?" The guys shouted together. 

"How can five people live here?" 

"I don't have my helmet!" 

"My books are in the crib!" 

"Guys!" Emily and Kendall calmed, both standing over the panicked three. 

"There are ways to get things safely. Griffin has a whole system worked out," Emily explained. 

"And we've spent the night here before," Kendall reminded them, not understanding the extreme panic occurring right now. 

"Not for two weeks!" James cried. 

Kendall rolled his eyes, "Oh, come on. Guys, we're all together everyday. This is no different. We can do this." 

THE NEXT MORNING

Emily rolled out of her bed, startled to hear voices and sounds from the other side of her bedroom door. She sighed in relief remembering the guys were all living there for the next two weeks. 

Opening the door, Emily was greeted to a clean living room and delicious smells. Logan and James were tidying up the couch area, folding all the blankets and sleeping bags they had slept on while Kendall and Carlos (in a mysterious chefs hat) were in the kitchen cooking. 

A pancake flipped in the air, landing back in Carlos' pan. "Good morning!" The chef greeted. 

"Hi," Emily said, groggily, feeling like she had to be dreaming to see this happening. "Are you guys sick already?" 

"We just wanted to start off on a good note. So we thought we'd clean up and make breakfast," Logan smiled. 

"And decaffeinated coffee," Kendall quipped, gently carrying over the full mug to Emily. 

"Well, this might turn out better than I thought," she hummed, bringing the mug up to her lips. 

"Come and get it!" Carlos sang, four plates of hot pancakes lined up on the counter for grabs. 

The rest of the morning consisted of the five laying out essential ground rules and schedules to keep the peace. This included shower and primping limits (for James), cooking schedule, cleaning up after meals, and a rotation of who got the couch at night. 

Logan demanded at least an hour of quiet time each day, preferably around 2 so he could get some reading in. 

James used his card to bank an extra 15 minutes in the bathroom while getting ready. 

Emily stated no one could enter her room if the door was closed, whether she was in there or not. 

Carlos asked for corndogs for at least one meal a day. 

And Kendall required the platinum controller for all video games. 

THE THIRD DAY

Emily groaned in her sleep, flipping onto her other side. Stretching out her legs for a moment before curling them back into her body, she kicked a leg. 

"Sorry," she mumbled, eyes closed. 

"No problem," a voice replied. A second delayed and Emily realized she went to bed alone. Her eyes snapped open seeing a body on the other side of her bed. Shrieking, she sent a power kick into their back, sending them off the edge of the bed. 

"OW!" 

Sitting on her knees, Emily leaned over the bed to see the body grabbing their head from the fall. 

"Emily?" James shouted from the living, rushing into her bedroom, looking her over. "What happened?" 

The figured finally lifted their head. 

"Logan!" Emily hissed, throwing a pillow at his head. "What are you doing?" 

"Nursing a skull fracture, thanks for that," he retorted. 

Kendall and Carlos had come rushing into her room. 

"Dude, did you sleep on her floor?" Kendall asked skeptically. 

"I couldn't take another night on the floor. My back is killing me!" Logan defended himself. 

"That doesn't mean you can sleep in my bed!" Emily shouted. 

"I was on top of the covers the whole night," Logan reassured. 

"That's not why I'm mad!" 

"You're mad?" 

"I'm mad!" James interrupted. "Why can't I sleep in the bed? I'm the boyfriend!" 

"If he gets the bed, I want a turn," Carlos raised his hand. 

"I can't wait two more days to sleep on the couch, I crash with Em tomorrow," Kendall called. 

"Then I'm taking Logan's night on the couch!"

"You got the couch last night!" Logan spat. 

"Yeah, and you got the queen sized bed," Carlos reminded him. 

"No one is sleeping in my bed!" Emily firmly told them. 

"Except me," James nodded. 

"Excep– Wait, no! No one but me," she stuttered. 

"But Em," James whined. 

"Are the pancakes ready yet?" Kendall yawned, bored of the current argument, realizing he was hungry. 

"Oh, so now I have to make breakfast every morning?" Carlos questioned. 

"Hey! Stop!" Emily snapped. "We can't start fighting already."

"Em's right, we made the rules for a reason," James nodded. 

"Sorry for crashing in here," Logan apologized. 

"Hey! This is our fight. It can't get worse than this right?" Carlos beamed. 

"Smooth sailing from here," Kendall smirked. 

THE SIXTH NIGHT

Emily sat up in her bed, fixing the pillows behind her before turning out the light and going to sleep. 

A soft knock came from the door and James peered in, "Hey," he smiled, slinking in and shutting the door quietly behind him. 

"Hey," Emily replied, waiting to see what he needed. 

James fell gently onto his stomach on the bed, resting his hand on his girlfriend's thigh over the covers. 

"What's up?" Emily prompted as he smiled in pure silence. 

"Wanna make out?" 

"What?" Emily incredulously asked. 

"C'mon, I haven't kissed you in days," James begged, sitting up and grabbing Emily's chin, pulling her into a deep kiss as he began to lean forward, sending her slowly back onto the pillows, not breaking apart. 

Suddenly she pulled away, sitting up, "No, James, no. Our best friends are right out there," she reminded him in a hushed voice. 

"So, we can't be a couple for 10 more days?" James sarcastically questioned. 

"We agreed we wouldn't do that stuff in front of the group."

"But we're always in front of them now," he groaned. Emily just shrugged, giving him a "can't doing anything about it," look. He flipped, flopping onto his back in the space besides her. "Then, can I stay here a while?"

Raising an eyebrow, "Your not trying to scheme your way into sleeping on a mattress?" She asked, knowing full well what his motives were. 

He turned, propped up on his elbow, "I'll set an alarm and sneak out before anyone wakes up. They don't have to know," he grinned. 

"How is that fair?" 

"It's fair because–" James stopped talking, collapsing into the pillow, pretending to fall asleep. 

Rolling her eyes in disbelief, Emily went to shove his shoulder when the door burst open to Kendall, Carlos, and Logan. 

"What's this?" Kendall gasped. 

Emily sat up straight, "Hey! You can't come in here if the door was closed," she said. 

"And I thought no one could sleep in the bed?" Logan hummed. 

"I'm not letting him stay here, he won't leave."

"And then you get the big bed all to yourself?" Carlos asked. 

"Yes!" She exclaimed. 

"How is that fair?" James sat up, finally "awake."

"Yeah," Carlos nodded, jumping onto the bed between them, "You guys take the floor tonight," he said, pushing them both off in either directions. 

James immediately jumped up, protesting about how he called the bed first. Kendall started arguing with Carlos how he should get the bed next while everyone attacked Logan that he got it unfairly the night before. 

Emily gaped at them from the floor of her apartment, "Guys, this is my place!" 

"And for the next 10 days it's ours too!" Kendall fired back.

"Which is why I get the bed!" Carlos cried from his sunken position into the pillows. 

"You're the reason we're in this situation!" Emily reminded him. 

The boys all turned on Carlos, jumping on top of him in hopes he would abandon the bed. Aghast, Emily grabbed the pillow she had rolled off the bed with and stormed out of her room, the argument continuing to ensue behind her. Ripping one of the blankets off the couch, she turned and locked herself into the bathroom for the night, tossing the comforts into the bathtub. 

The girl wrapped her body in the blanket to keep her skin off the chilly surface and shoved her neck in an awkward position between her chest and the pillow, slumped over. 

***

i thought a one-shot about quarantine seemed appropriate. 

this is going to come in two parts because i can't write two weeks into one one-shot. that just defeats the purpose.