I woke up to one of the others in the bed getting up. I opened my eyes a little to see that Morgan was still asleep, her arms and legs tangled up in the sheets and her arms about my neck still. I saw Max stumbling to the door, his shirt and hair disheveled. He still somehow looked attractive, even when he grumbled something about the bathroom. I laid my head back on the pillow again, Morgan mumbling something that almost sounded like Italian? I let my eyes slip closed again and thought about how much fun I'd had with the two, even with Morgan drooling on my shoulder at the moment. 

A few minutes later, Max came back into the room. I opened my eyes and met his tired ones. "Is it alright if I take a shower?" He asked, and I felt my cheeks heat up at his morning voice. Damnit, Jackson. Pull yourself together already. 

"Yeah, sure, that's fine," I said while nodding. I looked down at Morgan, clearly holding onto me with an iron grip. "I'd get you a towel, but..." 

Max chuckled. "It's fine. I'll find something." I nodded and he walked out. 

I let out a sigh and laid my head back, muttering to myself. I closed my eyes for a few minutes, maybe ten, and thought about going back to sleep. "You like him?" Morgan said into my ear and I nearly jumped out of my skin. 

"What?!" I said, resisting the urge to roll out of the bed onto the floor and book it. My face was bright red at her words. 

"Oh my gosh, you do!" she said with an almost maniacal tone to her voice. She got out of bed as if she was going to find Max. "Is there another little gay boy? Will we have to call you..."

"Morgan, I swear if there is a god in Heaven..." I lept up from the bed and chased after her as she started to run away from me, laughing. 

"Hah! But I'm Catholic!" She called back, jumping over one of the couches with surprising agility. 

"That doesn't even make any sense!" I said with exasperation. I stopped, my heart beating in its erratic way. I needed to take my meds. That's right. I had gone a little too hard too early in the morning before my body had had time to wake up. A sudden wave of hot and cold washed over me, a headache started in my left temple, and I sat down on the ground. 

"Jackson?" Morgan asked, coming around the edge of the couch with a smile on her face. It fell away and she bent next to me. "Are you okay?" I could hear panic in her voice. 

I nodded and waved a hand at her. "It happens sometimes if I move too much before taking my meds..." I took in a breath, feeling my heart stay at a steady faster pace. 

Morgan felt my face, looking into my eyes, starting to talk rapidly. "Are you okay? Do you have a fever? Can you hear me? Should I call an ambulance?" 

"Morgan," I said, putting a hand on her shoulder. Her freaking out was just making me stress out more which equated to my physical state deteriorating. "I just need help to the kitchen." 

"Is everything alright?" Max's voice called and I turned to see him walking into the room looking very concerned. I turned away, my heart going back to beating very quickly at his very shirtless state of being. "Jackson?" Max jogged over and knelt next to Morgan and me. 

"Guys I'm fine, I swear," I said while my face grew hot--not entirely from Max's half dressed form, but also the feeling of light-headedness about my whole body. "Just help me to the kitchen. I'm fine--" the last part was cut off by Max lifting me from the ground and walking me to the kitchen. "I can walk, I just needed some help!" I said, my face bright with embarrassment. I wouldn't lie that my legs felt very weak. 

Max set me down on the counter--my mother would have a heart attack--and gripped the counter. "What do you need?" His brown eyes were intense as he looked at me while Morgan ran around the kitchen, still saying something frantically about hospitals and morgues and "flowers on my grave" and "how guilty she would feel if I suddenly died, so I better not". 

"Could you just grab me a glass of water?" I asked, Morgan and Max both going for the cabinet where they were, discovering it was the wrong cabinet, and then argued as the picked glass size. I slid off the counter and stabled myself. I felt silly sitting up there. A five foot nine guy sitting on a counter? 

"Which ones?" Morgan asked, gesturing to all the pill bottles. 

"I can do it, I'm fine guys," I said, rolling my eyes. I reached forward and started setting the assorted pill son the counter. Max and Morgan stared at me the whole time until I grew a little uncomfortable. "You don't need to watch me." 

They turned and began to buy themselves with making coffee and breakfast. I couldn't help but smile a little bit at the way they were acting. Honestly, they were more jumpy than my parents when I'd first been diagnosed with anemia. 

I finished with my pills, already feeling better even after just sitting down for a few minutes. I stood and started helping them with breakfast. Forty minutes later we had an array of fruits, eggs, pancakes, and other things someone in a five star hotel might order from room service. "Wow," I said as we brought everything to the table to eat. The food was more amazing than I could've imagined. 

"So," Morgan said as we washed dishes and loaded them into the dish washer. "What should we do today? I was thinking maybe we could go into Manhattan and see a movie or something?" 

"I heard they just expanded the freshwater exhibit at the aquarium in the city," Max said, drying his hands. 

I thought about tomorrow and the blood transfusions, knowing they would make me tired. Should I go have a fun day before it? "I should really stay home and... clean the house," I said, scrambling for an excuse. Who was I kidding? We had a house keeper who came every other week and cleaned. Max and Morgan wouldn't believe that. 

The two looked at each other for a second, and then nodded. "Alright, we'll plan to do something during the week then?" Max asked. 

"Finals week is the week after this and I need to start studying because I have to get my chemistry grade up," Morgan said. 

"My trigonometry grade is suffering some too and I want to get those scholarships," Max said in agreement. "Same with the others. Except Alex. Their grades are perfect."

I thought quickly. "We could do a study group?" I offered. "I took AP chemistry last year and trig sophomore year."

They looked at me. "Where are you planning on going for school?" Morgan laughed. "Stanford? MIT?"

I said what came to my mind. "UC Berkeley."

The two blinked. "California?" 

I shrugged. "Yeah. I didn't really know what to go into but I was always good at science so I thought Berkeley?" 

"Impressive. When did you get in?" Max asked, leaning back against the counter. 

I shut a cabinet after putting a few plates away. "Early admittance in November. I switched out of most of my classes and kept the fun ones once I knew I got in so I could graduate with a breeze." 

Morgan let out a little sound. "No kidding. What classes does someone going into science at UC Berkeley consider "fun"?" 

I blushed a little at the slight facetious tone in her voice. I knew she was just playing. "Government, Honors English, two Calculus TA periods, Bio TA, and Anatomy..." I trailed off at their looks. "What? School is the one thing I'm really good at."

Max pulled me over the shoulder and leaned in conspiratorially with Morgan. "So, you can help us with our grades then?"

I laughed, my cheeks red. "I'm not going through grade books and changing your grades on homework assignments." I rolled my eyes. "But I can help you study." 

"Damnit!" Max yelled, throwing up his hands in an act of pretend anger. "What is this, democracy?" 

Morgan and I laughed. "That doesn't even make sense, Max," the girl said and I smiled. 

He shrugged, grinning. "Okay. Breakfast?"