TW: Sickness (because would it be a realistic depiction of high school theater without a main character getting sick on tech week?) Also anxiety/panic attacks

Summary: All scenes leading up to their performance at the menkies ceremony (which will be featured in part 2 of episode 1) with a lot of Redlyn fluff, some Portwell fluff and some Seblos angst

~

After two more successful shows it was safe to say everyone was exhausted but filled with that inevitable post show bittersweetness. For EJ, that bittersweetness was even stronger. The idea of their last performace this weekend at the menkies ceremonies possibly being his last show ever rung tight in his head. As it is, he already found himself constantly flipping through past program books in reminiscence ever since their matinee performance. He never thought the past two shows would've ended up his favorites as they were one of the few shows he's been in where he's stepped down to a supporting role.

He remembered being mad over having to understudy his former girlfriend's ex and watch her have to kiss him, a guy who walked in brand new to theater and walked out the lead. It's crazy how much everything has changed since then, how he had a new budding relationship with the girl he couldn't stand last semester and solid friendships with the newly wedged theater dorks that he used to say were here for the wrong reasons.

EJ secretly really hoped they would qualify for the disney trip because he wasn't ready to say goodbye to the people he'd grown so close to this year. He wanted to keep performing with them for as long as possible before entering the next chapter of his life for good.

~

Their leading lady unfortunately wasn't doing too well on the week of the show. She only had a lunch period every other day as it is due to her jam packed schedule and on Monday she was supposed to have a lunch period, but when she didn't show up to her usual spot the group started to get worried. Especially considering she had her AP Euro exam in the morning and they knew how hard she is on herself.

"You don't think she's still taking the exam do you? She hasn't answered any of my texts and she usually gets back to me really quickly"

Big Red said nervously

"She can't be, I finished an hour ago and I get extended time"

Seb answered

"Oh I forgot you were taking Euro too, how did it go?"

He replied

"I didn't think I did too bad but I'm also a history person so I might be a bit biased"

Big Red glanced around the cafeteria for a bit and then decided to take off considering he still couldn't find her and he was growing more and more concerned.

"I'm going to go look for her"

He said putting away his lunchbox and throwing his backpack around his shoulder

"Let me know if you find her and keep us updated"

EJ called after him to which he gave him nod of understanding

He wasn't too far off about his predictions on where to find her. He could hear a few sniffles from outside the door to the bomb shelter. He grabbed the handle and quickly realized it was locked on the outside, those gosh darn Caswell brains. He was left with no choice but to knock on the door and hope she would open it.

"Ash? It's me Biggie, can I come in?"

"Go away!"

Big Red took a step back, startled by her response before searching for his key ring. He vaguely remembered being given the keys to the bomb shelter as well as the stage when he became a part of the tech crew last semester. He tried 14 different keys on his large chain before finally figuring out which one was meant for the bomb shelter and making a mental note of it.

When he opened the door he found her sitting against the wall with a textbook on her lap, a box of tissues and a garbage can next to her, and a flow of tears streaming down her face.

"Ash?"

"Don't come near me"

She sobbed defensively as soon as he stepped in the room

He froze in place, completely shocked at her response

She immediately corrected herself

"Sorry that came out wrong, just keep your distance. I've got a bit of a cold and I don't need to be getting the whole cast sick for this weekend"

She said through her tears and congestion

He set his backpack down to the side of the room and crept up next to her, resisting the urge to fully hug her and remaining about 4 feet away. He took the AP Euro textbook off her lap and shut it before placing his palm against her forehead

"You sure this is just a cold? You're pretty warm"

She let out a shaky sigh

"I'll live, at least Miss Jenn gave us most of the week off"

"Yeah she's being super lenient lately but that's not the point, do you need me to drive you home early? Because I'm more than willing to, I've got a free period next"

"Can't, I've got a full course AP Psych review next period and then AP Bio later. I've already bombed one of these exams as it is"

He reached his arm out in which she slapped some hand sanitizer on from her mini key clipped container attached to her backpack before accepting his hand

"I'm sure you'll do better than you think, you always do"

"Biggie I didn't even finish"

Her tears starting rolling down faster

"I- I started overwriting on the DBQ essay, went off on a tangent and didn't even cover two of the bullets before my time ran out. And now my bad wrist is throbbing from all the excessive w-writing"

"Do you want some Advil? I've got some in my bag, it might help with the fever too"

"I took a little as soon as I got out of the exam, can't say it's helping."

"Maybe a stronger dose?"

He suggested, just trying to think of anything that might help his poor sobbing girlfriend

"No more, my parent's are anti-Advil"

"Well your parents aren't here right now so take it, I want you to feel better"

He took the bottle out of his bag and tried handing it to her but she stubbornly refused it

"I'm fine. Just have to get through four more periods and two more AP exams this week"

"You don't look fine, no offense"

"None taken"

"You're a trooper Ash but seriously, go home, go to bed early, get some proper rest and try not to beat yourself up over these exams too much, ok?"

She took a deep breath in attempt to get her tears to slow down

"It's just hard not to, there's no way I got a 4 on that and I won't get college credit unless I get a 4 at the least, and now my dad's going to kill me for wasting his money. These tests aren't cheap"

"Ashlyn look at me, you are the smartest girl I know and one lousy standardized exam could never change that. That test may seem like a big deal now but it's really not in the grand scheme of life. It doesn't define your future, your intelligence or especially your worth so if you could just not be so hard on yourself for once I would really appreciate it because I love you and I hate seeing you upset like this"

"I love you too, and thanks I needed that"

"Of course, and I mean it"

"I do too, and also I shall have you know that EJ owes Gina five bucks now, they've had bets on which one of us would say the three letter words first for quite some time now"

The boy broke out into short giggles

"That's funny, I love that for them"

"I love that for us"

She smiled wiping her tears away with the back of her hand

"I was planning on saying it on opening night but I chickened out"

"Same, and I was also tempted to shout it out everytime I had to watch you confess your undying love for Ricky"

He laughed

"Oh my God, so awkward I swear. Especially that one time when he wasn't in character at all and was too busy trying to eat the fur off his mask"

"I'm sorry but that was hilarious, I had to focus so hard not to crack during rehearsals"

"I literally had to hold his arm down to stop him"

She said dramatically which made them both chuckle and eventually giving them a peaceful brief moment of silence after

"Ash?"

"Yeah?"

Their voices were much softer

"Do you want to lay down for the rest of the period, and maybe try and eat something?"

"I'm not really hungry"

"At least lay down for moment, please?"

He gave her the eyes which made her smile

"Biggie are you giving me puppy dog eyes?"

"Yes, now will you go rest up for me?"

"The audacity you have steal my signature puppy dog eyes"

She teased as she headed for one of the padded benches that was pushed to the side of the room from Miss Jenn's improve class. She layed down using her backpack as a pillow as Big Red went to grab the spare winter coat that had been sitting and collecting dust in his locker all year. By the time he brushed it off and stepped back into the bomb shelter she was already out cold, that girl was exhausted. He wrapped the jacket over her shoulders and headed to Miss Jenn's office

"Big Red, what's up?"

"Um random request, can I use your keurig?"

"Of course, help yourself! There's plenty of kcups in that bin over there, and there should be tea, sugar and honey packets, and cups in the cabinet underneath."

"Oh thank you so much!"

He said grabbing a paper cup and turning the machine on

"Hey Big Red, before you leave I just want to say something"

She said as he was fastening the lid onto the cup

He directed his attention to Miss Jenn curiously

"If there was an award for the most improved you would easily win it, you have gone from this shy kid who hated public speaking and fumbled over stage directions to this totally new and energetic performer that made the whole audience burst into laughter at your delivery of those punchlines, all while remaiming so humble about it. You truly have a gift for this and I hope you've fully found your confidence by now and will continue to be involved in theater for years to come. There's tons of local community shows out there to be a part of"

His face lit up and his cheeks turned a bit pink, Big Red wasn't used to being complimented by teachers often

"Um wow, thank you! I'm still convinced this is a cult but it's definitely a fun one and I'm fully invested now. You can thank Ricky and Ashlyn for that"

She chuckled

"You know what they say, once you join the theater cult there's no going back"

"And I'm glad I did! Have a good one Miss Jenn, thank you for letting me use your keurig machine"

"Not a problem. You're welcome to use it as often as you'd like"

With the hot tea in his hand, the boy headed back to the bomb shelter to find Ashlyn still sound asleep. He made a group chat without Ashlyn to ask them a few favors and pulled out a sticky note after waiting for a response. He put the sticky note and it's message next to the cup as the bell rang for his next class.

~

Meanwhile Seb was getting a little ahead of himself over the disney trip. He ran up to Carlos at his locker in between periods.

"Sooo, I may have made you a little something for our trip"

He handed a paper gift bag with tissue paper in it and pulled out a pair of black felted mickey mouse ears with a cartoon Lumiere decorated on the right ear and the iconic Beauty and the Beast rose on the left ear. In the middle was a sequenced glued on bow resembling the pride flag with it's colors

"100 percent homemade! And I have a matching one"

He pulled out his from behind his back, which was the same thing but with a cartoon Chip on the right ear instead

"Sebby, this is adorable and I don't mean to burst your bubble but we probably won't be going on this trip"

"What do mean? The judge said we were in the top three?"

"The judge said we were in the runnings for the top three against fifteen other schools including North. I'm just saying don't get your hopes up"

"Way to be optimistic"

Seb commented sarcastically

"I don't mean this the wrong way Seb but nobody else would remotely care about this competition anymore if it wasn't for this trip, and nobody else cares as much about this trip as you do. It's an extremely cool opportunity if we actually do manage to pull it off and make it in but at the same time we're all kindoff over this by now, even Miss Jenn doesn't care what happens and that's saying something"

"But we love theater and I thought we just wanted to keep performing together"

"Seb, you don't get it, you didn't have nearly as much pressure put on you as the rest of us did. Ricky and Ashlyn broke their arms for this, Big Red spent half of opening night with his head in the toilet, I was so nervous I literally couldn't speak, Ashlyn is now sick probably because she's so run down, I mean you heard her yesterday and how bad this has been on her mentally. All I'm saying is Chip isn't a big enough role for you to have internalized these crazy high expectations the way the rest of us have."

Carlos didn't intend for his words to be hurtful, he just wanted to be honest with him so he wasn't in for major disappointment later. Seb wasn't having it though, if there's anything that hits a nerve with him, it's when smaller roles are disrespected. Chip may not have many lines, but he's a key portion of telling the overall story

"So you're saying that just because I have less lines than you I'm not allowed to feel pressure?"

"That's not what I meant at all Sebbie-"

"Well it's what you've implied, this is the second time you've more less stated that Chip isn't an important part, or is at least less important than everyone else's character in our friend group and I don't appreciate that"

"Seb-"

Carlos could hear the desperation in his voice. The two boys had just gotten out of a rough patch in their relationship and were finally communicating better just for him to mess things up again. This time a song wasn't going to fix anything and he didn't know what to say.

"I've got to go, don't want to be late to class"

Carlos swallowed hard as he watched the blonde haired boy walk away. He looked down at the mickey mouse ears as his throat stung. He didn't even have the chance to say "I'm sorry" before he took off

Seb starred into the documentary crew's camera

"Look, maybe I went a little too hard on Carlos but I love my character. I feel a really strong connection to Chip and Chip deserves just as much recognition as all the other Castle characters. I've also wanted to go to Disneyland my whole life but my family could never afford it or risk leaving all the animals behind and I've never been on a vacation before. I guess that's why this trip feels sort of personal"

~

Ashlyn didn't wake up until five minutes until the end if her last period class and when she did, she was fully freaked out.

"Oh my God! I've missed all my classes!"

She gasped, checking her smart watch and realizing she broke her perfect attendance on the day of the most important review class of the year. Her eyes glance towards the tea and note on the desk dear the bench she was laying on, the note crinkling in her hand as she picked it up to read

Hey Ash,

Here's some tea with honey via the courtesy of Miss Jenn's keurig, I texted Kourtney and she's recording your Psych and Bio review for you so you don't have to worry about missing anything. I recorded chem and I'm bringing you all your notes to you at the end of the day. I love you and I hope you feel better (and that you got some good rest because I know that's not something you do often)

P.S keep the jacket
~ Biggie ♡

She held the note to her heart grinning and layed back down on her back. Soon the bell rang and Big Red came in with a standard manila envelope

"Your notes for the day, as promised"

He held them out to her in which she grabbed them appreciatively, her voice was raspy as she thanked him

Big Red once again pressed his hand up against her head and grimaced

"You feel even warmer than earlier, c'mon let's get you home"

She let out a nervous chuckle

"What better timing for this"

Ten minutes later she sat in the backseat of Big Red's old truck and leaned her head against the window with one eye open

"Babe?"

"Hm?"

"What did I ever do to deserve you"

The girl blushed as she said it

His face completely lit up

"I know you'd do the same for me Ash"

~

Later that evening EJ gets an unexpected guest while he sits on the couch highlighting a notepacket

"Hey G! Hi Uncle Dennis, what's up?"

"Gina is staying with you guys for a bit until we make sure Ashlyn is no longer contagious with what looks like the flu and strep. Sorry this is kindoff last minute"

"No problem at all, do you need a hand unloading your things there G?"

"I've only got one bag, hopefully I won't be staying for long. Not that I don't want to stay with you or anything"

She said the last part with a hint of flirtation while giving him a friendly punch on the shoulder

"No, no I know what you mean. I hope Ash is going to be ok, she's overworked herself so much and now she's paying for it"

EJ stated concerningly while the two of them headed to the living room couch. Gina leaned her suitcase and backpack along it's side.

"She'll pull through, she always does"

She said while putting her hand on EJ's shoulder and rubbing it affectionately

"I know, but she's also got that Caswell stubbornness and perfectionism that I know quite well, especially with it being AP week. She's going to still go to school, push herself to the extreme, not get any rest and not recover properly for this weekend and then blame herself if we don't make it to the top three"

"Yeah I really hope she's taking care of herself, and you. You look tired, are you ok?"

"I'm fine, just a bit stressed. Thank you for asking though"

EJ admitted

"Do you want to talk about whatever's making you stressed?"

She immediately asked

"I mean it is AP week so stress is kinda inevitable, and also my dad's not too happy with me right now"

He broke eye contact and looked down at his lap at the mention if his dad. Gina lifted his chin up in response

"Eej, what's going on?"

She asked calmly

He sighed before responding

"I guess you could say my dad thinks I'm blowing off my whole future because I declined the three safety schools I got into on top of the whole Duke thing. Even with good scholarships it still costs a lot with room and board and it just feels pointless to spend all that money when I don't even know what I want yet, especially when I'll get community college tuition for free being in the top five percent of my class"

"You're in the top five? EJ that's huge!"

"I'm in the runnings for Salutatorian but I'm kindoff hoping I don't make the cut so I don't have to write a whole sappy speech."

"Oh my God! EJ! Give yourself some credit that's amazing!"

She leaned in for a hug in which he gently returned

"Apparently not good enough for my dad though"

He mumbled sadly

"EJ, anyone who makes you think you aren't good enough for a second is an idiot. EJ 2.0 is so modest and hard working, I don't know anyone more deserving of Salutatorian or even Valedictorian than you and I am so, so proud of you. Besides community college is a great option that definitely doesn't deserve the bad rep it gets."

"Thanks G and don't forget, Gina 2.0 is pretty cool too!"

EJ said as a big goofy grin formed on his face

"Mmhhm"

Gina hummed as she pushed up her fluffy natural hair in an overly exaggerated motion

"Is there anything else you'd like to say Eej?"

"Not really, other than that I'm actually glad I didn't get into Duke, even if I have to deal with being the family disappointment now. I guess it encouraged me to want to go my own path and not live off of my dad's money and privilege. I just wish I knew what I wanted to do, like up until now I've always assumed I'd go for business and economics like him which I've never really been interested in doing in the first place"

Gina put her hand on his shoulder again

"Hey, it's ok to not know yet, you're 17, you're young and you've got your whole life ahead of you. There's no rush, take courses that interest you and go from there"

"You dance people always have the best life advice"

He shook his head smirking at his statement

"Yeah yeah I know"

Gina giggled as she leaned in for a kiss that he returned, it wasn't as long as their first one at Slices but it was surely a good one

~

That night Big Red rings the doorbell to his girlfriend's house, hoping Gina would answer and Ashlyn would be in bed resting like he told her to be. To his surprise it was neither of them

"Mr Caswell? I don't think we've formally met before"

"It's Dr Caswell to you"

He said in your average monotone, strict adult male voice

"Oh I'm sorry"

His face turned red as he wondered why Ashlyn never bothered to tell him her dad was a doctor, I guess that would explain the big brains that girl has and the high expectations that are put upon her. It could also partly explain why both her parents are hardly ever home

"It's ok, you didn't know. You can come on in"

He politely wiped his feet on their entrance mat before stepping inside, wanting to do everything he could to make a good first impression

"Assuming you're Noah, also known as Big Red?"

"That would be me, nice to meet you Sir"

He held his hand out for a hand shake in which he reciprocated

"She loves to ramble about you when my wife and I are home, young love is a wonderful thing isn't it?"

He felt himself blush once again, her parents were usually only home on weekends and often left the nest even then, and still Ashlyn had found the time to gush over him to her parents when they were together

"How is she? I brought some stuff for her"

Dr Caswell nodded at the microwaveable Tupperware container of his mom's soup and the plastic bag of goodies he was carrying

"Well we just got back from spending four hours in Urgent Care and her rapid tests for both Flu and Strep were positive so now we're just waiting to be able to pick up her antibiotics and Tamiflu in the morning"

He tried to push aside the worry he felt for her. Strep is one of the worst illnesses for a singer to get right before a show and if her voice still wasn't 100 percent by Friday she would surely beat herself up for it

"Do you mind if I use your microwave?"

He gestured at the soup container in his hand

"Go ahead, but good luck trying to get her to eat. I've been trying all day"

"I have my ways"

He said

While Big Red was heating up her soup, Ashlyn's dad glanced at the bag he left on the table for her.

"Cough drops are ok, Dabur Honitus syrup is good but I find a spoonful of good old fashioned honey to be just as effective as a natural antibiotic, the stuffed bunny is adorable, the heating pad is fine but she does have her own"

"She likes mine better"

He interrupted

"No anti-inflammatories"

He said taking the Advil out of the bag

"Why? She's got to be uncomfortable"

"Pain is a necessary part of healing kid. Parents these days just want to drug up their children to get them to stop whining and then wonder why they're sick or injured for twice as long as they need to be. Fevers and swelling happen for a reason, you get rid of the body's natural way of healing and of course it takes longer to get better."

"But-"

"No buts, If her temperature goes over 103 then I'll give her something but she doesn't need it yet. It's tough love in this household. I don't sugarcoat things."

Big Red suddenly looked guilty, as if he said too much and was already on bad terms with her girlfriend's parents. All he really wanted was for her to feel better but he did not want to push any boundaries

"Sorry I don't mean to question your parenting style or anything. She's been raised well"

"You're fine. Ashlyn's in her room, make sure you take a mask before you go up there. There's a box on the table, I'd double up just to be safe."

"Thank you Dr Caswell"

He ran up the stairs and knocked on her door, becoming slightly annoyed that she was up at her desk in front of a her laptop and not in bed when he saw her, but also giddy at the fact that she was still wearing his coat on top of a pink, fuzzy bathrobe.

"Hey Ash, how are you feeling?"

"I'm thriving"

She said sarcastically with an obvious raspy voice and stuffy nose

"You know you really didn't have to come visit me and risk getting sick for Friday"

"Well I'm here anyways because I care, I brought you some of my mom's signature chicken noodle soup, please try and eat something. You haven't had anything all day."

"You're the best, you know that?"

"No no, that's all you, and I'm surprised by how little effort that took"

He stated seeing she had already started eating

"I was objectively starting to feel a bit hungry"

He knelt down beside her at her desk

"That's good hun, after you're done can you please lay down. It's getting late"

"I want to but I have to finish this Psych assignment that's due tomorrow"

He took a look at the assignment and list of definitions on the desk next to her

"Is it just copying definitions from the textbook? I can do that while you get some rest"

"No Biggie, as crappy as I feel it's not an excuse for you to do my homework for me"

"Pwetty pwease"

He whined with the puppy dog eyes

"You know those eyes aren't always going to work babe. I'm fine, I just have a page left"

He picked up the thermometer on her desk and squinted at it

"Ash, you have a temperature of 102.3. You aren't fine."

"I need to do my own work"

She refused

"Baby please, you can look over these definitions when you're feeling better. I'm not letting you get on stage with a temperature over 100"

Ashlyn's tired sigh turned into a long coughing spell and her practically choking and gagging on her own spit with Big Red rubbing her back and holding a garbage can out in front of her until it passed

"On a second note I think I'll take the bed. Seriously thank you for everything, I don't deserve you"

"We do this for each other babe. Do you want anything before you go to sleep, I've got cough drops, some syrup and this stuffed bunny I used to pull out whenever I was sick as a kid"

Ashlyn's eyes twinkled as she grabbed the fluffy white webkinz and cradled it

"Awee she's adorable what's her name?"

"Ok don't laugh at me, I made this name when I was six. It's Jelly"

"Stooppp that's soo cute I love it"

She carried the bunny to her bed as Big Red started to tuck her in, running his hand down his winter coat that she was wearing

"Nice coat by the way"

"Thanks, I've got good fashion taste don't I?"

"You learn from the best"

He chuckled

"Kiss my hand good night?"

"Wash it after"

"I will"

The boy smiled as she kissed his hand and sunk into her pillows, falling asleep almost immediately.

An hour later Big Red was seated at Ashlyn's desk working on her Psych assignment with her lamp dimmed on the lowest setting and the main light of the room off. He was on the second to last definition when the girl suddenly jolted up and started breathing heavy. He turned the brightness up a notch and immediately ran to her side

"Ash, baby breath"

He engulfed her, trying to hug her tightly but she backed away

"W-what am I doing I'm going to get you sick"

"No worries, I've got two masks on. Come ere', Please?"

She hesitantly soaked herself in his arms and burried her head in his chest continuing to breath heavy

"Oh hun"

He squeezed her as tightly as he could in attempt to calm her

"You're alright, deep breath with me ready?"

"Positive thoughts in"

She took a shaky inhale

"Negative thoughts out"

And a shaky exhale

They sat there hugging for a bit as her breathing started to come back to normal and her panic was replaced with silent crying. Her head sunk on his shoulder as he scruffled her hair with his fingers

"What triggered this?"

He questioned

"I had this weird fever dream where I blanked out on stage and forgot every line in the last scene of act one, and I just stood there frozen and couldn't move while everyone starred at me waiting for me to say something and I couldn't and then they got mad and everyone-"

She hiccuped and her tears restarted

"Everyone yelled at me and Miss Jenn told Carlos I knew we should have casted Nini-"

"Nini wasn't even at the audition"

He cut her off

"I know, I don't want to make Nini out to be the bad guy either it's not her fault"

"Ash it was a dream, none of it was real"

"It felt real"

"Ash, baby, absolutely no one will be mad at you no matter what happens and you know this show like the back of your hand, I don't think you've missed a line once. It'll be ok, it was just a dream"

"Thank you"

She gratefully whispered as she looked up into his eyes and he wiped her tears away with his knuckles

Big Red made a point to seek out her dad before leaving. He took a deep breath and knocked on his office door and was offered a seat by his desk

"What is it?"

He asked the nervous looking boy

"I don't mean to overstep my boundaries or anything but I think you should take Ashlyn to see someone. I'm really worried about her."

He took his glasses off directioning his full attention on the ginger boy.

"What exactly do you mean?"

"Like a therapist"

He sunk back into his chair unsure of what his reaction would be. He seemed strict and traditional to say the least

"I appreciate your concern but I've seen a lot of extremes being an ER doctor and I would know if my daughter was reaching any level close to that point. She's an average teenager with a strong type-A personality, but she's ok. It runs in the family"

"You're daughter just had a full blown anxiety attack in my arms over a musical"

He blurted out in frustration and watched him pause in thought while his expression changed to apprehensive

"Thank you for letting me know, I'll talk to her and see if we can set something up"

"Thank you"

He sighed with a breath of relief

"I hope you stick around, you're a good man"

"Oh I plan on it"

He smiled at the knowledge that he won approval of his uptight girlfriend's dad as he thanked him again and walked out the door

~

With a ton of convincing from Big Red, EJ and Gina, Ashlyn took Tuesday off from school. By Wednesday she was feeling only slightly better but had to drag herself to school for her Psych exam, spending lunch in the bomb shelter again for fear that she was still contagious. Thursday was the one day that week that Miss Jenn had rehersals scheduled which ended up getting cancelled when word got out to her that Ashlyn fell asleep on her desk after finishing her AP Bio exam with a whole hour left to spare, something she's never done in her history of school years.

She didn't show up to school on Friday which sent a stream of worry amongst each cast member who flooded her phone with texts

Ashlyn pulled out her phone to contact everyone in the groupchat writing

"Hey everyone! I'm still not 100% but my fever's gone and I'll be fine for tonight. My dad told me to take the day off, it's more of a mental thing at this point. Thanks for checking in on me, love you all! :)"

The first reply came from Big Red with three simple words

"Hope ur ok❤"