Warnings: Mentions of minor illness

Word Count: 1448

You grabbed the box of tea from the top shelf and ripped open one of the little packets. The water began to swirl with shades of brown as the tea bag hit it. Normally the smell would be pleasant and welcoming, but your congested nose hadn't really allowed for smelling things lately.

You leaned against the counter as you waited for the tea to steep. Your head felt like it was pulsating, but it had been such a constant over the last few days that you hardly seemed to notice. It was beginning to feel like this sickness was never going to go away, and it was starting to drive you crazy. You had already had to cancel on Josh a few times because you barely felt like getting out of bed.

Your phone began to ring loudly in the living room, only adding to the pounding in your head. With your tea in hand, you slowly shuffled towards the couch to see who it was. Josh's contact picture was half poking out from under a blanket. You shoved it aside and grabbed your phone, hitting the green call button as you did so.

"Hello?" you said, followed by a little sniffle.

"Y/N!" Josh said cheerily. "How are you doing?"

"Great," you answered sarcastically.

"Oh, still sick?"

"Yeah."

"Well, I was wondering if you wanted me to come over and keep you company? I haven't been able to see you in a few days and I want to make sure that we get a chance to relax together before we leave for tour."

You sighed, "I don't know, Josh. I really don't want to get you sick right before tour. Don't you think it would be better if you stayed home?"

"No, I don't think that would be better."

The hurt was evident in his voice. You chewed on the edge of your lip as you tried to think of something to say.

"Come on, Josh. I'm just going to complain the whole time and it's not going to be any fun for you. Do you really want to deal with that?"

"You know that's not what this is about."

"Then why don't you tell me what this is about since you seem to have such a good idea?"

"You're scared of me seeing you when you're not at your best. I just want to take care of you and make sure you aren't dealing with this alone."

You should have known Josh would know exactly what was running through your head.

"I'm fine. Really."

"Are you really telling me that you don't want me to bring you a nice, hot drink and some lunch? Then we can just watch TV and cuddle on the couch and if something comes up, I'll be there to help you handle it,"

"I already made some tea," you said quietly.

"Y/N..."

"Ok, you can come over. But you can't be mad at me if you get sick!"

"I would never. See you in a few?"

"Drive safe."

"I love you."

"I love you too."

You sighed and tossed your phone back down onto the couch. It would still be awhile before Josh got to your apartment, so you decided to at least make an attempt at not looking like you had just rolled out of bed.

"It's unlocked!" you called from your position on the couch.

The door creaked a bit as it swung open, and a few moments later Jim came running into the room. He jumped up onto the couch and began to lick at your face, but you threw up an arm just in time to avoid getting slobber all over your face. Josh walked into the room shortly after, carrying a bag of food and a warm drink just like he had promised.

"I hope you don't mind that I brought Jim along. I figured I would be over here for awhile and cuddling with him always helps cheer me up."

"I don't mind at all," you grinned as you scratched at Jim's ears. "What did you bring for me?"

"Your favorite soup and a latte."

"You're too kind."

You slowly pushed yourself up to a sitting position, giving Josh room to sit at the end of the couch and making it easier for you to eat. Jim immediately curled up in Josh's lap.

"Is it still warm?" Josh asked.

You nodded as you scooped up another spoonful of soup, "It's perfect."

"Great. Traffic was kind of bad on the way over so I was afraid it would get too cold."

"Not at all. Thank you for bringing me all of this, by the way. I haven't felt good enough to go grocery shopping, so I'm running out of food options," you laughed.

Josh reached out and lightly rubbed the side of your leg, "It was no problem, I just want to make sure that you're taking care of yourself."

"Well, I appreciate it."

Josh told you about all the things that he had been doing over the last few days while you ate the rest of your soup. You were happy to just listen to him talk; it was easier than trying to think with the pounding headache that was still bothering you. It helped that he always managed to be interesting when he spoke, no matter what he was talking about.

When you finally finished your food, Josh cleaned everything up so that you wouldn't have to get up from the couch. You began to look through Netflix, searching for a movie or TV show that you and Josh had yet to watch together.

"I brought you a cold washcloth," Josh announced as he walked back into the room. "For your forehead."

You rotated a little bit so that you could see him, "You did?"

"Yeah."

"Come get snuggled up with me and then I'll put it on my forehead."

You sat up so that Josh would be able to position himself under you. The movement made your head hurt, but you knew it would quickly go away again once you stopped moving so much. Once Josh had made himself comfortable, you laid back down on his chest. Jim came over and wedged himself between you and the couch.

"Here," Josh said, carefully placing the washcloth on your forehead. "How is that?"

"Perfect," you smiled.

Josh grabbed the remote and pressed play on the movie you had picked, taking extra care to keep the volume low so that your headache wouldn't hurt worse. You adjusted your head a little bit so that you no longer had to crane your neck while you were laying on Josh's chest. Unfortunately, this caused the washcloth to slip down your head and onto Josh's chest.

"Damn," you muttered quietly as you picked it back up and placed it on your forehead.

The washcloth stayed in place for about a minute or so until it started slipping again. You sighed in exasperation as you repeated the same pattern of picking it up and placing it on your forehead.

"Hey, I've got it," Josh said as he held the washcloth to your forehead.

"Are you sure?" you asked. "I can adjust if I need to."

"No, it's ok. I want you to be comfortable."

"Thanks."

Josh pressed a gentle kiss to the top of your head and wrapped his arm a little tighter around you. Jim moved so that his head was now resting across your lower back.

"As much as I hate to admit it, it is a lot better to have you here," you said.

"One of these days, you'll learn that I actually have good ideas sometimes."

"You wore a bucket hat in a music video," you giggled.

"And I looked great."

"You did, but it was still a questionable decision."

"Maybe, but spending time with you is never a questionable decision."

You and Josh spent the rest of the night curled up together on the couch. There were multiple times that you fell asleep in the middle of a movie, but whenever you woke up Josh was still holding on tightly to you. Jim even managed to still be curled up with you in some way, no matter where on the couch he ended up. The only times that the two of them left your side was when you needed Josh to get you something and Jim decided to follow and investigate.

"You should get in bed soon," Josh said as he ran a hand along your hair. "You need the rest."

"Will you stay over here tonight?" you mumbled. "Just in case I need you."

Josh smiled and gave you a gentle kiss, "Gladly."