Nico's POV:

I watched as Khloe slept, readjusting myself so my back was against the headboard more comfortably.

I had already come to the conclusion that I wasn't going to get any sleep tonight, not while she was in these conditions.

Even though despite her weird behavior being the only thing different about her, I'm still not completely sure if that's going to be the worst of it.

Since I don't even know what she drank, I didn't want to risk something going wrong while I was asleep.

So, I just sat beside her on the bed, continuously listening in on the workings on her body.

Nothing seemed out of the ordinary so far, which I guess was good.

Luckily she hasn't woken up since our little chat and has been sleeping soundly with her head on my thigh for almost two hours now.

I continued lightly dragging my hand through her hair, trying to figure out why someone would do this to her.

Even though I was most likely going to find out tomorrow, I couldn't help but wonder.

It had to have been one of the slaves, that much I knew.

But I couldn't for the life of me figure out why.

Why would someone drug her, but not touch her?

Why would someone drug her in the first place?

Maybe, hopefully, Khloe remembered at least something about the person that gave her that drink.

My eyes snapped down to her the moment her heartbeat began to speed up, followed by her body shifting uncomfortably.

I drew my hand away from her to let her do whatever her body was doing before figuring out why it was doing it.

But before her body stilled, her eyes shot open and she was scrambling out of the bed and into the bathroom at a pace I didn't think was possible for her.

The sound of her throwing up into the toilet followed soon after.

I sighed quietly in relief.

That was probably for the best.

Even though that wouldn't completely get rid of the effects of whatever she drank, it was a good start.

I swung my legs over the bed before standing and making my way over to follow her.

She threw up twice more before I reached her, kneeling down beside her.

I said nothing as I rubbed between her shoulders, her breaths heaving and ragged as she clutched tight onto the seat of the toilet.

I figured just being here with her right now was the most I could do at the moment

Her eyes were completely round as sweat dripped from her forehead.

I felt the back of her neck, seeing how her body temperature seemed to have gotten higher.

Her body got rid of a good amount of the drug, now it just has to fight off the rest.

She threw up one last time before she relaxed against the toilet seat, shakily trying to catch her breath.

I took that as my cue.

Slowly, I hooked my arm around her shoulder and pulled her back so she was leaning against me.

She wriggled to the best of her ability to try to get me to stop.

"Don't," She whispered, her voice hoarse, "I'm gross,"

"That's the absolute least of my worries right now sweetheart," I replied.

She let out a small whimper but didn't retaliate as I scooped her up into my arms, In fact, she buried her head against my shoulder, grabbing hard onto the fabric of my shirt.

"What hurts?" I asked, reading her expression.

"My head," she groaned, squeezing her eyes shut, "What happened?"

I held her close me as I walked back to the bed.

It seemed like she was back to normal... Mentally at least.

"What's the last thing you remember?" I asked.

She barely opened her eyes, her brows furrowing as she thought.

"The last thing I remember... was walking to the Kitchen to get something to drink. Everything after that is...," She trailed off.

I guess she doesn't remember anything about the one who drugged her, which wasn't a major setback but would have been a good start.

I paused in front of the bed, not really wanting to set her down.

A threat was out there and right now I just wanted to keep her close.

But I also wanted to get her better and I needed to get some stuff so eventually, I set her down onto the bed, sitting on the edge beside her.

"Someone drugged you," I stated, figuring it would be better to just say it upfront.

I also tried to say it in a way that hid how truly pissed I still was.

Her eyes went wide with surprise and terror.

"W-what!?" She questioned.

I shook my head.

"Apparently Lily wasn't there. And whoever was slipped many things in whatever you ordered," she glanced away from me, like she was trying to remember, "I don't know who or why but I'm planning on figuring that out tomorrow."

She stayed silent, taking in what I told her, confusion written on her face.

I could tell she was distressed, which was understandable, but not what I wanted.

I decided to move back here to make her life better, not to make her have to deal with this shit.

Leaning close to her, I kissed her forehead.

"Don't stress about it," I began, "I'll figure everything out tomorrow, do what I need to do, and then we can pretend this never happened. For now, though, you need to rest."

I stood, her gaze following me as I walked to grab some ibuprofen in my bathroom.

Grabbing the water bottle she kept on her desk whenever she was working on an art piece, I handed them both to her.

I didn't have to say anything before she swallowed the pills and sipped at the water.

Concern took over her face at her last gulp.

"Your pupils are thinning out," she stated.

I laughed a bit, most of it being a spiteful laughter towards whoever the hell did this, "Are they?"

She stared at me for a moment, probably seeing right through my facade into just how mad I was.

Scooting over a bit, she patted the bed, inviting me to join her.

I did, sitting again so my back was against the headboard, arm around Khloe with her head resting on my chest.

We were both silent for a long moment, Khloe's eyes shut softly as she tried to ease the pain in her head and calm down her breathing.

"Where did you find me?" She finally asked.

"I found you knocked out in the Kitchen about two hours ago. You woke up once I picked you up to take you back."

"I did?" She asked, apparently not remembering that either.

Which was probably for the best.

I nodded.

She turned her head downward before asking her next question.

"Did... did I do anything weird?"

I shook my head, rubbing her arms, "Not really. Although you did stare deep into my eyes and tell me I was pretty," I stated with a smirk, trying to lighten this mood.

She squinted her eyes, puckering her lips out.

"No I didn't," She said like she was very certain of it, " I might have said something similar, but I definitely didn't use the word pretty."

I rose a brow, thinking back to it, she was right.

"How would you know that?"

She shrugged, speaking her next words through a yawn.

"Pretty isn't how I would first describe you."

I faked a frown.

"You don't think I'm pretty?" I asked.

I couldn't hold the frown once she started laughing.

"I do think you're pretty but I'm definitely sure, drugged or not, I would have said something else first," she explained.

"Like what," I asked, genuinely curious as to how she saw me.

"U-u-um," She stammered, her face growing in color, " I don't know, probably stunning or rugged or just simply attractive." She took another sip from her water in an act to hide her embarrassment.

Her body stilled as my purr began without warning to either of us.

I guess she just had that effect on me.

She sighed as she relaxed again against my chest, letting her eyes flutter shut.

"I take it you feel a little bit better?" I asked.

She nodded her head against my shirt.

"Yeah. the headache has died down a little,"

Although she was still extremely warm and still shaking.

"Then you should get some sleep," I began, rubbing her arm," Your body definitely still needs it.

She rose her head to look at me, looking over my face.

"Only if you sleep too," she said.

She smirked at the surprised look in my eye.

"Knowing you, you've refused to sleep up until now," She explained, "You had to get up early this morning as well, so I know you're tired. I'm fine now, I promise. You can sleep,"

Well, she seemed fine...

And if anything major were to go wrong, Id probably wake up anyways.

A part of me didn't want to risk it, but the other knew that Khloe was serious about not sleeping if I wasn't going to.

I sighed in defeat, "Okay, you win."