James Sam Parker : ALLY, PART OF GEN Z, LIVES IN BIG CITY, HE/HIM, WHITE.

Yes, what a terrible decision. He had calculated the cases, he had seen people get sick, he had seen the death count. He could have warned her, but he was too much of a fool to stop her.

He pulled out his phone, staring at the message endlessly.

"James, I'm like, terribly sick rn, I don't think I'll be able to go to school tomorrow :c"

He thought about it thoroughly, just because she was sick, didn't necessarily mean that it was that, right?

No, no, he can't be that stupid. People were dying way too fast for him to risk it for a girl.

No, that was wrong too. He was definitely not stupid, he knew that, but he was stupid enough to risk his respiratory system to go check up on her. He would never forgive himself if he didn't go take care of her.

Letting out a sigh, he got up. Putting on a coat and getting his phone, he walked over to his bookshelf and kneeled down, chuckling, she always envied this thing.

He picked up his copy of Holes, and briefly left.

"JAMES! Are you gonna go check up on Lil? I heard she's terribly ill."

His mom was washing the dishes when he came down.

"Ah, you seem to have answered my question for me." She looked him up and down and then proceeded to smirk and continued her chores.

"What is that supposed to mean?" He inquired, leaning against the counter.

The sudden turning off of the tap broke the silence.

"That," Pointing towards the book, "Is the hardcover version of the book in her goodreads wishlist. Go on, loverboy! You know curfew." She then followed by turning back on the tap, and shooing him away, and without a word, he left, feeling as the cold hit his warm face, he clenched the book a little harder.

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He was let in by her mother into the house, but he sort of just let himself into her room, it's not like she was going to muster up the strength to come and open the door anyways.

The moment that he walked through that door, she immediately chuckled.

She was laying on her stomach hugging a plush to her side, slightly lifting her head to speak. Although she wasn't able to say it immediately, she took a couple seconds to get her throat ready to speak, and then groggily proceeded to say, "You," Taking a pause in the middle, "Are such a simp." Smirking, then once again lowering her head.

He emitted a scoff. "I brought you a book, are you sure you want to say that." Pretending to step out of the room, he stopped mid-step when he heard her make a successful attempt to get up, and then dashed right towards her.

"What is wrong with you! You can't be moving!" He held her arms to try and get her to lay back down, for the first time fully taking in the girls full appearance.

Hair messily falling over her eyes, eyes very much swollen, and face flushed. She wasn't wearing her glasses, her eyes looking bigger than normal. An oversized t-shirt making her look smaller, a pair of biker shorts and what seemed to be two pairs of socks.

She noticed his stare and said, "I seem to have hyperthermia when it comes to my feet." Sitting back down, but extending her arms to hold on to his shirt hem, making sure he sat down next to her.

"I don't want you to leave but I don't want to get you sick." You could hear the genuine concern dripping from her words.

Nothing but a mere smile formed on his face. " I won't get sick, I have a stomach of steel! Plus, how am I supposed to read you this book if you don't let me stay?" Getting back up from the bed for a split second to get the book, and then sitting back down on the bed next to her, just a tiny bit closer than he was before.

"I didn't bring my highlighters and book tabs, can I use yours?"

With a smile and the brightest expression he had seen her make, she spoke, "Only if we use my code."

They spent the next three hours reading together, managing to get about two thirds of the way through the book, browsing through a makeshift realistic world, where fate played into every single outcome, and the characters and all their actions having a reason behind them. There was a beauty to carefully analyzing everything, and annotating perfectly color coded thoughts.

Laying in bed together, James looked over at the glowing clock in the dim room, the only light being from the barely lit fairy lights on the curtain, and a candle on the desk next to them, giving the room a scent of flowers and vanilla, the scent of her. He noticed how much time had passed by, and slowly and reluctantly, started getting up, using all his might to try to ignore the half-asleep tugs on his tee shirt.

He stood up, gathering all his things, blowing out the candle, and further dimming her lights, quietly muttering, "I'm sorry Lil. I hope you get better soon." Making way for the door, he stopped halfway there, turned back around and leaned down to give her a small squeeze and a small peck on the top of head. A soft "I love you," left his lips.

Her head lifted when she heard him close the door.