A/N: This is for idfkcalvin. I started it ages ago and never finished but I thought I'd finish it for your birthday. If there's anything you don't like I can change it, like if you don't ship the ships anymore or even if you didn't want to tell people it was your birthday [yesterday, aike], I'll take this A/N down. Anyways, happy birthday, I hope you have a good day, if not today, then soon, you deserve it. Here you go, I'm sorry it's kind of rushed at the end and it's also kind of long, but enjoy?

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Rainy days in parks had never been good for one's health. Alex hadn't meant to get sick, he swore, and it had only been sprinkling when he'd left the house. Jack hadn't fallen for the innocent act when he'd answered Alex's call at three in the afternoon to come pick him up from the local park in torrential rain. And look now where it had gotten them; Alex was bedridden, tissues surrounding his rugged-up body, and an annoyingly concerned Jack sidled up beside him on a chair he'd pulled up from the lounge room.

"What's happening tomorrow then?"

"Hmm? Hopefully not much, cuddling maybe?"

"Love, you're contagious! And as much as I love you we can't have both of us sick when Josh and Tyler come here on Tuesday."

Alex had forgotten about that. Their friends were coming to stay with them for a few nights, and now he was sick, and there was no way he'd get better in two days! Blowing his nose and looking downright miserable, he spoke nasally;

"Ugh, oh yeah, that's happening. It was going to be really cool having them here, we were going to go out and actually do stuff."

"We can still do stuff, it'll just be slightly more subdued... and probably contained within this house."

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"Do you think we can postpone it?"

"Aww, I don't know, we've been planning this for months! It's perfect timing, and I'm pretty sure they made reservations for, like, restaurants and stuff."

"Dangflabbit, this is not going to go well."

A few hundred miles west in Columbus, Ohio the aforementioned Josh and Tyler were in much the same predicament. Tyler had been sick a few weeks ago, and Josh had taken care of him thusly, but it was Josh's turn now. In an almost mirror image of Jack and Alex's bedroom lay a cocooned Josh and a tired Tyler, moping around in mounds of tissues. They would be flying round to Baltimore tomorrow night, except by their current rate they would need a miracle to be packed and ready to go in time. Fortunately for them, a few packs of Strepsils and regular doses of Paracetemol went a long way, and after a good nights' sleep of six hours Josh and Tyler were so not ready to take on the day.

Together they had only just managed to finish packing the morning of their flight, Josh retiring to the coach in self-pity a mere thirty minutes before their taxi was booked to arrive. As mumbles escaped his mouth, Tyler somehow understood the question. Could they take medicine on the plane? It's not like they were prescription, and they were only going interstate, not international. Surely they could; he seemed to have some vague memory of a flight before were he'd taken some painkillers. Whatever, it didn't matter all that much. They would be packed in Josh's carry on and they'd just ask at the airport if it was too much of a problem.

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An hour, their flight had just taken off and they would be here in an hour. Alex was down for the count, so Jack was alone in picking them up. He'd asked to come along, but as much as Jack knew Alex was excited to see their friends, there was no way he'd survive being holed up in a moving vehicle for so long. Plus the close proximity would be dangerous for Josh and Tyler- one sick person out of four would be enough, thank you very much.

The weather was actually kind of nice on this day, the sky seemingly rained out after yesterday. Of course there were the inevitable puddles his tires sent flying, and the need for some AC heating, but nice enough for some friends to spend a day out. When he arrived at the airports' pickup he spotted such friends just to the left of the sliding doors, waving now having seem him too. They looked the same as ever, if a little more pink on Josh's side, as well as a little more flushed. Oh no, those weren't tissues in his pockets, were they? That wasn't Panadol on the top of his carry-on bag, was it? Jack silently prayed it wasn't what he thought, silently wished Josh wasn't-

"Sorry Jack, I've been a little snuffly lately. I'm still totally up for whatever you've got planned, though, I swear."

Their luggage was dumped in the boot before Tyler had opened the backseat door for Josh as he spelled off his apologies in lieu of greeting, effectively cutting off Jack's train of thought with the confirmation he didn't need. Josh was shuffling into the centre seat as Tyler let himself into shotgun, replying confusedly to Jack's long-suffering groan.

"Hello, Jack. Uh, nice to be here? Where's Alex, and why do you look so tired?"

"Lucky us, Tyler, truly. Alex isn't here because he's at home, miserable and just as sick as Josh appears to be. I was looking after him all night! Why did you come anyways, since you've seemingly been through the same thing? It's not like we made any fancy reservations or anything, we could have rescheduled."

A glance was shared between his two friends before Jack put the car back into drive and guided them back to the main road. There was a conversation about what each couple had been up to lately- anything exciting or noteworthy- but that died out quickly by the invention of social media. They moved on to what they were going to do now the three of them plus Alex were all together in the same state. The visiting pair had left most of the initial planning to the locals, so Jack could have said they were doing anything, but apparently their preconceived thoughts of the trip were completely wrong. They'd expected a semi-formal get together, maybe a restaurant involved, maybe some sight-seeing. It wasn't their first time in Baltimore, per se, but forgive them for wanting to experience tourism properly for once. But no, Jack and Alex had gone full out on friendly catch-up with picnics and casual days out and such. That was, until it had rained.

Now the parks were all practically flooded, too muddy to do anything, and the streets were too drab, too mild and merciless for two very ill dorks and their boyfriends. This was only confirmed by their brief battle with the outside as the car was parked in a soggy driveway and luggage was dragged to the safety of the front door. The door opened to a miserable looking Alex.

"Hello! I've been waiting for you."

And now he was being tackled by an unafraid Josh, whom was not a supporter of the traditional greeting. Tyler sorted for a smile, wave, and apology for an over-excited significant other.

"Hey, hey, Josh- and Tyler- could you let up a bit? Breathing's not so easy right now."

"Oh, yeah, I was told. I can totally understand, I'm sick too. We're sick buddies, illness pals."

It was at this point the four decided they should probably go inside and be warm. They all helped set the luggage at hand in the spare [storage] room, practically collapsing in the lounge room after. There was a tangible weariness in the room, both from lack of sleep and lack of breathing ability, but it was still too early for bedtime. A decision was made to briefly go over their abridged plans for the trip, order take-out for dinner, and then go to bed.

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The next morning there was still a pizza box on the dining table and four bodies dead-weight spread across the sofa and the floor. It was Tyler who woke up first, awkwardly leaning on the sofa where Josh was currently sleeping. Jack and Alex were together on the floor, having also given up on going to their room last night. The clock on the shelf said quarter to eleven; later than they wanted, but still early enough to get something done. He looked around, disentangling himself from his position on the ground. Everyone looked so peaceful, if a little in need of a tissue. Standing up he resolved to leave them for a little bit and get started unpacking.

Striding to his and Josh's designated room, he could finally take it in, in the refreshed sense of not being sleep-deprived and it being properly lit by the sun. The window where the light came in hovered over two single beds pushed to the wall on either side. It looked like there had been a dresser in the middle, but that had been moved, presumably so they could move the two beds together.

Two small suitcases sat beside the door, near their carry-ons that had been lazily discarded at the foot of the beds. Tyler walked towards his dark blue case, noting some shuffling coming from the room over. It turned out to be Jack, who came into the room surprisingly Alex-less a few seconds later.

"You're awake early."

"It's almost eleven, Jack, and we have plans."

These plans were not nearly as strenuous as Tyler made them seem. Since the two of them would be in town for a week, and it was only the second day, they'd decided to keep it calm for the half of them who were not at peak health. Today would be spent unpacking, settling in, and going up to the shops for more tissues and painkillers. Josh had run out the day before, and now there were two in need, Jack and Alex had nowhere near enough supplies for the week.

It wouldn't be until after Jack and Tyler had finished unpacking everything that Alex and Josh would wake up. Having the courtesy to look a little guilty at the 11:30 wake up leaving their other halves to unpack, Alex and Josh walked in with the sound of coughs and sniffles as their soundtrack. It was obviously time for a supply run.

By the time the car pulled once again into the drowned driveway it was nearing one 'o' clock. Bags of eucalyptus and lavender scented tissues mixed with an assortment of non-prescription medicines entered the house, along with lunch. There was no way they'd survive going out for food, and maybe you can't have enough pizza but they'd had it the night before. Today they settled on burritos.

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Nothing actually happened until Monday came around. Five days had been spent doing nothing but lounging inside with copious amounts of take-away, tissues, and TV watching- and they would be leaving at the end of the next day! That was why they were all up by eight and ready set by nine.

The sickness had died down, and even if it was fun just hanging out, they did want to make the best of the mini-holiday. The puddles and mud and general miserable atmosphere outside had also dried up, putting their initial plans back on the go. One day to complete a whole week of things was going to be tough though, so they went out for breakfast.

Breakfast went smoothly, a simple, relaxing start to the day. Walking around the city afterwards ended the four at the park, no longer muddy and perfectly viable for a picnic, even if they had eaten elsewhere. Lying down near the small play equipment shaded by some trees, their eyes slowly adjusted to the brightness of a cloudless blue sky. It was nice being there, together and alive and able to breath well. Alex had heard Jack sniffling earlier and was worried, but Josh and him were doing well. He didn't even think they'd brought any tissues with them.

He heard Tyler get up, leaning on his elbows to get a better view of him climbing the rope wall. It was a square thing, and he suggested they all climb a different side. Once they were all up they looked at each other and wondered what they were doing.

"Why are we up here?"

"Because I said we should be. Anyways, you can't say it's not kinda nice up here. The view and all."

"I mean, I suppose but I want to go on the swing."

Jack jumped off and Josh followed him to the old creaky swingset. Alex and Tyler climbed down, guessing they were to be the ones to push the swings like begrudging parents. They did enjoy it though, and there were smiles and peals of laughter echoing in that park for almost three hours, as they tried the slide and the climbing wall and the seesaw in progression, before moving on to just chasing each other around.

"Guys, it's already two and we've barely done anything! Weren't we going to go out for lunch as well?"

"Hey, it too. We can still get food, it'll just be more of an in between. It'll mean we can do something later instead of getting dinner."

They made it to another cafe for their meal by three. Jack wanted to get alcohol to drink, but Alex wouldn't let him, saying if he was getting sick it would do no help- plus it was still the afternoon. They agreed they would go see a movie when they'd finished, and ended up booking a four thirty session. By the time they got home it was just after seven, but they stayed up talking like a bunch of boys at a sleepover.

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They didn't wake up until after twelve on the last day. It was time to pack back up and they'd have to say goodbye soon. It'd been a hell of a time for the four of them- as exciting as almost a week stuck inside can be. Tyler and Josh's plane would be flying in a little over three hours, but they never wanted to leave.

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A/N: Aye aye I don't know anything about the geography of America ha, I did look up the flight and the airports though, so that's how I knew it'd take an hour. I kind of averaged out an hour round trip to pick them up too. As for everything else, I made that up, woops. This is actually so long, I swear I didn't mean it, I just made the trip a week and it all spiraled from there. Thank you for reading, by the way. I'm surprised you made it this far.