She felt the cold coming before there was any visible sign.
Annie let out a sigh as she plopped at her usual table at lunch, long before the rest of her friends arrived. That was one of the perks of having a class near the cafeteria. She looked down at her school lunch, which was one of her favorites, and she frowned; just the idea of eating the food left a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach, and let out another sigh, resigning herself to just having the orange juice she had grabbed in place of chocolate milk. Maybe if she did that, the cold would go away before it fully hit her.
She was startled from her thoughts by the sound of a tray clattering beside her, and she turned in time to see Karkat pull out a chair. "Oh, hey Karkat," she greeted with what she felt was her usual smile.
Karkat gave her a look from the corner of his eye as he sat down. "You look like shit, what's wrong?"
The shock on Annie's face made the corner of Karkat's mouth lift in mild amusement. She opened her mouth and closed it, several times, and when she finally got her voice back her face was visibly darker. "You are a sack of shit, Karkat. Ugh." she grumbled, annoyed.
"You didn't answer my question, Annie." Karkat mentioned, starting on his lunch nonchalantly. "What's wrong?"
Annie sighed, absentmindedly twirling a strand of her hair. "Nothing's wrong. I'm just, not feeling the best." Seeing that Karkat had raised an eyebrow and his mouth was full, she continued. "I'm pretty sure I'm coming down with something. It's not that big a deal, though."
The very next day, Annie woke up with the scratchiest throat and heaviest headache she had ever had. It wasn't bad enough to warrant staying home... until the nausea hit. So she pulled out her phone, opened up Pesterchum, and sent a message to Karkat, despite him being offline.
--absolutelyBashful [AB] began pestering carcionGeneticist [CG] at 08:32-- AB: Just thought I'd let you know that the thing I mentioned finally came AB: You know the "I'm coming down with something" thing AB: So I won't be at school today. Tell the others hi for me! --absolutelyBashful [AB] ceased pestering carcinoGeneticist [CG] at 08:34--
Going to the kitchen was hellish, and looking into the fridge made her very upset stomach grumble angrily. But she had to have -something- to eat... Or at least drink.
As she reached for the carton of orange juice Mama had so kindly gotten for her yesterday, Annie's phone chirped, informing her that somebody had logged onto Pesterchum. And as she poured herself a glass, she was notified that somebody had pestered her.
Leaving the short glass of juice for a moment, Annie pulled out her phone to see who it was. "Pffft." Of course it was Karkat.
--carcinoGeneticist [CG] began pestering absolutelyBashful [AB] at 08:45-- CG: HOW BAD ARE YOU DOING? AB: Just nausea and a sore throat so far, nothing big. AB: I just don't want to risk me getting worse at school. CG: DOES YOUR LUSUS KNOW YOU'RE SICK? AB: Well, I told her I wasn't feeling well. AB: She couldn't really stay with me, cuz she has work. But she did get me orange juice! =3 CG: FUCK, ANNIE. YOU ARE SUCH A GODDAMN WRIGGLER. AB: Shut up, I like orange juice ;3; CG: YEAH YEAH, I KNOW. CG: WELL, KEEP ME IN THE KNOW, I GUESS. AB: Will do, Karkat~ CG: IF NOTHING GOES WRONG I'LL DROP BY AFTER SCHOOL, IF YOU WANT. AB: Awww, I'd love that, thank you ;u; AB: Have a good day at school, hun~! CG: DON'T FUCKING CALL ME HUN. --carcinoGeneticist [CG] ceased pestering absolutelyBashful [AB] at 08:53--
Annie let out a giggle, putting her phone down. And then she coughed because her throat got irritated. Ugh.
It took her a moment before she finally -stopped- coughing, and then she downed her orange juice, content. She had hopes that whatever it was that she had wouldn't get worse, and that she'd be able to go back to school tomorrow.
But as the day progressed, it became more and more obvious that this sickness would not go away so easly.
By the time Karkat arrived at her house, Annie was curled up on the couch in her blanket, and he could hear teeth chattering and crying. "Holy shit." he muttered, worried. He dropped his backpack by the front door and rushed over to the bundle shaking on the couch. "Annie, what's wrong?"
Muffled moans came from the mountain of blanket, and Annie popped her head out. Her entire face was dark, tears stained her cheeks, and her hair was a complete mess. "I-I-I have a fffffever a-a-a-a-and I feellll sooo shitty..."
"You look shitty too..."
Annie let out a distressed cry. "Karkaaat, I'm sssserious." She started crying again through chattering teeth, and the sense of unease that had been building in Karkat finally reached the surface. He had never seen Annie so upset, and he was rather at a loss for what to do.
When Annie finally managed to calm her crying, she looked at Karkat with such a dejected look on her face it nearly broke Karkat's heart. "I-I-It's not a ggggggood idea for you to ssssstay, Kaaarkat." She paused to give him a weak smile. "I don't wwwwwant you to get sick too..." She removed a hand from her bundle of blanket and tapped her fingertips against her dear friend's cheek. "Thank you for ccccoming, though."
The sigh that Karkat let out was heavy, and Annie was startled by it, and the fact that Karkat had taken hold of her outstretched hand. "Annie Bella, if you think I'm going to leave you here by yourself while you're feeling like shit, you don't know me half as well as you think you do."
Obviously, this was not the reaction that Annie had expected, and Karkat almost smiled at the look of disbelief on her face. Almost. She opened and closed her mouth a few times, absolutely flabbergasted. "B-but, why would yyyyou want to stay with mmmmmme?"
That made Karkat raise an eyebrow. "Why wouldn't I? You've been there for me through shitty times." When he finished speaking, he suddenly became hyperaware of the fact that he still held Annie's hand, which was shaking like a leaf and abnormally warm. "Jesus fucking christ, Annie." he muttered, releasing his hold on her hand and pressing the back of his own against his dear friend's forehead.
She winced at his touch. "Y-your hand is cold, Karkat."
"No, it's not. You're just on fucking fire." he replied, furrowing his eyebrows. "Why the hell are you shaking?"
As if on cue, her teeth began to chatter again, and she pulled her outreached arm back into the bundle she had made herself into. "I-i-it's the fever... It mmmmmmmakes me feel c-c-c-c-c-cold."
Karkat let out a sigh. "God humans are fucking weird."
Annie tried to laugh at that, managing to giggle a little before her body decided that she should be crying instead. "God fucking dammit, I hate thiiiis."
Karkat looked at her solicitously, absentmindedly moving strands of her dark brown hair away from her face. "Is there anything I can do to make you feel better?"
It took a moment for Annie to compose herself enough to speak. "Orange juice. And, and food." she replied quietly, exhaustion evident in her face.
"I thought you said you were nauseaous earlier?" Karkat asked, raising an eyebrow. All he got in response was a mildly annoyed glare. "Fine, I get it." He pushed himself to his feet, taking a moment to get the pins and needles out of his legs before heading to the kitchen. As he left, he heard Annie call out a quiet 'thank you' after him and he shook his head with a small smile. She was so unbelieveable, that ridiculous human girl.
Annie continued to suffer by herself in the living room, teeth chattering and fits of crying coming and going while Karkat messed around the kitchen. It seemed to take forever, but at last Karkat returned to her with a glass of orange juice in one hand and a bowl of tomato soup in the other. She let out a gasp of delight at the sight, clapping her hands under her blankets.
"Get your ass on the floor, Annie, you're not going to eat on the couch." Karkat scolded when she tried to reach for the food. She pouted at him but complied, scooching off the couch onto the floor near the coffee table, blanket and all. Karkat rolled his eyes but placed the glass and bowl on the coffee table before her. "Here you go, you fucking wriggler." he stated, smirking when Annie gave him a glare.
She proceeded to dig into the food, fighting back the shakes and teeth chattering that her fever made her feel. Karkat sat down beside her, watching her eat slowly. It was a companionable silence, but he broke it to ask a question. "Do you want to watch a movie or something?"
Annie blinked tiredly at him, spoon still in her mouth, though she promptly removed it. "Sure, I don't mind... You can pick something, Karkat."
Karkat grinned, pushing himself to his feet. "Don't mind if I do!"
Annie watched as he moved over to the bookshelf full of DVDs and Blu-Ray movies next to the TV, her eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Karkat, you better not be picking 27 Dresses."
"Too late, motherfucker!" he crowed, pulling out the infamous movie from the shelf.
"Noooooo!" Annie cried, falling over in mock defeat. "Not 27 Dresseees!"
Karkat cackled as he made his way over to the PS3 next to the TV, Annie mock crying behind him as she pushed herself upright again. "You're an evil troll, Mr. Vantas." she whined, finishing up the last of her soup while the troll in question sat beside her again with the remote in his hands.
"You know you fucking love this movie, Annie, shut the fuck up." he teased, making her let out an exagerated moan and lean against his side. God, he could feel the heat she gave off even through the blanket she had wrapped around herself. Of course, the girl was a heater to begin with. But this fever shit really put her natural temperature to shame.
After skipping through the previews and setting up the subtitles for Annie's sake, he put down the remote and wrapped an arm around his friend comfortingly. She let out a contented sigh, resting her head on Karkat's shoulder. "Thank you for staying with me, Karkat..." she muttered, her cheeks darkening a bit in embarrassment.
He looked at her from the corner of his eye with a quiet sigh. "You are such a disaster, Annie."
That made Annie lift her head and look at Karkat, her expression puzzled. "Wh, what do you mean by that...?"
Karkat rolled his eyes, shifting his position slightly to get a better look at his friend. "You go out of your way to help everybody, Annie. Even the people that rest of us have given up on. But whenever you're the one who needs the help, you never even tell anybody." Annie opened her mouth to reply but Karkat cut her off. "How long were you curled up on the couch before I came over, huh?"
She closed her mouth, and cast her eyes to the side. "A few hours, probably..." she muttered in reply.
Karkat let out another sigh. "I figured as fucking much." He moved his arm from the general area around Annie's waist to around her shoulder, moving his head so that his forehead was against her's. "You don't have to keep your pain to yourself, you dumbass. I'm your friend, I'm here for you. That's kind of the fucking point."
The gesture was so affectionate, and his words so sincere, that Annie couldn't help but start crying quietly. But she smiled regardless, a soft chuckle escaping her. "Karkat Vantas, you are literally the biggest cheeseball in the entire world." She removed an arm from her blanket and placed her hand on Karkat's cheek, gently moving her head so that she could give his forehead a kiss. "Thank you. Seriously. But, can we actually watch the movie please?"
The look of realization on Karkat's face made Annie giggle. He turned to look at the screen, narrowed his eyes, and whispered, "Fucking dammit."