#snztember2025

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Day 3: Shower Snz/Trying to Escape Congestion

Okay uh so...this one kind of got away from me a bit. 🤣 If you couldn't tell I had a little bit too much fun making my boy Tyler miserable, but it's okay because Nick, whose an absolute angel of a man is there to assist. Anyway I'm done rambling onto the fic! I hope someone enjoys reading this one as much as I enjoyed to write it, lol ‼️It has two parts I will be rebloging this post to add the second part to it.‼️ ⛔️ Content Warnings for: Mentions of Nudity, and light inducing via allergies (Idk if I have to include that one but here it is, lol) ⛔️ ⚠️ MINORS DO NOT INTERACT⚠️ Tyler feverishly fumbled with his keys as he tried to find the correct one before sliding it into the lock, turning it with a click. The door was a bit sticky since it had been raining for the past couple of days, so he had to shoulder it open. Stumbling when it gave way, unsteady on his feet. A day of stifling sneezes into oblivion was starting to catch up with him, sinuses throbbing from the pressure that’d built up over the course of his shift. His nose felt full and buzzed with irritation, but currently, he was too stopped up for it to lead to anything substantial. He wanted a hot shower and to go to bed so he could hibernate for the rest of this miserable cold. Tossing down his bag in the direction of their coat rack, Tyler shuffled to the bathroom. He stood in front of the bathroom cabinet, flicking on the lights, the harsh white light sending a zing through his swollen nasal passages. “Heh…Hih’DZZSHHuh!…gh..gross…” Tyler snuffled pointlessly; his sinuses felt like they were filled with cement, which meant no air was getting past them. He switched to scrubbing at his nose with the sleeve of his uniform, reasoning that he was washing it anyway. Burning it had crossed his mind after the day he’d had, but he didn’t want to dish out the money to replace it. Throwing open the medicine cabinet, Tyler scanned its contents blearily before he found what he was looking for, reaching for a teal plastic pouch. He rummaged through it, pulling out a shower steamer, clumsily tossing the pack on the counter. Tyler shimmied off his pants and tugged his shirt over his head til he was standing bare, the cool air against his skin making him shiver. Tyler turned on the shower, waiting for the water to heat up, before tossing the shower steam in before slipping in himself, closing the glass door behind him. The small shower stall quickly filled with steam, bringing with it the strong menthol scent of Vicks as he leaned against the tiled wall, breathing in the steam. Letting it break up the thick congestion sitting in his head and chest. His head felt a bit lighter as some of the weight of the congestion lifted. Along with it came an intense itch, searing through his sensitive nose. His head lolling back, lips parting in an irritated snarl. “…hh-..” Tyler’s breath caught, stuttering as the sensation teased him, the itch waxing and waning as it paced his nasal passages like a caged animal. It was torturous, and he was sure he looked ridiculous, so he decided to take matters into his own hands. Blindly, he reached for one of Layla’s many bottles on her hanging shower caddy, fumbling and feeling around until he found the one he was looking for, snatching it up. The bottle was a light shade of lavender with delicate purple flowers molded into the sides. Now, Tyler wouldn’t necessarily say he was allergic to Layla’s new body wash, but when she’d first showed it off to her roommates after buying it at a farmers market, it had certainly sent his nose into a tizzy. Tyler flipped open the cap, bringing it up to his nose, giving a cautious snuffle.

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Day 1: In the Thick of an Itchy, Snz-filled Cold

I'm so proud of myself for actually getting this done, lol. Anyway here's Day 1 of Snztember! This a bit of a continuation of my fic Stranger on the Rooftop, except this one includs Tyler and his twin sister Molly. Hopefully people enjoy it and hopefully I'll be able to continue his story in another prompt, lol. ~ “hNXT-uh!”

Tyler crumpled, stifling a sneeze against his shoulder. His hands were otherwise occupied, balancing plates of food.

Since he'd woken up this morning, he knew he was coming down with Nick's cold. It started the day before, when his throat began to feel dry and scratchy. He thought about telling the other man, but they still hadn’t had a chance to discuss their relationship, and with Nick still getting over this cold himself, it didn’t feel fair to worry him.

So, Tyler had been careful not to wake up Nick this morning when he'd slipped out.

It had been easy enough since he hadn’t been quite as sneezy as Nick, although now that the last hour of his shift was rolling around, that seemed to change. Tyler’s head tilted back slightly as the feathery tickle fanned through his sinuses. 

“HpPT! NgkKKGxtt!!! Ngk'zzzSHhwwh!”

Tyler savagedly stifled a triple, the last on getting away from him. He shook his head with a sniffle, regaining his composure before carrying the food out to the guests waiting for their food. “Hey, folks, how’re we doing? Anyone, need refills on anything?” Tyler asked as he gathered up empty plates and glasses. He was struggling to maintain his normal energy. He considered tapping out early, but he pushed the thought aside. They were already understaffed, and there was also the thing with Nick. Besides, he didn’t have that much longer in his shift. He could push through. It would be fine. Tyler turned to head back to the window so that he could pick up more food, almost running directly into his sister. “Molly, sorry, didn’t see you there, Sis!” He squeaked, feeling the back of his neck prickle with sweat. If there were one person who could see through his carefully planned ruse, it’d be Molly. It was like some weird Jedi mind trick. He blamed it on the fact that they were twins. Her green eyes were already narrowing as she stared him down, and her lips parted as she started to say something. Tyler tried to beat her to the punch. “It’s just a little cold, it’s not even that bad, yet!” “Do you have a boyfriend?” They both ended up blurting out at the same time, staring at each other for a moment as they took in what the other said. “What cold!?” “Who told you that I had a boyfriend!?” The two spoke over each other again, staring at each other, before silently agreeing to take turns speaking. Molly took over the conversation this time. “Who do you think told me?” She scoffed. “Damn it, Beck!” Tyler groaned, cursing his roommate. He loved the guy, he really did, but sometimes he wished that he’d mind his own business. “Nick is not my boyfriend…at least I don’t think he is yet.” He mumbled, a light pink flush creeping up his cheeks, mentioning the other man. “So what, you just slept with some random guy?” Molly questioned her brother accusingly. “Keep your voice down.” Tyler hissed, pulling his sister into the back, taking their conversation to the dry storage area so they could have a bit more privacy. Molly looked at him expectantly. “No, I didn’t sleep with him, I just let him spend the night. What the hell did Beck even tell you!?” Tyler said, rubbing his face with his hands, exasperated. “I don’t know, he just told me that you had a guy over…and that he said that he wasn’t sure how you snuck him in…” Molly trailed off, eyeing her brother suspiciously. Tyler avoided eye contact, but he could feel his sister's piercing gaze drill into him. “He was sick, and out in the rain and well…I may have let him in through my window.” He said, voice progressively getting smaller toward the end. “I’m sorry, you let some stranger climb in through your window!?” Molly screeched, sending a sharp pain through his head as it was starting to ache. “It’s fine, everything turned out fine.” Tyler fumbled over his words. Molly opened her mouth to continue scolding her brother when Alice pushed open the door to dry storage, making both siblings jump. “What the hell are you two doing back here? We’re swamped!?” She said, looking frantic. “Shoot, we’ll be there in a second, Alice,” Molly told her, having almost forgotten they were in the middle of the lunch rush. “You better be,” Alice grumbled before turning to leave, going back out. Molly turned to Tyler, jabbing him in the chest with her finger. “This conversation is not over.” She told him. “Good luck catching me, my shift ends before yours.” He stuck his tongue out at her, and Molly rolled her eyes before disappearing back through the door.

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Day 4 Deliberate Inducing

This felt like a fun little prompt to do with Mark, so here’s my boy. It’s just a short and sweet little ficlet where Mark is suffering from allergies and decides to use some pepper to get some stuck sneezes out. Anyway, thanks for the continued support! I’m so glad that people are enjoying my motley crew of college students! ⚠️ Minors Do Not Interact ⚠️ Mark was going to lose his mind. He knew it was going to be a bad day when he woke up and his eye felt gritty and itchy. Like a hundred tiny grains of pollen were assaulting his senses. His suspicions were confirmed when he checked his phone to find that the pollen counts were higher than they’d ever been, reaching record-breaking heights. Mark could only hope his allergy meds would take the edge off. They kind of worked. The meds did their job, and Mark didn’t sneeze for the entirety of his work shift, but now he was home, and the dull buzzing itch in the back of his nose was driving him insane. But every time he built up to a sneeze… “hh! Hhh! hehh… h’uhhH-…gnh…” It’d do that, tease him with tantalizing breathy hitches, and just as he hit the climax, the sensation would fizzle out. Leaving him watery-eyed and miserable. He couldn’t take it anymore, digging through his spice rack, squinting at bottles until he found his prize with a nose of triumph. In his hand, he held a jar with the label on the side reading pepper. Mark's stomach fluttered as he poured a small pile of pepper onto the palm of his hand. He’d only ever induced sneezes when indulging his girlfriend, and usually she was the one taking charge. This was his first time trying out something like this by himself. It couldn’t be too hard, though; he’d sneeze from pepper before when his food was overseasoned, so this couldn’t be much different. He couldn’t have been more wrong. Mark brought the small pile of pepper up to his nose, snorting as he let the small black grains disappear into his nose, and the first thing he noticed was the burn. He scrubbed at his nose, trying to alleviate the sting, but it just felt like he was rubbing the pepper into his sensitive nasal membrane. It was bad; his eyes were watering so much that it felt like he was crying. “Kff..Kf…ehem…hihh…” Then the burning abated slightly, and he felt a pinprick of irritation like a grain of pepper had wormed its way to the most sensitive part of his nose and was sitting on it. Digging in with each thick snuffle. His head tilted back slightly as he was at the mercy of his nose, chest heaving as his breath hiccuped with hitching breaths. “—heh-hH! HhHUh’dssSSCCHhhuhw!HhhDTSSCHHHhihww!eh’TZZSSHIEW!" Mark didn’t even have time to bring up his hand to cover as each sneeze came barrelling out of him, one after another. This went on for ten minutes until he felt the fit starting to wind down. His breath hitched deeper as he geared up for what was sure to be a massive sneeze, his chest ballooning out as he snapped in half. “–hHHRRZZSCHHH’HUE!!” He leaned against the counter, with a knuckle pressed to the underside of his nose, waiting to see if it was really over. Luckily for him, that last sneeze seemed to do the trick, ridding his nose of the last of the pepper. Mark’s shoulders sagged with exhaustion as he made a mental note to never snort pepper ever again.

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Day 11: Horrible Timing

Back again with short and sweet little ficlet. This time featuring Caleb and Beck once again. It wasn't until I was finished writing this one that I realized it's eerily similar to the one I wrote earlier for them. 🤣 Oh well maybe I'll do something fun later with Caleb catching Becks cold, after all I haven't done much exploring with Beck's having the kink yet. We'll have to see! In the meantime enjoy Beck having finally succumb to the cold his roommates brought home~ Cw: Mess ⚠️Minors Do Not Interact⚠️ ‼️This post will be reblogged to add a second part so bear with me. 😅 Beck knew it was only a matter of time before he caught whatever bug his roommate had been passing around. Any attempt to head it off with vitamins and early bedtimes was futile. He could feel his throat start to prickle and scratchy in a way that refused to be soothed, no matter how much water and tea he drank. His nose felt sensitive, tingling with a buzzing itch that filled both nostrils, never quite going away fully. It took its time, making him hazy and feel like he was constantly on the edge of a sneeze, before prickling uncomfortably. Giving him little time to turn away with a harsh sneeze. The worst part was how drippy his nose was; the first time it had leaked, Beck thought his nose had started bleeding. He’d excused himself, rushing to the bathroom to tend to it, shocked when he instead found a steady dribble of water and mucous instead of red. In the absence of tissues, he’d swiped it away with a piece of toilet paper, wincing as the rough paper made his nostrils sting. He tossed it before bringing up a bundle of tissue to blow his nose, only to find, to his dismay, that he was too stuffed up to do so properly. Trying just made him feel lightheaded from the effort, so he gave up. Coming to terms with the fact that he’d most likely spend the duration of this cold glued to a tissue box. This cold was turning out to be a major nuisance. Still, Beck was determined not to let this drag him down, puttering around the library, going on as if nothing was wrong. Collecting up books on his cart so that he could make sure they got back to their homes in the library. Currently, he was standing on a stool, his arm stretched, straining to place a book back onto one of their higher shelf. Stubbornly convinced that he could reach it when he felt that telltale prickle crawl forward in his nose, swelling. Beck wrinkled his nose, pressing his tongue to the roof of his mouth, trying to ignore the sensation. The itch was stubborn, though sizzling through his sinuses, taking his breath away as his lips parted. His nostrils were flickering. “Hh…hehh…hihh-“ He wished it would just come instead of drawing things out, consuming his focus entirely until suddenly the sensation sharpened. His chest jumping with hitching breaths until. “—heh-hH! HhHUh’dssSSCCHhhuhw!” He jerked his arm back so that he could loosely bury the sneeze into his elbow, leaving it there, still not sure that he was done. The sensation waxed and waned, like waves lapping at the shoreline. Growing slowly, leaving him increasingly frustrated as he wished the fit would come faster instead of leaving him feeling foolish with his mouth hanging open.  His chest swelled again as he gasped.

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Day 2: Unexpected Allergies

Just a sweet little continuation of Beck and Caleb's story from my Oc fic called Love at First Sneeze. I went back and forth for a while on this trying to decide who I wanted to be the one suffering in this one before eventually deciding on Beck. I'm really happy with how this one turned out two, so hopefully it's an enjoyable read. ☺️ ⚠️ Minors Do Not Interact ⚠️ Caleb had been texting Beck practically nonstop since the other boy had plucked up the courage to exchange numbers.

He wished they could do more, but with summer in full swing, the beaches were being mobbed with tourists, which meant all hands on deck. Leaving Caleb with little free time, and the time he did have, he felt like he was too exhausted to be any fun.

It left him with the nagging feeling of anxiety that Beck would soon get bored with him and move on to someone more available.

Though by some stroke of luck, their lunch breaks had lined up with each other that week, and even better, the pollen would be fairly mild that day. Even though it was only a measly hour, it felt like fate.

Caleb planned to meet up with Beck at the library where he worked, so they could have lunch at a local coffee shop. 

Everything was going according to plan.

Then, standing in the front area of the library, he got a text from Beck that had his heart sinking in his chest.

+Can we maybe take a rain check on lunch?+

Caleb stared at the text, knowing he should respond.

“hhhHRRSSHHHhhhiih!!”

That's when a sound from a nearby restroom startled him out of his sad state. Caleb cautiously approached the door, pushing it open.

It was quiet aside from the soft rustling of toilet paper, as someone pulled a significant amount from the roll. Straining his ears, he could hear the soft catch of someone's breath.

“H-hHeh- hRSSHHhhuhhww!!”

He nearly leaped out of his skin as the loud sneeze reverberated off the tiled walls, and the person cursed softly before blowing their nose noisily.

Caleb recognized the voice; he was sure of it.

“Beck?” He called out, and the noises stopped, and for a moment, he was worried that maybe he'd been mistaken.

Mortified at the thought of bothering some poor unsuspecting stranger when they were obviously trying to have a private moment to themselves.

“Caleb!” The other man squeaked from the other side of the door, much to his relief.

“In the flesh.”Caleb chuckled nervously, “I didn't want to make this weird, but I guess since it's probably too late for that, are you like...okay?”

He paused, listening for the other man's response for a long moment, almost calling out to him again.

“HDSShheeuhhww!! —HH'RSssSHHHheww!”

Caleb startled again at the sudden double.

“Ugh, yeah...uhm just give me a minute,” Beck answered, his voice thick with congestion, and Caleb made a noise of agreement, leaving the bathroom to give him some privacy to get cleaned up. He waited out there for nearly thirty minutes, considering going back in to check on the other man when the door finally opened. Beck came out looking worse for wear. His eyes were rimmed red and puffy, like he’d been crying, but his chapped, inflamed nose suggested another cause. “This is dumb, but I was really hoping you wouldn’t have to see me like this.” Beck mumbled, averting his gaze. “I don’t know, I’m almost positive you’ve seen me worse.” Caleb shrugged, and for a moment they stood there in awkward silence. Until he couldn’t take the building tension and broke it. “Uh, so you never did answer my question…are you okay?” Caleb asked, though he was pretty sure he already knew the answer. “Yeah, it’s uh…really not as bad as it looks,” Beck said, sheepishly, “I have like a mild dust allergy and I was helping sort some older books and I dropped some and well I suppose you can probably guess what happened next…” Caleb thought that this looked like a bit more than a mild allergy, but decided to keep his mouth shut otherwise. “I can see why you wanted to take a raincheck on lunch.” He chuckled, watching as Beck’s flushed nostrils fluttered slightly, his expression growing hazy for a moment, and then…nothing as he seemingly lost it. “Ugh, yeah, I figured it wouldn’t be the most appetizing thing to have watch me snivel and snort my way through an allergy attack while you're trying to eat,” Beck mumbled self-consciously in a way that made Caleb’s heart ache. “Well, I was thinking more because you looked a bit wrecked, but if you’re still up for it, maybe the fresh air would do you some good.” Caleb put the offer out there, trying not to sound too hopeful. Beck looked a bit taken aback. “Well, I mean if you're sure all of this isn’t off-putting…” He started, but Caleb cut him off. “I couldn’t be more sure,” Caleb said, offering the other man his arm. Beck still looked hesitant, but he reached out, looping his arm with his as the two of them walked out together.

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Day 7: Handkerchief

Ooooh a post with the illusive owner of the diner, how exciting lol. Anyway this a fic that feel like properly introduces Malachi a bit more as a person, and it includes his business partner and potential love interest Remi! Both Remi and Malachi are in there late 30's/early 40's, and they work together to keep the Diner afloat. I hope you guys enjoy these two because they were fun to write with! Cw: Mess ‼️Once again I will have to reblog this post to add the second part of it because tumblrs mean. 🙄‼️ ⚠️Minors Do Not Interact⚠️ Malachi’s back ached as he hunched over his laptop, arranging the menu. Summer was already starting to roll in, so he wanted to usher it in by adding a couple of seasonal items to their regular menu, hoping to spice things up a bit. His eyes stung as he glared at the bright monitor. Still working on making everything fit in an appealing way, wondering if he should temporarily remove a couple of their regular items. It was late in the evening, the sun having already gone down, taking the burning heat with it, leaving a balmy warmth. He’d have done this earlier, but the influx of tourists, flocking to enjoy the warm weather, had kept them busy, so the only time there was to work on this was after hours. That, combined with the fact that they were low-staffed, was starting to wear on his frayed nerves. The stress started to show itself in the scratchy prickling that had crept its way into his throat. It was honestly a miracle he’d managed to stay healthy this long, with his staff bringing in one bug after another into the restaurant, but he supposed that was the risk of working with college students. He’d given up trying to deny it halfway through the day when his nose started to leak, pulling out a tissue box, perching it on the corner of his desk, and periodically using them to swipe at his damp nostrils. Speaking of, he snatched up one, bringing it up to his nose, inhaling. “IchsSHew! ItcSHsSHew!” He buried two sneezes neatly into the soft white folds before pinching the thin paper around his nostril, blowing. Though it didn’t do much with how swollen his sinuses were. Malachi pressed the heel of his palm into his eye socket, trying to relieve some of the pressure behind his eyes, as his head ached. It was nearly ten o'clock at night, and he knew it was probably time to throw in the towel and call it a night. Someone shuffled outside his door, and his gaze snapped up toward it, heart thudding in his chest when the handle turned. He relaxed, though, when Remi’s broad frame appeared in the doorway. “Christ, you nearly gave me a heart attack. What the hell are you still doing here?” Malachi snipped, but Remi just rolled his eyes. “I could ask you the same thing, buddy. I thought you would have gone home hours ago.” Remi said, peaking over Malachi’s shoulder at his laptop's screen, “Please tell me you're not still fussing with the menu. I’m sure it looks fine.”  “It’s not balanced…I just need to rearrange a few more things…”Malachi mumbled, squinting at the screen. Though looking at the bright white screen made his eyes water, and he could feel the tickle slowly swell, fanning again the inside of his nose.

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Day 6: Sneezing While Hiding

Soooo I know this ones a little late but I still wanted to post it. This is another one featuring my favorite boy Tyler shocker lol, but it also features a character that I haven't introduced yet. His name is Malachi and he owns the diner that some of my characters work at. He's kind of standoffish guy, but underneath that he's kind of a softie. Especially for the motley group of college students working at his diner. He doesn't have any kids of his own so I like to think that he thinks of them as his kids, lol. Anyway thanks again to everyone tuning into these, this has been a fun experience, getting to explore my Oc's a bit more. ‼️There will be two parts to this post. I'll post the first part them reblog that post to add the the second part.‼️ Cw: For slight mentions of ear stuff I know that can be an ick for some people. ⚠️ Minors Do Not Interact ⚠️ Hh…hehh…hihh-AtzzsSSHiheww! Tyler buried the harsh sneeze into his elbow, wincing as his wrist throbbed in protest of the sudden movement.He’d just gotten back from his doctor's appointment. He’d only planned to get his wrist checked out, but the doctor talked him into letting him check out the cold he was sporting. It didn’t take much; the ache in his head had spread across his face, starting to creep into his right ear. The pain was becoming a bit dizzying, so despite his initial hesitance, Tyler agreed to let the doctor check out his sinuses. That’s how he’d ended up with a prescription for antibiotics, on top of confirmation that his wrist was indeed sprained. If that wasn’t the cherry on this miserable sundae, Tyler made the mistake of stifling in front of the doctor, who chided him. Informing him that if he didn’t want a trip to the emergency room with a blown eardrum, he’d quit stifling. The mental image alone was enough for Tyler to agree to quit at least until his sinus infection cleared up. It wasn’t an easy feat, especially standing in line in the busy pharmacy waiting to fill his prescription. He was used to stifling his sneezes into oblivion when in public, so every sneeze he let out left him feeling exposed. He thanked his lucky star that he was already a bit flushed from the fever he was running; otherwise, he was sure his face would be beet red. Tyler looked to make sure no one was paying attention before pulling his mask down to tend to his nose. Swiping at it with the soggy ball of tissues in his hand, not daring to blow it, already feeling mortified. Tissues were another thing he added to his growing mental list of things to pick up to battle this cold. He breathed a sigh of relief when he finally made it to the front of the line, giving the pharmacist his name as the woman quickly retrieved his prescription. She handed it over to him, and he paid, making a beeline for the tissue aisle. Tyler filled his basket with an arsenal of items to battle this bug, and was heading towards the checkout when he saw something that stopped him in his tracks.  Cursing, Tyler ducked out of view into a nearby aisle. Standing by the checkout was his ex-boyfriend, Leon. The last time they’d seen each other hadn’t been great, as Tyler had found out Leon had been cheating on him for months, almost the entirety of their relationship. In fact, he was standing at the checkout with them. It’d been a month since they’d broken up, and Tyler didn’t regret his decision at all, but still seeing the other man looking content and happy with another man still stung.

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Day 5: You Can't Get Sick From Rain (And Yet)

Just another short and sweet little ficlet, introducing a couple of characters that played a couple roles in some of my other writing. This is Layla and Alice. You may have seen them introduced in Love at First Sneeze and Disaster control. They're dating each other and I absolutely adore them, because they're just so sweet. Anyway, once again thank you for everyones continued support. I hope that you enjoy this one! ⚠️ Minors Don't Interact ⚠️ The dark clouds rumbled above, bringing with them the threat of rain as Layla eyed them warily. She was starting to wish she’d taken up Alice’s offer to pick her up from class. I’d be a perfect end to a rotten day, for the sky to open up and start pouring. It all started this morning when Layla’s alarm failed to go off, making her late for her Chemistry class, so she got last pick on lab partners. Landing her with ending up doing most of the work on their assignment while her partner scrolled on their phone. Then, when she’d gone to grab her lunch from her bag, she found that her water bottle had opened up, absolutely drenching the contents, making her food pretty much inedible. The cherry on top was when she went to the eatery on campus to grab something, only to find that he’d left her wallet at home. Layla was done with this day, wanting nothing more than to get back to her apartment and gorge herself on popcorn with some crappy B-grade horror movie. The sky flashed above her, before erupting in an earsplitting crack, before rain started coming down. “Shit…”Layla hissed, lifting her messenger bag over her head in a flimsy attempt to shield herself from the rain. She ran across campus for a bit, eventually taking shelter underneath an awning, but at that point, the damage had been done. The icy chill was biting at her skin as her clothes were pretty much soaked through. The final straw came when a raindrop slid down the length of her nose, bringing with it a tickle trickling through her sinuses, slow and smooth like molasses. “hiHH—itssHHiehwww!!” The sneeze came barreling out of her faster than she could react as she sprayed the air in front of her, disappearing into the torrential rain. Layla sniffled, making the decision that it was time to throw in the towel, pulling her phone out of her bag, scrolling through her contacts until her girlfriend's number came up. She didn’t even have to press call, as Alice’s number flashed across the screen, the other woman beating her to the punch. Answering it, the other woman started talking before she could even get a word in. “Look, I know you said you were okay walking home, but it’s really starting to come down, so I’m coming to pick you up.” Alice started, “And don’t even think about arguing, I’m already halfway there.” Layla smiled, feeling her chest swell with warm fondness as she listened to her girlfriend talk. “Thank god, it’s miserable out here.” Layla groaned, shimming a little further into her narrow shelter from the rain as it continued to come down with no signs of letting up. Alice stayed on the phone with Layla as her girlfriend complained about her absolutely miserable day. “Oh my poor love, that does sound miserable.” Alice cooed as Layla opened her mouth to say something else. Instead, her breath hitched. "hHIH-hPPTShhihw! HH-! HHgnkKtt!” “Bless you!” Alice exclaimed, “Sounds like being out in that weather isn’t doing you any favors either.” “Yeah…”Layla sniffled, too exhausted to argue that being in the rain didn’t really give you a cold. “Alright, I’m about ten minutes out, so I’m gonna hang up. I’ll see you in a minute, love.” Alice told her. “Okay, love you, thanks for coming to pick me up.” Layla said. “Always love.” Alice answered, her voice flooded with affection.