Taylor hugged his Physics book to his chest and stood in front of Carter. She was sitting on the couch wrapped up in a blanket, wearing her bunny slippers. She had a thermometer in her mouth. "Car, are you still mad at me?"
Carter looked up at Taylor. "Mmmmphu pmmmph mmmph mmmph pool."
"What?" Taylor raised an eyebrow.
Carter pulled the thermometer out from under her tongue and looked at it. "One hundred and one point four." She wimpered and smiled at Zac who was sitting across the room in an armchair. She'd been sick for two days and was keeping a safe distance so that he wouldn't end up sick too. Then she returned her gaze to Taylor. "You put my bed in the pool."
Taylor sighed and dropped the book onto the coffee table. "And I'll end up being sorry about it for the rest of my life."
"If you know what's good for you."
Taylor sighed again and jumped up when he heard the doorbell ring. "Pizza guy's here!"
Carter jumped up too. "AW SHIT! TAYLOR!?!"
"What?" He asked before opening the door.
"Is it the hot one?!"
"Uhm?"
"LOOK! IS IT THE HOT ONE!?"
Taylor looked out the window on the door. "Uhm. He's blonde."
Carter wimpered again. "Is he wearing shiny maroon shoes?"
Taylor looked down. "Yeah."
"GOD SPAMMIT!" Carter covered her head with her blanket.
Taylor looked at Zac, confused.
"He's hot... she's sick... she think she looks like hell."
"Oh." Taylor shrugged and opened the door. "Hey man."
The pizza guy handed Taylor the pizzas and collected his money. Then he looked over Taylor's shoulder. "Hey where's that girl that's always complimenting me on my shoes."
Zac glared from his chair. "She lives next door. Do people not realize this?!"
"Aw bummer. She's pretty cute."
Taylor tried not to laugh as he saw Carter's head perk up underneathe the blanket.
"She's my girlfriend."
"Aw bummer again." The pizza guy shrugged.
"Actually... she's here right now." Taylor smiled and took a step back toward the couch. He grabbed the blanket from Carter who in turn tried covering her face with a pillow.
"Hi." She muttered and waved slightly in his general direction.
"Uh. Hi." The pizza guy shrugged. "Alright, I'll see you later."
Taylor laughed and closed the door. "Now that, was funny." He plopped down on the couch next to Carter.
Carter smiled at him. "You know what Tay?"
"Huh?" He asked, nervously.
"I will help you with your Physics."
"REALLY?!" Taylor's eyes lit up.
"Sure why not. It took a lot of creativity to embarrass me in front of the pizza dude. Here get your book and show me where you're stumped."
Taylor reached forward to grab his book. When he opened it to show Carter the page that was bothering him, she grabbed the sides of his face, leaned forward, and planted a kiss right on his lips. Then, she opened her mouth, and licked the entire surface of his right cheek. "MAY INFLUENZA ROT YOUR BODY!"
Zac roared with laughter as Taylor jumped up, threw his book at Carter, and ran out of the room screaming, "THAT WAS SO NOT COOL!"
Carter grinned. "Well, now I'm going to go wash my mouth out with soap." She laughed and left to get a drink from the kitchen. When she came back, she handed a can of Dr. Pepper to him.
Zac reached out and grabbed her arm, pulling her down on top of him so that she was in his lap. He smiled down at her and put his arms around her shoulders.
"Uhm, Zac, you're gonna catch my flu."
Zac shrugged. "I seriously don't give a flark."
"A flark? Cute."
Zac smiled and leaned forward, kissing her tenderly on the lips. "See there. Now I have the flu anyway. Now it doesn't matter."
Carter laughed. "Zaaac, I didn't want you to get sick. You're immune system doesn't work right and you'll be sick for weeks."
"Look, if you have the flu and you've been in the same house as me, I already have it. So there's nothing I can do anyway. Right?"
Carter shrugged. "I guess so."
"Well ok then." He smiled and kissed her again.
"Your mom is gonna be mad at me."
Zac kissed her again, this time, for longer. "I don't care."
She laughed and snuggled closer to him, curling into a ball and resting her head on his chest. "You're not mad that I had to kiss Tay?"
"Hey, it got him out of the room, didn't it?" He laughed. "I'd say it was a job well worth it."
"Ok but, next time you kiss him ok?"
"Uhm. No?"
Carter smiled and closed her eyes, completely comfortable in Zac's arms. Before she knew it, she was asleep for the first time in two days. Zac wanted to wake her up and kiss her again, but he was happy that she was finally sleeping. He liked taking care of her for a change. He let her sleep while he ran his fingers through her dark hair. He could hear and feel her heart beating against his and he knew it was the way it should be. He carefully reached behind him and grabbed a large blanket, then he laid it across the two of them. Then he just sat there, for three hours, while Carter slept.