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Yuwen was woken up by his own coughing.
His eyes flew open as his lungs quietly convulsed. He immediately rolled onto his side in an attempt to breathe easier and the hacking stopped. He inhaled, feeling the congestion clogging his nose.
Uuuuggh.
He closed his eyes and tried to slip back into unconsciousness, to delay the inevitable, but apparently his brain was now awake enough to sneeze. He sneezed about a billion times before it finally stopped, only to be replaced by shivering.
Fuuck.
He pulled his blanket tighter around himself. Well, this was gonna be a FUN DAY. He groaned and rolled over again, spotting a familiar figure laying on the floor across from his bed.
FuuuuUUuuuuckk.
He’d forgotten Kai was sleeping over. To be fair, Kai slept over all the time. Well, not literally all the time, but more than normal. Or atleast more than what Yuwen thought was normal. Actually, he didn’t remember anyone ever sleeping over at his place before he met Kai. He looked around at his tiny cramped “bedroom,” at the sliding curtain which sanctioned it off from the rest of the RV and acted as his only means of privacy. He’d never invited anyone to sleep over here before; why would they want to?
But, Kai was different. He thought Kai might be his best friend. Maybe. They hadn’t known each other that long, she’d moved to Peaks Valley only a few months ago. But, they sorta, got each other. Yuwen felt like no one really got him like Kai did. He didn’t wanna seem desperate but…he hoped she felt the same.
“…no…no…please…” he heard a whisper.
Ah, yes. There was also this discovery. Apparently Kai hadn’t known she talked in her sleep until Yuwen told her, and she was also a much heavier sleeper than him, so he was often awake to hear it. He didn’t mind that much, at least she wasn’t a snorer, and…honestly…well, she revealed a lot more about herself while sleeping than she ever did while awake. He tried not to listen, but sometimes he was curious and…
He felt guilt stab his chest, but he couldn’t help hearing right now anyway.
“…no…mom…stay…hhrrr…”
Surprise prickled through him. Kai never talked about her mom, usually not even in her sleep, and he never pressed her to. She never pressed him about his dad, after all, so he figured he’d return the favor.
Kai whimpered and huffed, her breathing uneven. He rubbed his eyes and peered closer at her. Was she…flushed? It was hard to tell in the dimly lit room and with her darker skin, but he thought her cheeks looked kinda red. Her face and nightshirt had sweat on them and she sounded…raspy…
Oh.
“…I-I don’t want…no…there’s gotta be…” she groaned and sniffled. Even in her sleep, her face was scrunched up. She looked in pain. “Don’t…leave me…”. He suddenly felt uncomfortable. He shouldn’t be hearing this, she wasn’t choosing to share this. He was desperately curious but…
“Mmm, um, Kai?”
Kai jolted awake at the sound of her own name, and immediately had a coughing fit to match his. Eventually it subsided and she groaned, flopping back and draping one arm over her face.
“…Kai?” Yuwen tried again after a moment. Did she even realize he’d woken her up?
She rolled over to look at him with bleary eyes.
“Hmm? Yu? Wutisit?” her voice was VERY raspy, but his probably didn’t sound much better.
“Mmm…im sick, yur sick,” he muttered sleepily.
“Whaat? Siiick? Nah, I feel great…” she coughed a little more and wiped sweat from her brow.
“Mmm, mmhmm,” he hummed skeptically. He already knew this mood of Kai’s. Apparently in her mind any physical ailment she may have, whether it be a scrape or sniffles or oncoming heat stroke, was a sign of weakness and must be ignored at all costs.
“Weeelll then whataya doin layin there? Get me some tea, lazy bones!” he trilled through his congestion.
“Right! On it!” To Yuwen’s amazement, she actually began to extract her legs from her sleeping bag and stand up. The girl swayed slightly on her feet, her eyes glazed dangerously with fever.
“Wha-! I didn’t mean actually! Lay down before ya pass out!” he yelped. “It would completely ruin this sleepover if you passed out! Accept your fate, fellow sicky.”
She begrudgingly fell back down on to the bag with an angry sniff.
“Can’t believe you got me sick, to think I was almost starting to trust you,” she huffed.
“Excuse me?! You obviously got me sick! You’ve probly been sick for a week without telling anyone!” he gasped, giving her the most dramatically offended expression he could manage without sitting up.
“Nuh uh,” she retorted.
“Yuh huh.”
“Nuh uh!”
“Yuh huh!”
“Nuh uh!!!”
“Yuh huh!!!”
They both sneezed at the same time and paused to wipe their noses.
“C’mon, I wouldn’t do that,” she said, slightly more seriously, “no one deserves this.” She pulled at the collar of her damp shirt as if trying to cool down. He knew it probably wasn’t any more pleasant, but he sort of envied her for not needing to wrap herself into a burrito to avoid shaking like a wet chihuahua. “Cold weather sucks,” she muttered.
Oh, yeah, it had been pretty cold lately, lots of chilly rain and wind as winter descended on the valley. It never actually got cold enough to snow there, which meant they missed out on the fun part of winter while still experiencing the cold and flu season.
Yaaaay. Welcome to Peaks Valley, new best friend.
“Atleast you actually run warm. Try needing a jacket and pants for anything below 70!” he flashed.
“Doesn’t your greater sensitivity make it all the more likely you caught this and gave it to me?” she pointed out.
“Ehhhh, I’m not legally required to answer that,” his tone was light, but he felt a genuine prick of guilt. He really had felt fine yesterday, if he’d thought he was coming down with something he wouldn’t have let Kai come over. Oh well, atleast now they were going down together. Unless…
“I guess you wanna call your dad and go home?” he said in spite of himself.
“Hmmmmm…I told him I wouldn’t be home til tonight…” she murmured, folding her legs and crossing her arms thoughtfully, “I don’t have to.”
“You’d rather stay here for a sick day?” he gestured at the tiny space and the trailer park outside the window.
“I’ll go out on a limb and guess your mom makes good soup?” she said, flashing a grin.
He snorted. Kai was treated to his mother’s cooking atleast twice a week. Even when she wasn’t having meals with them she was almost always sent home with food. It was kind of embarrassing, but it seemed to make both Kai and his mom happy, so he didn’t try to stop it.
He hesitated, then asked, “Does your dad not make good soup?”
She didn’t answer for a long moment. He wondered if he’d overstepped. Yuwen had met Kai’s father a few times, but only briefly. Whenever the two crossed paths Kai always ushered the interaction along to end almost as soon as it started, as if she was worried that her dad would embarrass her, or that Yuwen would embarrass her. He sincerely hoped it was the first option. After a while, just before he was about to say ‘Kai?’, she piped up-
“No, not really. And, he’s just…not that great with sickness, I think ‘cause of my…” she trailed off. Something clicked in Yuwen’s brain.
“…your mom?” he finished her sentence without thinking. He sorta wanted to kick himself for the shocked and sad look she gave him. “You…talk in your sleep, remember?” he added guiltily, “I didn’t mean to hear…uh…sorry.”
“It’s…okay,” she said.
There was a long awkward pause, then:
“Yeah…she, uh, she died when I was pretty young, back when I was…” she hugged her arms tighter around her chest, “…anyway I…don’t remember her much, but I remember saying goodbye to her. They didn’t tell me until right before. I didn’t get to say a lot to her, before she was gone.”
He hadn’t expected her to share that much. He didn’t think her watery eyes were just from sneezing. He figured he should say something, something comforting or insightful.
“Oh,” he said instead.
Kai raised an eyebrow at him. “‘Oh’?” she echoed.
“I MEAN, MY DAD GOT ARRESTED WHEN I WAS NINE,” he blurted.
FuuuuuuuUUUUUuuuuuuucckkk.
“…for…for domestic abuse…and drunk driving…and assault…and attempted-” he cut himself off at the look on Kai’s face. This was not going how he’d planned it. And he hadn’t planned it at all. “B-but, uh, this isn’t about ME!” Now that was a sentence he never thought he’d say. Best-Friendship changed people.
Another awkward silence. Yuwen sniffed loudly.
“Um…so, yeah…” he tried.
“So…yeah, um…” she tried, or atleast he thought she was trying. She was always trying, harder than anyone he knew.
…
“We’re not very good at this, are we?” she said wryly.
“I mean, you’re burning up and I’m a wet chihuahua and we both sound like we swallowed cheese graters,” he reasoned, “but, uh, no.”
“Yeah…thanks for telling me, though,” she said, perhaps a little sheepishly, but still in that wonderful Kai way.
“Yeaahh, a’course. You too…I mean, thanks for telling me, too,” he said, definitely sheepishly, and in a way that felt weirdly naked, like going on stage without a costume.
“‘Course. S’what best friends do,” she said casually.
A little voice in his chest screamed, ‘YEEEEEEESSSSSS!’ while dancing and throwing confetti in the air. It would probably be like that for the rest of the day. It was gonna be a fun day.
“Sorry about your mom,” he said carefully.
“S’okay. Sorry about your dad.”
“S’okay. I’ve got my mom. I’ve always had her…” he was a little embarrassed to say that out loud, but it was how he felt, or maybe it was the high fever talking.
“Yeah, and I got my dad…” She looked thoughtful. “I love him but…sometimes he’s too much, and sometimes he doesn’t understand. Having my grandma there helps but, sometimes I need a break from him.”
“Oh,” Yuwen said again, another thing clicking in his brain, “well, you’re always welcome here. Mi trashy trailer park, es su trashy trailer park.”
She chuckled, “‘Preciate that.”
He chuckled back, then his breath hitched and he coughed again.
“Y’wanna wake your mom?” she asked. Sleepiness was beginning to slur her words again, but she still managed to look concerned at him.
“Nah, it’s still early. So unless you’re, like, dying, I think we’ll be fine.”
Almost on cue, his shivers started up again. He pulled the blanket in closer and started tossing and turning, trying to get comfortable. Maybe that hadn’t been the greatest idea, he considered as he rolled slightly too far left and landed with a dull thump on the floor.
“…ow.”
“Y’know, you’ve already come down with something. You don’t have to literally go down,” Kai teased.
“Sh-shu’up,” he croaked, his teeth chattering. The wood was unpleasantly cool, but the thought of trying to stand up and climb back into bed made him tremble more.
He felt a warm hand grab his arm. Kai wordlessly tugged him onto the makeshift palette of rugs and blankets they’d set up for her to lay her sleeping bag on. It was no bed, but it was better than cold hard floor, and Kai radiated warmth. She threw his bed blanket back over him, then another one for good measure. His tremors mercifully receded.
“Mmm…” he grunted sleepily.
“Mmm?” she questioned.
“Mmmm…” he hesitated, “…thanks…”
“Mmm,” she yawned and laid back, “don’t cough on me.”
He felt a smile tug at his mouth, even as drowsiness rose up to drag him back into blissful unconsciousness. “No promises.”