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Lewis was highly concerned. He didn't want to be, however, yet again, he found his entire emotional capacity being taken up by the blonde German who lived next door.
What was even more annoying to him was that it was his absence which was driving him insane. Lewis knew all of Nico's habits: from when he left to go to the downstairs gym, to when he did his weekly food shop, to when he took out his bins. Lewis had memorised all of this information in order to minimise the chance of any awkward interactions after 2016. So, when a week had passed since they both arrived home from the Hungarian Grand Prix (and Lewis knew Nico had made it home) and he hadn't heard any of Nico's usual comings and goings, he was losing his mind.
There had been no movement out of Nico's flat. Lewis didn't hear him leave once and never saw him in the lift or downstairs. The only reason why Lewis knew Nico was definitely in his flat and on holiday was the occasional loud sneeze that echoed through the shared hallway.
The final nail in the coffin for Lewis was the small pile of packages building by Nico's door. Even though he hadn't spoken more than a few words to Nico in years, he knew the German. Nico would not leave his packages lying around outside his door, always worrying about them being stolen or causing clutter.
This all meant that Lewis felt entirely justified in knocking on Nico's door one morning to find out what was wrong. For the greater good, of course. He rapped his knuckles against the door three times and stood back. From behind the door, he heard a clatter and some muffled swearing before the door swung open to reveal the object of his thoughts.
Nico stood before him in grey pyjamas, with pale skin and a red flush high on his cheeks. His nose was a similar shade of red and beads of sweat had formed on his forehead, gathering there like tiny drops of dew. Bags under his eyes were sunk deep into his face, surrounding red rimmed eyes. Lewis suddenly thought he looked strikingly similar to a pretty porcelain doll before quickly dismissing the idea from his mind.
"Lewis? What is it, what do you want?" Nico's face twisted in confusion as he held onto his door frame in support, his voice raspy.
Lewis opened and closed his mouth before starting "Well, I noticed you hadn't been out much and you didn't collect your packages, and was just wondering if you were all right?" Lewis gestured down at the little pile of cardboard boxes by his feet and raised his hand to awkwardly scratch the back of his neck, whilst looking at the ground.
Nico started at him, his mouth hanging open, dumbfounded. "You were worried because I didn't collect my packages." He said the words slowly, as if not quite believing them himself.
"Well, y'know, you're so you and you always get your post as soon as it comes and, well, you don't look very ok..." Lewis trialed off, realising how odd he must sound. He is backed up in his theory by the growing confusion on Nico's face.
"Right. Ok, I'm sorry I've not gotten my post, I'll fix that right now for you." Nico started to half-heartedly try and push the pile towards his door with his foot, with limited success and growing frustration before breaking into a fit of coughs.
"No, no, that's not what I meant - here, let me help" Lewis reached down and picked up the small pile before Nico could say anything and started moving inside to his flat. "Where do you want them?"
"I could've done it myself but thank you." Nico mumbled. Lewis looked at him with disbelief, as he took in the general mess of the flat. There was a small pile of glasses in the sink and his suitcase from Hungary stood still packed by the door. Lewis also noticed the scarce look of the opened kitchen cupboard and the way the cotton of Nico's pyjamas seemed to hang slightly loser than they should've. "Anywhere's fine. Look I don't mean to be rude but I'm really not feeling my best and -"
"Have you eaten?"
"Huh?"
"Have you eaten today?" Lewis stared at Nico with an expectant expression. The question surprised himself if he was honest. He had only wanted to check that Nico was alive but seeing Nico in this state made his heart clench in ways he didn't want to unpack.
"Well, no, but I'm not very hungry -"
"If you're sick, you need some food to give you the energy to get better." Nico started at him, bewildered at where this was all coming from. "I have the ingredients for that broth I used to make when we were kids in my flat. Just wait there." Before Nico could protest, Lewis was up and out of the flat, propping the door open with a nearby shoe before running back in with his arms full of vegetables. He dropped them on the kitchen island, before veering round and guiding Nico into one of the nearby stools. "Sit. Do you need anything? Water?"
"Lewis. What the actual fuck? You can't just ignore me for all these years and now all of a sudden play hero. Besides, I'm not even that sick-" Nico's raspy voice was cut off but a loud sneeze at the end.
Lewis started at him unimpressed, whilst starting to chop carrots. "I know you well enough to know you're still as stubborn as a mule. Besides, I do care." Lewis avoided eye contact, starkly staring down at the chopping board in from of him.
"What, you care enough to know my schedule so you can avoid me?" Nico replied. The force of his glare was reduced by his pitiful expression as he blew his nose into a tissue. Lewis absently thought he looked similar to a kicked puppy in the exact same way he did when they were just teenagers.
"No. Yes. Maybe. Look, I know I've been absent when you tried to reach out-"
"The understatement of the century."
"-but I'm here now and I'd like the chance to prove I do care."
"But why now? What's sparked this?" Nico said, with his head pillowed in his arms on the island, staring up at him through his dark lashes. "If I didn't feel like such utter shit right now, I'd throw you out. "
"I...I heard the broadcast during the red flag at Spa. And maybe it made me realise I missed you more than I care to admit. Because I do, Nico. I miss you." Lewis paused his chopping and stared back at Nico with wide, sincere eyes, trying to convey every unspoken word from the last 10 years. Brown met blue as a storm of emotions passed through both men.
The moment broke when Nico sneezed again.
"But for now, you are a sick man and need to eat some food." Lewis turned around and threw his vegetables into a pot with sizzling oil. Nico grumbled unintelligibly behind him, murmuring something about bossy men.
"Yes, yes, I'm very mean, now drink." Lewis gently placed a cup of steaming tea in front of him. "It's lemon, ginger and honey. Be grateful it's actual tea and not the Lemsip shit. When did you last have any painkillers?"
"Not since last night I don't think. This is nice." Nico rose from his position on his arms and sipped the tea in from of him. When he lowered the cup, he saw two small pills in front of him. Looking up, Lewis already had his back to him, his attention turned to the pot bubbling on the stove.
Despite the oddity of the entire situation, Nico couldn't really bring himself to care. His nose was blocked, he couldn't breath properly, he was too hot but too cold and his throat felt raw. If his ex-best friend, who he always harboured some not-really-so-secret-feelings-for, turned rival wanted to cook for him, he wasn't going to stop him. With how horrific he had been feeling for the past week, he was willing to accept any help offered.
Nico's musings were interrupted by a bowel of steaming vegetable soup in front of him. The smell was the first that reached his nose in days and he inhaled deeply. A hand placed a spoon by him and he followed the attached arm to see Lewis' concerned face. "Do you need anything else? More bread, tissues, water?"
Nico stared, momentarily stunned, before he replied. "No, I'm fine, thank you though." He tentatively raised his spoon to his mouth before sipping at it lightly. "This is actually really good."
"Actually?" Lewis spun around at him, grin blinding, before giggling.
"Well, forgive my trepidation, but I saw you cooking when we were younger and you were a hazard."
"Luckily for both of us, I've improved minutely since then. Now eat." Lewis slid into the seat next to him, with his own bowel in front of him. They ate in silence, but Nico found that instead of being awkward or stifling, it was instead comfortable.
In fact, when the bowels were empty and the spoons put down, Nico found himself feeling quite sad at the prospect of Lewis leaving. However, that didn't happen. Instead he found himself being ushered from his seat towards his bed. "You should be resting and sleeping. You're running a temperature."
"This wasn't how I imagined you cornering me into bed." Nico's fever-filled mind lacked its usual restraint. He immediately tried to backtrack when he realised what he had said. "That is to say... it's not that...you're..."
Lewis stopped suddenly and Nico finally looked up at his face. He looked as though he had been struck and his pupils were dilating so much his eyes looked black. The expression on his face could only be described as starved. Nico felt himself give shudder at the expression on the other man's face. Then, just as quickly as it appeared, Lewis shook his head and continued hurrying him backwards."We'll talk about that statement when your feeling better."
Lewis pulled back the rumpled duvet on the bed motioned at Nico to climb in, which he did. Lewis then covered him up and, through Nico wanted to make some sarcastic comment about the VIP treatment, felt sleep drawing on him. As his eyes begin to grow heavier, he felt a hand gently stroke through his matted hair. "Call me if you need anything. Anything at all." The last thing he felt was a gentle brush of lips on his forehead before he was well and truly asleep.
---
When Nico woke up, his flat was quiet.
As he dragged himself out of his bed, feeling better than when he had got in, he allowed himself to feel suitably self-pitying that Lewis had left. However, he was knocked out of his woes by the appearance of his flat. The dishes that had been piling in the sink were gone, the shoes left stranded by the door had been dutifully put on the rack and the mess of pillows and blankets on the sofa had been reorganised. Nico even saw his hoover out and on charge.
Feeling slightly dazed, he noticed something on the kitchen counter and made his way over. Say innocently on top was a small bowel of fruit, granola and yogurt, with a small posted-note saying "Eat me!" accompanied with a smiley face. Next to it was another posted-note with a message: "I've gone out to get more food, be back soon! L xxx."
Suddenly, Nico didn't feel as sad as before, as he made his way over to the sofa with his bowel to wait for Lewis to return home.