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"Spencer, can you work the counter after school today?" Grandma asked me from across the table. I looked up from my bowl of cereal confused. Billy was supposed to work today. He didn't say anything about taking the day off yesterday.

"Yes, ma'am but where's Billy?" I asked. I tried not to act too interested but felt like I was failing miserably.

"Oh, the poor thing called in sick. Said he was throwing up. Must be some kind of flu." Grandma said, sympathetically. I instantly felt a pang of worry in my chest. Was someone taking care of him? No, his parents were working were today. I wished I could be there for him. Then an idea came to my head.

"That sucks." I said, frowning slightly. Grandma nodded her head in agreement. "Um...I got to go." I stood up, picking up my bowl.

"Alright, have a good day, sweetie." She said, smiling up at me.

"Mhm." I said, distracted. I went into the kitchen and rinsed out my bowl. "Bye, Grandma." I started heading out the door. I turned left like I always did when I walked out the store. Once I reached the usually empty intersection and did something new: I turned right instead of left. I walked all the way to Billy's house quickly and hopefully unnoticed. I knocked on his door. I had to wait longer than usual for Billy to answer the door. As soon as the door swung open, I realized why. His once tan face was now drained of all color and dark circles encased his dull, emerald eyes. He had a thick blanket wrapped around his half bare body.

"Babe." He said, somewhat surprised. I think it meant to come out as an exclamation but his voice was too weak to hold onto it. I went through the door.

"Hey." I said, softly. I closed the door behind me so that it was just us. "How are you feeling?"

"Good." He said, with a small smile. I chuckled and said, "Sure, you are." He opened his mouth to argue but I put my finger up to his mouth, shushing him.

"Come on. Let's get upstairs." I said, interlocking my arm with his. He didn't argue with me. I knew he wasn't sick, he wouldn't have silenced and complied so quickly. We walked up the stairs with my arm wrapped around his waist to keep him steady. Once we got to his room, he collapsed onto the bed. Billy curled up into a little ball, shaking. My heart wanted to break at the sight of him looking so sick. I didn't know what to do to make it better but I was willing to do whatever it took.

I looked down at the bucket next to his bed. It was half full with the foulest looking and smelling puke. How could I not of noticed that right away? I looked back up at the half asleep Billy and then back down to the puke bucket. I needed to clean it out and Billy wasn't going to notice my momentary departure. I picked it up and started to head out the door but was stopped by Billy.

"Where are you going?" He whined. "Please don't go." I turned around with a smirk. I never pegged Billy for the whiny, sick type. I walked back over to him and set the bucket back down. I bent over and planted a kiss on his sweaty, pale forehead.

"I'll be back." I promised, sweetly. "I just need to clean out the bucket." His lower lip stuck out. I chuckled at the babyish look on his face and left. It took about ten minutes to clean it out. It probably wouldn't take as long if I hadn't of gagged and almost toss my cookies so much. Cleaning puke was not for the weak of heart or stomach. Before heading back, I grabbed a wet washcloth.

I came back. Billy was sitting up, holding his stomach with a sickly look on his face. Uh-oh. I quickly handed him the now pristine bucket. Barely a second later, Billy was throwing up his guts into the bucket. I sat next to him, with my hand resting as a comfort on his back. I turned my head the other way, trying to block out all those nasty sounds and smells. I could seriously not be a nurse or a doctor. A few minutes later, Billy picked his head up, looking even more tired than before if that was even possible. He handed the bucket back to me.

"Uh...thanks." I said, eyeing the now dirty bucket with disgust. I set it down on the floor, hearing the puke swish it around as it hit the floor. Gross. I leaned back over to Billy. I took the washcloth and wiped his face clean. Gently, I pushed him back down to where he was laying back down. "Rest." I whispered, softly in his ear.

"You're bossy." He complained but then I saw a small smile form on his lips. I smirked, receiving a nod. He closed his eyes and within minutes I heard small snores erupt from him. I sighed and wrapped one of my arms around him. With the other, I continued to wipe his face with the washcloth.

For the next few hours, I laid there with him. I thought about the past two weeks since we started dating. Those two weeks have been the best of my life. They made up for all the shit my dad and my old town did to me. What they did didn't even matter anymore. I was getting through everything and coming out so much stronger. If they could see me now, I thought. Maybe they would see how shitty they all were. I doubted that but I didn't care. My life was here now with Billy. I was back on top. I had a decent amount of friends, an amazing secret boyfriend, an actual family, second in the class, and doing winter workouts for baseball. I couldn't ask for more nor would I. I looked down at the peacefully sleeping Billy. He was the best thing I could ever receive. I felt like he was my angel that God Himself sent me. Billy seemed to erase my past with ease. He listened when he needed to and talked when he needed to. He never judged me. He made me feel like it was all alright. The passion emitted from his gem-like eyes when he said he would protect me, made me feel like I was truly, undoubtedly saved. My nightmares vanished when he was near. Never could I express to him how grateful I was for him.

"I love you." I whispered, in his sweat laced hair. There was never a response from him when I said so for I was too cowardly to admit my love while he was awake. I told him this every night we spent together. Sometimes a small smile formed on his sleeping lips but I chalked to up to dreams. Today there was no smile, no movement in response. Poor kid was really sick. I cuddled up next to him, not caring if I got sick. I stayed like that until he woke. The color was starting to come back in his face but he still didn't look like the Billy I was used to.

"Hey, Billy. How are ya feeling?" I asked, as I saw his eyes wandered, confusingly over me.

"Better. Still sicky." He whispered, laying his head on my chest.

"Wanna throw up?" I asked, reaching over for the bucket and lifting it up.

"Yeah." Billy said, his arms outstretched. I handed the bucket to him. I turned around to shield myself. Moments later, he nudged me and gave me back the bucket. I set it back down. "I'm hungry." He whined.

"Damn, did you just not throw up?" I asked in disbelief.

"What if I promise not to throw up?" Billy pleaded. This kid is killing me. I sighed. "There's crackers in the cabinet and ginger ale in the fridge. Pretty please." Those wide, green orbs made me fall victim.

"Fine." I said, begrudgingly. I got up and went downstairs, getting him what he wanted. Then I came back up. He was at a shelf full of movies, pondering deeply.

"Do you wanna watch Despicable Me or The Lorax?" Billy asked, holding up two DVD cases. I set the crackers and ginger ale down and walked over and looked at his shelf. They were all kid's movies with the exception of a few early 90's comedies.

"Despicable Me and do you realize you have the taste of a little kid?" I asked, grabbing the DVD case for Despicable Me. Billy put the other one away.

"Whatever." He said, getting up, shakily. I helped him back over to the bed and went back to put in the DVD. I went back and laid next to Billy. The rest of the afternoon, we watched the kids' movies and shared crackers and ginger ale. Billy had a few questionable moments as to whether or not he could hold his food down but he did it like a champ, thankfully. As it drew time for me to leave, Billy turned to me and said, "Thanks, Spencer."

"It was no problem, baby." I said, kissing him on the lips. He blushed for the first time today. I silently cheered.

"I might start getting sick more often." He joked. I rolled my eyes.

"Um...no. We can do this when you don't toss your cookies all over the place anytime." I smiled.

"Okay." He sighed.

"I'll check on you after dinner. Is there anything you need before I leave?" I asked, getting up. He nodded, somewhat eagerly. "What?"

"Another kiss." He said, with a sly smile. I chuckled.

"Of course." I said, leaning over and giving kiss on the lips again. Another blush. He was almost back to normal. "Bye, feel better."

"Bye." He said, smiling as I walked out the door. The rest of the day went slow and uneventful. Unfortunately, my grandparents found out about my little day off. An old familiar fear hit me when I walked in the kitchen. They didn't look as angry as my dad did whenever I did something bad but they looked really disappointed.

"We just got a call from your school." Grandpa said. Those words I had heard from my father so many times growing up. My stomach balled up, instinctively in fear. "You skipped school." It wasn't a question, more like a statement but I still nodded.

"Why, Spencer?" Grandma asked, clearly confused as to why I would do such a thing. I had to tell the truth, or at least most of it.

"I was taking care of Billy." I admitted, sheepishly. My eyes were glue to the table. This was almost worst than getting in trouble with my dad. "I'm sorry." I truly was as much as I loved Billy, I hated disappointing the people who took me in, my own grandparents. They were the first besides my mom to love and accept me unconditionally. I probably ruined all the trust they had in me. I looked at them to see their reactions. They both looked shocked.

"Why were you taking care of Billy? Weren't his parents there?" Grandma asked.

"I went there before school to check on him to make sure he was alright and he looked really sick. He was shaking real bad and looked as white as a ghost. No one was there for him and I just couldn't leave him." I said, trying to sound as apologetic as possible. The disappointment was fading fast in their eyes. "I really am sorry. I know I must have ruined y'all's trust in me."

"No, Spencer, you haven't." Grandma said. This was my turn to be shocked. "You had good intentions. Just next time call one of us and we'll take care of him. You need to focus on school." I nodded, feeling relieved I hadn't ruined anything.

"Okay, now that everything is cleared up, Spencer go down to the store." Grandpa said. I went down to the store without another word. I unlocked the door and started work. About ten people came in and bought something. A couple stayed and talked for a while. I was more than ready to lock up by the time it was dinner. It was just my grandparents and me. Aunt Niccole was staying late for tutoring tonight at her school. Grandma went to Billy's by herself. She told me I needed to make sure to stay away from him so I wouldn't get sick. I spent all day with him and kissed him, there was no precautions I could take at this point but I still had to stay home.

Waiting for her to get back was torturous. I wanted to know that he was alright. I rather see it for my own eyes but I couldn't press my luck anymore tonight by sneaking out so I had to settle for trusting Grandma's word on it. Finally a half hour later, she came back. I was sitting in the kitchen, impatiently waiting for report.

"Billy is doing better. He will probably go back to school again on Thursday." Grandma said, sitting down at the table. I smiled even though it would be another day before I would be able to spend time with him. We all talked for a little while until I decided to go take a shower. I started feeling nauseous but I shrugged it off. Well until I got out of the shower. My mouth started to water funny. Then everything went straight to hell.

So tell me what y'all think of this chapter. I kinda just typed as it came into my head so sorry if it sucks :/ If you actually do like, vote pretty please. Also would you have chosen The Lorax or Despicable Me?

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