Jacob's Tutor | Jacob Day

Chapter 15

In his restless sleep, Jacob could feel the eyes of his friends staring down at him. "He doesn't look too good, bro." "Nope." This had been the worst three days of his life. None of his friends knew anything about how to care for a sick person. In fact, they'd probably made it worse. His sisters- maybe they could help, but they were all the way back in Georgia. Georgia. It had been so long since he walked down a quiet street. Had a conversation that didn't end with views or likes. Been greeted with the southern hospitality that he'd been raised with his whole life. He realized he wanted Lily. Not only did she remind him of all those things, but she was the smartest person he had ever met, and she was minoring in medicine. She would know exactly what to do. Adrenaline ran through him in embarrassment at the thought. Since when had he grown to trust her so much? When he first met her, she was just a feisty girl arguing with Tabitha at the library. Then he realized her impressive mind and ambitious heart. She was quick-thinking, witty and passionate, and it shone through in everything she did. And now? Well, he wasn't sure where things had gone, or if she'd be willing to help him... But he was too weak to consider it further, so his eyes fluttered shut. "Lily," he managed aloud. "Huh?" Eddie stared at Jacob in confusion. "He wants that tutor girl," Bryce chimed in. "What on Earth is she gonna do?" "She's smarter than all of us, Bryce," Kristian said. "She's not just gonna sit here and let him rot like we are." "Speak for yourself."

"Yo, sorry to bother you like this, but the boys and I really need your help. Jacob has been sick the past few days and he isn't looking so good. Was hoping you could come by and try to fix him up. -Bryce." Lily's stomach twisted as she read the text. She knew it was bad for them to resort to texting her. Lily must have been grimacing, because her best friend was onto her. "What happened, Lil?" If only you knew. Lily knew what could happen if she told people that she had been hanging out at the Hype and Breezy Houses. It's not that she didn't trust Savannah, because she did, with every ounce of her heart. It was just that she didn't want to make it a bigger deal than it was. Savannah was innocent in the sense that she would never be able to take Lily's interactions with Jacob lightly. She would linger on the fact that he was an Internet celebrity and he'd openly invited Lily into his circle- multiple times. She'd swear that this was a big deal and that she meant something to him. She'd ask for a picture and then lose her mind when she saw how attractive he was... Then she'd tell Lily she was crazy for not pursuing him. And the other reason Lily hadn't brought it up? Maybe, just maybe, if she didn't speak about it, none of it was real. "Nothing, Sav, just read a sad article on Reddit again." "Oh... okay." The thing about Savannah was, she never pushed someone for the truth. It was written all over Lily's face that something was wrong. But if Lily didn't want to talk about it, then Savannah would leave it at that, worrying on the inside about it for the rest of the day. Lily stood up, clearly with a pressing thought on her mind, and smiled down at her friend. "I have to go– tutoring. See you tomorrow?" Savannah looked up at her with a mix of concern and passiveness. "Of course— Love you." Lily winked over her shoulder as she reached the door. "Love you too."

When Lily first saw Jacob, her heart sank. He was laying in the bed in a dark room, legs sprawled out in gray sweatpants and neck crunched up against a black hoodie. It was uncomfortable even to look at. As she got closer, she realized he looked like he had lost weight. "What have you been feeding him, Eddie?" "The same things I eat." "He's 6'6, for Christ's sake, you can't feed him the same things. He'll evaporate." Eddie reddened, but Lily didn't care. She was mad, furious even. How could they leave him like this for three days? "Open the blinds," she ordered. Her voice was light and airy, but there was a clear sense of command to it. Almost instantaneously, the shutters whinnied and light streamed into the sun-starved room. Jacob squinted, mumbling a complaint that it was too bright. Lily ignored him, grabbing one of his wrists and pinching the back of his hand. "What the f–" "Sorry," Lily whispered, scrutinizing it. Thanks for the warning," Jacob quipped, his tired voice breaking. The usual playfulness in it was gone. Yep, the skin was taking a long time to bounce back. "You're dehydrated. Eddie, could you please get me one of those gallon sized waters you guys bring to the gym?" She heard him leave the room wordlessly. "I don't want water," Jacob whined, getting agitated now. Despite his ill state, the hint of aggression in his voice scared her, and she knew his strength on a sick day was a hell of a lot stronger than her on a good day. "I didn't ask what you wanted," Lily said sweetly, regretting her bluntness as she said it. "That's it," he grunted, making a move to get out of bed. His patience was definitely dwindling, that was for sure. Lily didn't know what he had been through in the past two days, but she knew it wasn't good. She realized she had to take her time with him. "Woah, woah," Lily countered, jumping up to ease his head back down to the pillow. "Take it easy." Catching a whiff of her light vanilla scent, Jacob slowed a bit, the rush of familiarity calming him. Lily felt a gentle breeze of someone approaching behind her, and she turned to collect the water jug from Eddie. "Drink this," she told Jacob, scooting closer to his side of the bed and holding it out for him. "You can't make me." Lily huffed exasperatedly, and then remembered herself. Patience is a virtue. "I'll drink some with you, okay?" Not waiting for his answer, Lily lifted the jug to her lips, taking several generous swigs. "Your turn." Reluctantly, Jacob took the water from her, staring down at it repugnantly. "Here, I'll help you sit up." Lily floated to his side and reached behind his neck. Based on how warm he was, he definitely had a fever. Grunting, he leaned against the headboard, taking a few sips of the cool water. He sighed and screwed the cap back on the lid a bit more aggressively than Lily would have liked. Unfortunately for him, he was going to like this next activity even less. "Uh, Jacob, we're gonna have to do something about this fever." "Huh?" "You have a fever. We need to cool you off." Processing that, Jacob exhaled and ran a hand through his hair with far less spirit than usual. The two of them sat in silence for a few moments; Lily prodded at the stitches on the quilt. Eventually, he made an exhausted sound. "What are you gonna do to me?" Lily bit back a smile. In any other circumstance, Lily would be asking him what he's gonna do to her. "Take your sweatshirt off." Surprisingly, Jacob obliged, sitting up and pulling the hoodie over his head. His dark hair fanned out messily over his forehead. Lily hesitated. "...And your shirt." He rolled his eyes. "You are a lot of work." "You are a lot of sick." Once Jacob was shirtless, Lily went to the bathroom to run some cool water over a towel. Realizing what was going to happen as Lily returned, Jacob's eyes widened, and he laughed nervously a little. "Yo, no way," he said, already shifting away from her in the bed. Lily realized she had the upper hand in that moment and bit back a smile. "Oh, yes," she countered lightly, plopping herself down next to him. "Don't worry, I will go slow." Keeping her promise, she touched the dry part of the towel to his skin first, carefully transitioning to the cool part on the least sensitive part of his arm. "Not so bad, right?" Jacob glared at her, but she knew he was just being dramatic. She slid the towel from his arm to his shoulder, and then stopped to look at him. "Kay, this may be a little colder, sorry." "Fuck, just do it." Lily wiped down his chest now, which was solidly firm all the way down. It was strange how different his body was from hers. "You weren't kidding." Lily laughed. "Nope. Okay, just the back of your neck now." Lily learned in one of her classes that the back of the neck was one of the most important areas to apply a cold compress to when trying to cool someone off, especially if they were going to faint. Just as delicately as before, Lily touched the towel to his skin, her eyes finding his. "That actually feels good." "Yeah, I know." Lily could see that he looked a lot better now. The combination of sunshine, hydration, and reducing his fever had done good things. He was still sick, no doubt, but she was no longer worried the way she was when she first walked in. "You're good at taking care of me," he said deeply. Lily smiled and resisted the urge to run her fingers through his hair. "That's what I'm here for." "How are you so good?..." His tired voice trailed off. "I work with little kids, remember? They're always getting sick, so it's part of the job." "Oh, yeah. They are lucky to have you, you know."

— 3 hour time jump —

"Please don't leave tonight." Jacob was looking at Lily with total seriousness, but she couldn't help but laugh a little. She had been downstairs for a few hours while he rested, mostly doing work but also doing some virtual sessions. The boys had been surprisingly respectful of her space. She focused her gaze at the quilt so she didn't have to stare into those cyan eyes when she let him down. "I have to go home, Jacob." In her periphery she saw him try to sit up for a second, clearly battling the fog of his illness. "You can't leave me with them. They know nothing. And you've made me feel so much better." He was pleading with her. God, why was Lily so bad at saying no to him? It wasn't usually this hard for her. She sighed. "Where would I stay?" "Right here." "I don't know if that's a good idea." "Just to sleep," he said quickly. "I promise." Lily considered the possibility. They had both recently made the mistake of giving into their impulses, and it couldn't happen again. At the same time, she knew he would never do anything without her consent. Besides, he was exhausted beyond belief. "Do you snore?" "No." "Good, me neither."

As soon as Lily got into bed, she felt an odd awareness of the space between him and her. She was on his left, facing his back, and the vastness of white sheets between them felt a mile long. She was expecting to want more distance between them, not the other way around. As if reading her mind, Jacob turned over in his bed to face her. "Staring at me, huh?" Lily scoffed. "What do you want me to do, look at the wall?" She grabbed the pillow under her head a little tighter as she said that. "No, I'm just kidding. Are you comfortable?" Lily had to admit, it was sweet of him to think of her when he was obviously uncomfortable with his illness. "I'm fine, just a little cold," she replied truthfully. His eyes went to her bare shoulders. "Well, you're not wearing any sleeves." He thought for a second. "C'mere." Lily was kicking herself for doing it, but she turned around and inched towards him gingerly, her back to him. He ran his hand down her slender arm a few times to warm it, which was impressively effective. The same big, strong hand that has run down her back so many times by now, mostly protectively, but that one time... Nonsense, Lily this is different and you know it. Once she had warmed up, Lily had expected him to release her back to her own side of the bed. But he didn't. Instead, he pulled her securely into his chest, as if she was a stuffed animal. Surprisingly, it didn't feel abrupt; it felt instinctual, as if it would be more unnatural to let her go. The size difference between them was startling to Lily no matter how many times she got close to him. Her legs ended somewhere above his knees, but his legs just kept on going. His chest completely swallowed hers, so she was surrounded by his warmth on all sides. Ignoring how good it felt, Lily was about to yell at him, but then she remembered how sick and alone he had been for the past three days. Her stubborn heart panged. She was the first person he thought of to help him. If she could bring him some comfort tonight, so be it. As she lay there, Lily realized that although she was protecting him mentally, he was protecting her physically. Nobody would ever hurt her here. In fact, in a house with Jacob, Kristian, and Ace, she was as safe as she could ever be. With that, she took a deep breath and nuzzled herself closer to his large body, entering a realm of clear skies and rolling hills in her sleep.

A/N: Thank you for your support guys! I smile every time one of you comments that you love the story. I am having so much fun writing it. As always, enjoy, and please vote and comment if you did!