PEACH [BXB/little space]

Just For Now

The next morning, Aaron woke up feeling worse than before. He could hardly hear his own voice and naturally, his sense of smell was long gone and his eyes couldn't stop burning.

He got out of bed and decided to get into his clothes so he can head to work. He knew if he told Simon, the man would deny it and that would lead to another day missed.

He worked slow but quietly, slipping on his shoes and grabbing his apartment key. He opened the door and tip-toed out, making sure to lock it behind him and running to catch the bus. He reached the bookstore, signed in and immediately started shelving books. That was part of what he did there. Sometimes he'd have to glue in pages that were ripped out either by renters or old age.

During break time, he sat on one of the tables just munching on some Cookies and Cream flavoured Pocky he had bought on the way.

"Hey you Aaron!" He heard Mrs Wan's voice. Mrs Wan was one of the check out workers in the library. She was a nice lady in her early forties but never really talked to Aaron unless it was work matters.

"Yes ma'am." Aaron replied politely and walked over to her desk.

"That friend who call yesterday. He call again." She said and handed him the phone before letting him speak.

"H-hello." Aaron said nervously.

"Good god you sound horrible. Are you okay?" Simon asked much to Aaron's surprise.

"What's wrong with you?! I told you to stay until you got better! If I knew you'd just leave I wouldn't have bothered inviting into my home!" That's what Aaron was expecting to hear.

"Y-yeah, it's getting b-better." He said in between sneezes.

Simon was quiet on the other line for a bit. "Oh...alright. Make sure you don't overwork yourself and immediately head home right after work, okay?" He said, he still sounded worried and if you could picture him right now, he'd probably be forcing a smile.

"Yeah thanks, bye." Aaron quickly ended the conversation, seeing Mrs Wan's peering eyes.

"This why I keep telling you to get cell phone!" Mrs Wan raised her voice at him. She wasn't mad, at least Aaron didn't think so since she always spoke so loudly even though she worked in a bookstore.  Aaron liked to take it as her way of showing affection.

"I will. Thanks Mrs Wan." Aaron gave her a smile and walked back to the table he was at, finishing on munching on those Pocky sticks he had bought.

Although he promised to leave right after work, he ended up doing his second shift, which was a terrible idea since his body heat went up higher and higher, his sneezes increased and his voice was completely hoarse and near to disappearance.

He continued on and was on his last cart. He shelved the books and as he was reaching to put the last one, his body finally failed him and collapsed to the ground.

"Oh, I think he's coming to." He heard an unfamiliar voice say.

He opened his eyes and the first thing he saw was a ceiling with one light shining down on him. He blinked, trying to get them adjusted to the brightness and turned his head from side to side.

"Aaron." He heard a very recognisable voice this time. He felt someone's hand take ahold of his and turned to the left.

He squinted and slowly, the man's face began to form in his view. "S-Simon?" He questioned. Where was he? And what was Simon doing here? It was definitely not his house, Simons ceiling was blue and had the pretty dots.

"The results seem well. It was all due to fatigue and the fact that he neglected his fever. He'll be okay after a few days of rest." He turned his head to see a doctor standing next to Simon with a clipboard and pen in hand.

"Thank you so much sir." Simon said to the man.

"I'll send a nurse to give you some medicine he'll need to take for the headache and nausea. Have a nice day." The Doctor said lastly before leaving the room.

"Hospital?" Aaron was confused. A massive stint shot him in the forehead as he groaned, bringing his free hand to his temples and laying his head back on the pillow. "How did I get here?"

"The bookstore lady called saying that you had fainted and gave me the address so I rushed over as quick as I can and brought you to the hospital." Simon explained. 

"I appreciate it but you really shouldn't have. I was just a little tired, that's all."  Aaron sighed. His voice was a little better now and he wasn't coughing or sneezing as much either. His temperature had also gone down too so his eyes didn't hurt as much anymore.

"A little tired? Do you know how you looked when I found you? It was as if you had been left at the north poll naked and then thrown in a sauna right after." Simon said. He sounded a bit angry. "I was so worried that I almost cried just looking at you. For second I..." he paused, he was clearing choking on his own words, covering his eyes to hide any sign of them watering. "I thought you wouldn't wake up." He said quietly, adverting his sight away from Aaron's eyes.

"Why do you even care?" He didn't mean it, but his question came off with a bit of irritation. "My health. It has nothing do with you. Not everyone has the..." he paused for a second and thought of words he could put together. "Not everyone has the luxury you own. I'm just a sad teenager who doesn't even know when the next I'm going to have dinner is. I have a poor education so whatever job I apply to, no one will take me seriously. I don't even know how I'm going to pay for this hospital visit. You don't know me okay! So you what reason would you have to cry if I disappeared?!" He was balling his eyes out by the end, clenching the useless fabric of the bed covers tightly. 

Simon sat in silence. He had never once seen nor imagined Aaron like this. He didn't know what to say in this situation because the boy was indeed right. He was a rich guy living without troubles in his life so how in the world would he be able to sympathise with Aaron? The only thing he knew about the kid was his name and age, so it wasn't like they were that attached. So why did he still want to be by Aaron's side?

"I'm sorry." He said. His fingers were interlocked on his lap and his thumbs were twiddling. "I didn't know why you overworked yourself that much. Even when you tell me these things now, the only thing I really care about is making sure you get taken care of until you get better. I'm the one who brought you here so don't worry about the hospital fee and as for living and food, my house has many rooms and the door is always open for you. I know I can't replace what you lost, but I do want to add on to what you have now and help you as much as I can."

"I don't want your money—"

"Then I'll hire you." He interrupted. "My Mother is the CEO of an Entertainment agency that holds all types of artists. I'm in charge of managing the modelling crew and I wouldn't mind having a personal assistant. So you wouldn't be living with me for free, you can work and I'll pay you." Simon proposed, looking as serous as can be.

"W-what would being a personal assistant mean?" Aaron asked, earning some interest in the offer.

"You do whatever I ask, and as an exchange, I give you a place to live and all the food you can eat. I'll give you a monthly pay check of your own just like a regular job. Of course I vow not make you do anything dangerous or anything that makes you feel in danger or uncomfortable in anyway. If that chance comes, just talk to me and I'll stop whatever it is." He said and placed his hand on his chest for the last sentence. 

Aaron pursed his lips in thought. Maybe it wouldn't be a bad idea—just for a little bit though. Maybe until he could get enough money to pay for college tuition.

"Well, are you up for that?" Simon interrupted his thoughts.

"I'll think about it." Aaron responded after a moment of silence.