Zayn Sickfic

Flu - Ziall

Zayn sniffed miserably, wiping his nose with the back of his hand. “This sucks,” he said croakily. “I wasn’t even sick yesterday, how did this happen?”

“I don’t know,” Niall said, sitting beside him on a couch. “But I think it’s the flu. Remember, you refused to get your flu shot. You said you’d never gotten the flu before, so why would this year be any different?”

Zayn shot Niall a glare. “Shut up,” he said. “Pass me the thermometer?”

Niall handed it to him. “It’s been an hour since you took Tylenol, so your fever should be down a little bit.”

“Yeah, it is,” Zayn said after checking his temperature. “Ugh.”

He leaned back into the couch, laying his head on Niall’s shoulder. “Did you get the flu shot?”

“Yeah. If I hadn’t, do you really think I’d be taking care of you?”
“Yes, because you love me even if it costs you your health.”

“The answer is no,” Niall said, patting Zayn’s head. “No, I would not take care of you. I’d hand you medicine and drinks from afar with a mask on.”
“Good to know,” Zayn said tiredly, closing his eyes.

“Do you want more of this orange juice?” Niall asked, picking it up from the coffee table. “The ice is going to melt soon.”

“Sure,” Zayn said, trying to drink it without spilling it- his hands were slightly shaky.

“Does everyone else know I’m sick?” Zayn asked.

“Yeah, I called. Luckily there aren’t any shows soon, so you can just sleep and wait for this to pass.”

“Isn’t there some kind of medicine to cure the flu?” Zayn asked, sighing at the scratch of talking on his throat.

“No. It’s like the cold, you just ride it out. It doesn’t look like you’re going to have vomiting, so that’s good at least!” Niall said brightly, brushing Zayn’s sweaty hair off of his forehead. “Though you do have a pretty bad fever. But it’s nothing serious enough for the hospital.”

“It feels serious enough,” Zayn moaned, stretching to grab a throat lozenge off of the table. “I want to go to sleep, but I can’t sleep.”

“Stop complaining. There’s nothing to be done.”

“You don’t have very good bedside manners, Niall,” Zayn said. “Which is weird, because you’d think someone would be nicer than usual to a sick person, and yet you’re meaner than usual.”

“Maybe if you stopped complaining, I’d be nicer,” Niall teased, readjusting so that Zayn’s head didn’t cut off circulation to his arm. “I like quiet patients.”

“Of course you do,” Zayn said. “Can I see the thermometer again?”

“No, you tested it five minutes ago.”

“It hasn’t been an hour?”

“No, it hasn’t.”

Zayn sighed and pulled his legs onto the couch, letting his head fall into Niall’s lap.

“See, now if you fall asleep I won’t be able to stand up,” Niall said. “This is ridiculous.”

“I’m pretty sure I won’t fall asleep. My throat hurts too much.”

“If you say so,” Niall said, watching Zayn’s eyes drift closed.

It took maybe ten minutes for Zayn to fall asleep, finally quiet. Niall sat, brushing Zayn’s hair with his fingers. While it was extremely annoying to have to dote on Zayn for the entire day, it was nice to see him unguarded, like a child.

Zayn slept for a few hours, and Niall finally had to get up to go to the bathroom. Zayn woke up when his head hit the couch cushion.

“I wasn’t asleep,” Zayn protested, watching Niall walk out. “I was just waiting.”

“Waiting to wake up,” Niall said. “Drink your watery orange juice and stop lying".