When Joe opens his eyes the next morning, he is slightly confused when he sees he isn't in his bedroom.
He's on the couch. But not alone.
He feels this tingling feeling in his stomach when he sees Ben next to him, still peacefully asleep. Joe can't help but smile when he thinks back to yesterday. He finally got to kiss his crush.
He can feel his heart warm when Ben mumbles something, and snuggles closer to him. But not only Joe's heart is warmed, because he feels like he is about to melt. With sweaty hands, he carefully takes off his sweater, trying not to wake Ben.
But unfortunately he fails in that.
Ben stirs a little before slowly opening his eyes. He stares sleepily at Joe, a small smile formed on his lips.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you. Go back to sleep." Joe says.
But instead of going back to sleep, Ben sits up. "Are you okay?" He asks the ginger.
Joe gives him a reassuring but still quite weak smile. "Yeah. It's just so hot in here." He says.
Ben looks at the boy with concern. "Your head is almost as red as a tomato. I don't think you're okay." Before Joe can respond to that, Ben gently feels his forehead with his hand. "Jesus, you feel like you're on fire. I think you have a fever." He says slightly concerned.
Joe giggles softly. "You better run then. I'm the worst when I'm sick. I'll probably yell at you or something. It always gives me a bad mood."
Ben smiles, and gets up from the couch. "I'll take it." He says with a wink. He walks into the kitchen leaving Joe behind.
He soon comes back with a glass of water and a wet washcloth. He puts the glass on the table and sits down next to Joe again. With the washcloth, he gently wipes away the sweat on Joe's forehead. "This will help, to begin with. What do you fancy for breakfast?" He asks after pressing a sweet kiss on top of the boy's head.
Joe yawns and smiles weakly at the blond. "Nothing. I'm nauseous." He mumbles. He closes his eyes for a moment, and takes a few deep breaths.
Ben nods. "Okay then, but later you really have to eat something. Otherwise you'll pass out."
Joe nods obediently, and yawns again.
"You should get some sleep, it will-"
Ben has yet to finished his sentence or Joe has already snuggled up close to his chest.
"Make you feel better." Ben giggles, finishing his sentence.
"Will you stay with me?" The ginger asks with his big hazel eyes.
Ben smiles and nods. "Of course I will. Sleep tight." He whispers before giving a sweet kiss on Joe's forehead.
"You're sweet." Joe mumbles before drifting asleep.

×××

After one and a half hour of Joe being asleep against Ben, the doorbell rings.
A bit startled, Ben looks at the boy in his arms to see if it woke him.
But Joe just peacefully continues sleeping.
Ben decides to stay seated, because if he gets up to answer the door, Joe might wake up. It's probably just the postman or something.
But a few seconds later, the doorbell rings again. The blond sighs before carefully trying to maneuver out from under Joe. "I'll be right back Joey." He whispers. He puts a pillow under the ginger's head, and walks towards the front door.  
He is quite surprised when he sees their friends in the doorway. "Uhm, hey guys, what are you doing here?" He asks.
"Well, we would meet up and go out today, right?" Lucy says kind of confused about Ben's surprised reaction.
Rami and Gwil nod in agreement.
"Joe texted us two days ago, didn't he tell you about that?" Gwil asks.
Ben chuckles softly and shrugs. "He probably did, knowing me I just forgot." He says with a smile. "But I don't think today is a good day to go out. You can come in though." He steps aside so the three can come in.
"So, why can't we go out?" Rami asks confused. 
Ben gestures his friends to follow him into the living room and to be quiet.
Smiles appear on the faces of the three when they see the sleeping Joe.
"He has a high fever." Ben explains softly. 

Gwil, Rami and Lucy sit down, talking softly to each other so they won't wake Joe.
After Ben got the three something to drink, he sits down on the couch next to Joe again.
Although the ginger is still fast asleep, he immediately snuggles close to Ben. Joe puts his head on the blond's chest again before letting out a content sigh.
Ben giggles softly. "How can someone get so incredibly clingy when he's sick?" He says with a big smile.
Gwil looks at him slightly surprised. "What, he's been like this all morning?" He looks at Joe curled up against Ben.
Ben smiles and nods. "Yep, I've been tied up on the couch like this since we woke up." He says.
"I don't get it, last time he was sick he yelled bloody murder at us." Rami says with a raised eyebrow. "Why doesn't he scream at you?"
Ben shrugs. "I guess I'm just not as annoying as you are." He says with a grin. He can feel that he is starting to blush a little when he sees Lucy looking at him with a big smirk. He quickly moves his gaze to the sleeping boy.

After a while of the four just talking to each other, Ben notices that Joe is waking up a little. Which is perfect timing actually, because the boy really should eat something.
In the middle of a conversation between Ben and Gwil, Joe pokes Ben in the side. "Benny, tell them to fuck off." He mumbles, more asleep then awake.
Ben laughs at that. "Okay, but why?" He sees that their friends have to make an effort not to burst out in laughter.
"They're annoying. I wanna sleep." Joe groans before burying his face deep into Ben's chest.
"Well, I guess we should go then." Lucy says with a chuckle.
Gwil and Rami nod in agreement.
Ben smiles. "Let me walk you out." He wants to slip from under Joe so he can get up, but the ginger won't let him.
"No. Stay here." Joe tightly grabs Ben's sweater in his hands in attempt to keep the Brit in his place.
Gwil grins at the two. "We'll find our way out, don't worry." He says with a smile.
"We'll go out another time, okay?" Ben says before their friends leave.
They all nod with a big smile before leaving.
"Okay, so now you have to eat. It's almost lunch time, and you still haven't eaten something." Ben says softly.
Joe groans and shakes his head.
"Yes, you have to." With a lot of effort, Ben manages to get up from the couch. He knows that Joe absolutely loves cheese on toast when he isn't feeling well. And so that's what he's gonna make the boy.
When the blond returns from the kitchen with a plate of toast, he sees that Joe is still hot and sweaty. He puts the plate on the table, and gently feels Joe's forehead. "How can you still have such a high fever?" He says softly.
Joe doesn't say anything, and takes off his T-shirt. With a bare chest, he sits close to Ben again. "Because I'm hot." He says with a cheesy smile.
Which causes Ben to burst out laughing. "Yeah you are." The blond whispers in Joe's ear. He gives the ginger a kiss on the cheek, and with a smile Joe does the same with Ben.
Both close their eyes, and just enjoy being so close to the other.

"Benny?" Joe asks after a while of silence. He opens his eyes and sees that Ben still has his eyes closed.
The blond lets out a questioning hum.
"I've lied to you before." Joe admits.
Ben's eyes open, which allows Joe to see the quite anxious look reflecting in those perfect green eyes. To reassure the blond, Joe intertwines their fingers. "When we went to that nightclub, I didn't push you away." The ginger says. He can feel his cheeks burn, but maybe that's just the fever.
"What do you mean?" Ben asks a little confused.
"The night we both got wasted and you tried to kiss me?" Joe asks.
Ben nods.
"You didn't have to try that hard. I uhm- I kissed you back. I didn't push you away. But I was scared you'd got mad at me because you only kissed me because you were drunk. And you're my best friend and I didn't wanna lose you- and, and-" Joe rambles in one go.
He gets interrupted, however, by Ben locking their lips together. "So I could've kissed you all along already?" The blond asks with a smirk.
Joe giggles and nods. He yawns and takes a bite from his toast. With all his heart the ginger hopes that he isn't hallucinating this because of the fever.
"No Joey, this is really happening." Ben says with a giggle.
Joe looks at him in surprise. "Did I just say that out loud?"
Ben smiles and nods. "Yeah you did." He says before giving the ginger in his arms a kiss on the head.

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I don't have much to say today guys. I just hope you all enjoyed this chapter♡

Xxx from me aka queenborhap_gifs