Having my head on Clay's lap while he played with my hair was my new favorite thing to do.

I usually hated skin contact, especially didn't like when people touched my hair cause they would always pull and tug uncomfortably. But he was very gentle and careful with his every touch. Even when he was concentrated on something else and had his fingers in my hair as a side activity, he was still good at it.

"Four days until my exam and I know nothing." I remembered, looking up at his face that was concentatrated at the TV screen.

"Your health comes first." He was flipping through the channels.

"I had plenty of time before getting sick and did nothing." By nothing I mean I was in the UK having the craziest week of my life while everyone else studied.

"You're smart enough to pass without studying." He looked down at me, hand touching my forehead briefly to check my temperature before moving back to my hair.

"I want a good grade," he probably could relate as we both had somewhat similar personalities, "pass me the book?"

I tried to read it earlier today and left it on the bedside table. He reached for it without anymore protests, knowing that those wouldn't help after I already decided on it.

But the letters really did make me dizzy, even though my brain wasn't in a bad condition. I could understand what I read, yet reading was a big task with my bloodshot teary eyes.

Clay noticed my annoyed state and questioned it. And I activated my whiney mode and poured everything out - from how annoying the font of the letters were in the book, to how shitty was the condition of my eyes.

"Lizzy, just rest for today," he was brushing my hair with his fingers and trying to convince me to stop, "you're sick, just torturing yourself at this point."

"My brain's finally working, but my eyes are not!" I complained, "And I'm finally in the mood of learning, why does it have to be this way?"

He was silent for a second. Then he turned the TV off and grabbed my book.

"How about I read it to you? Like a real life audio book?" He suggested, making my eyes light up. If this isn't all I needed right now.

"Will you?" I looked at him with hopeful eyes.

"Sure, just tell me what I should read."

He went through the effort of reading for me for actual hours, repeating some lines that I had trouble understanding and being kind enough to try to understand them himself so he could explain later on. Even though I was the one who had to memorize all that information, it still felt like he was working way harder than me. He read and read until I noticed that his voice was getting strained and told him to stop.

The poor guy had been reading out loud for the past 4 hours.

"Claaay.. Thank you." I don't know why I was pouting but I was. I felt bad that he had to sacrifice his time, energy and eye sight for me, and at the same time still couldn't believe someone would do that for me.

"My own voice gave me a headache, how did you sit through that?" He laughed, closing the book and putting it aside.

"What do you mean, you have a nice voice." He had one of those rare voices that sounded therapeutic to me. "Ew, did I just compliment?"

"Oh my god, this is the second time you compliment me!" He made an overly excited voice that sounded fake yet had a hint of genuineness at the same time.

"Second?" As sad as it sounds, I really couldn't remember any other time I complimented him out loud.

"The time when you were creepily watching me through the mirror when I was putting on a shirt," the faint memories came back, "and you said nice body."

"Why do you even remember?" It was painfully funny how he recalled every detail like he'd been revising the memory throughout his whole life.

"That was the first ever nice thing that left your mouth since we met," he laughed, trying to defend himself, "but now there's two; nice body and nice voice."

"Might aswell make it three," I paused for a second to deliver my line without laughing, "nice cock."

I failed, but it doesn't count cause his laugh completely overpowered mine. I would tell him that I liked his laugh too, but that'd be too much for one day. His ego is already big enough, I can only imagine what type of a demon too many compliments would turn him into.

"Alright, let's check your temperature before bed." He tried to lean and grab the thermometer but I stopped him.

"I'm good, no need for that."

I knew that it went up, I could feel the unpleasant burn in my eyes. And I also knew how much seeing a high number on the thermometer would worry him, and tried my best to avoid it.

"We need to check to see if you need a pill or not." Clay tried leaning to the beside table again, but I once again stopped him successfully.

"I'm okay, I'll take the pill for safety." I tried my best to get away with it.

"It's medicine, you can't just take it, Liz." He wasn't going down without a fight.

The only backup plan I had in mind was not putting the metal tip under my tongue properly and hoping the results would be low. But it was still high after doing so, not high enough for a pill, but still there. It'll just go away in my sleep, I'm sure.