“We’re here.”

“Finally. Maybe I should look into getting my license if you keep on driving like that.”

“What? I wasn’t that bad.”

Sebastian scoffed. “Not bad my ass. You nearly crashed the damn truck seven times.”

Edmund awkwardly scratched the back of his neck. “Okay, so today wasn’t my best. Sorry.”

“What had you so distracted anyway? You were turning your head at every little noise. Sometimes, it didn’t even seem like there was a noise.”

“I did get home late last night. I’m probably just still tired.”

“I have seen you when you’re tired, and hyper alertness like this usually doesn’t happen.”

Edmund shrugged, “I don’t know what to tell you man. We’re fine though so let’s just drop it.”

Sebastian did not want to drop it but from experience he knew that pressuring Ed to talk right now wouldn’t get them anywhere. If things got worse, then he’d bring it up again, but for now he could summit to Ed’s request.

After going their separate ways for their first classes of the day, Sebastian assumed –or rather hoped- things would return to normal. When they reunited in second period though, Edmund looked like he was sick to his stomach.

Sebastian did a double take when he sat down. “Dude, are you alright?”

“I’m fine.”

“You look like you’re about to pass out.”

“I’m okay, Seb, really. It's just...” Edmund shrugged, “stuffier than normal.”

Sebastian frowned. It was a pretty hot day, so of course the air in the school wasn’t exactly that great, but it wasn’t that bad. He knew he wasn’t going to get Edmund to admit anything more though, so instead he asked the teacher if he could open a window. Their English teacher, Ms. Brad, didn’t care much about what they did so long as they paid attention to the lesson, so she gave her permission to open the windows easily enough.

That seemed to help some as the soft wind from outside blew into the classroom and cooled everyone down. More importantly, Edmund looked less green and more like himself by the end of the lesson. After that it was time for PT, which was outside today.

Sebastain hated Physical Training. Actually, hate was too nice a word. He felt like the class should have been called Physical Torture. The coach’s insistence that everyone ran fifty laps, really wasn’t helping his mood either.

Ed on the other hand seemed to be perfectly fine. It was weird. Especially considering how sick he had looked just before English class. If you showed Sebastian a picture of him then and now, he’d say there’s no way they were taken on the same day.

“How... are you... not... dying?” Seb panted by the time they got to the twenty-something lap.

“Honestly, I don’t know. I feel like I wanna go faster,” Edmund answered.

Sebastian raised an eyebrow in amusement. “Oh? Alright then. Go.”

“What?”

“Go. Run as fast as you can. If you’ve got the stamina, then I say go for it. We could probably confuse the coach into thinking we finished early.”

Edmund raised an eyebrow. “Don’t you think he’ll notice we are running at two different speeds instead of beside each other like normal?”

“It’s worth a try.” Sebastian shrugged, “I’m pretty sure he doesn’t pay attention to more than one of us at a time anyway. And you want to go faster, right?”

“Okay. Why not.”

Edmund began to speed up. Quickly too. It was barely any time before Sebastian felt someone tap his shoulder from behind and turned around to see Ed again.

“What the- there's no way you just ran all the way around the track that fast.”

“I’m as shocked as you are.”

“...Do it again.”

“Huh?”

“Do it again, or I’m calling your bluff.”

Edmund huffed. “Alright.”

He ran again, this time two laps, before he returned to Sebastian’s side, grinning and slightly panting, but still nowhere near as tired as Seb was.

“Holy shit. Did you become a pro athlete overnight or something?”

“I have no idea. But I think I’d rather run with you now.”

“Gotten the need for speed out of your system.”

Edmund shrugged. “Mostly.”

Sebastian wondered briefly about the strangeness of it, but he soon enough forgot about the running as they suffered through PE for a few more gruelling days. Which were technically minutes, but it always felt like days to him.

The next class was bio, which Seb actually enjoyed. He and Ed arrived at the classroom and took their usual seats in the front. As time went on however, Edmund’s sickness seemed to resurface. In fact, during the middle of their class, he dashed out of the door for the bathroom.

“Mr. Kingsley!” the teacher yelled after him. “Good gracious. He looked sick. Is there something wrong with him, Mr. Maple?”

Sebastian frowned. “He didn’t seem too great earlier, but he was fine in PT. I think I should check on him.”

The teacher nodded. “Take hall passes for the both of you, and maybe see the nurse.”

Sebastian grabbed the passes on his way out and went straight to the nearest bathroom. As he’d hoped, he found Edmund there. Unfortunately, he found him emptying the contents of his stomach into the toilet. Seb quickly kneeled beside him, rubbing his back to comfort him as best he could. The vomiting stopped a few moments later and Ed took a deep calming breath before turning to Sebastian.

“I feel like shit.”

Sebastian nodded sympathetically. “I think we should take you to see the nurse.”

“No,” Edmund said, with a suddenly dark expression on his face.

“No? Eddie, you just threw up your entire breakfast.”

“I don’t like Nurse Olivia. She always looks at you weirdly.”

“I hardly see how that’s a problem since we need her to look at you.”

“Nuh uh, I don’t need a nurse. I just need to get out of here. Let’s skip. It's a Friday and nothing important is happening today.”

“Ed--”

“Please, Bas.”

Sebastian tensed. Edmund hadn’t used that nickname for him in a while. Not since they were in middle school, come to think of it. Either he really didn’t want to see that nurse or he was really sick right now.

“Alright, we can leave. But then we’re going to see Doctor Hayden.”

“Deal.”