Once the four of them arrived home and Linx was changed into comfy clothes and snuggled up in his bed, the three of them swiftly started to prepare for the upcoming week. Kade began making chicken noodle soup, while Finn and Remi started to plan out a rough schedule on who was going to take care of Linx.

As the three were doing that, Austin and Orion checked up on Linx. And as expected, he looked sick as ever.

His head was rolled over to the side, a pillow supporting his back, with his breathing coming out in a harsh rhythm. His face was still flushed, eyebrows furrowed while sweat builded up on his forehead. Luckily there was a damp towel on his head, so he should feel a little better.

Orion sighed and took off Linx's towel, going to the bathroom to make it cool again. As he was doing that, Austin turned to Linx's small nightstand and grabbed the thermometer. He then opened Linx's mouth and placed the thermometer under his tongue. He closed his mouth and held it in place gently, waiting for the beep that his temperature was taking.

As he waited, Austin used his free hand to comb Linx's hair. It was greasy, but that was okay, and Austin kept on tenderly brushing Linx's hair. The moment was short lived though for a quiet beep was soon heard from Linx's mouth.

He took out the thermometer and could only sigh in worry.

Orion came back and saw Austin holding the thermometer.

"His temperature?"

"103.2 Fahrenheit (39.5 Celsius). It's worse than yesterday, Orion. We should take him to the hospital." Austin said as Orion placed the damp towel on Linx's forehead.

"It's been less then 24 hours since he got sick, I'm sure he'll improve soon. Plus, from what Kade told me, it seemed like the clinic made Linx feel anxious and worsened his condition. I don't think Linx will appreciate if all of a sudden he wakes up in a white room, hooked up to some machines, with no context at all. So let's just wait and see, okay?" Orion turned around and wrapped his arms around Austin's waist, giving him a peck on his lips.

Austin stared at Orion and then Linx, thinking. He eventually nodded, seeing that the pros outweigh the cons, for now. Orion smiled at that and gave Austin another peck.

"I'll go and help the others out, you stay here with Linx and take care of him, okay? Holler if you need anything." Orion left the two alone and Austin took a seat on the ground. His legs were crisscrossed, and not knowing what else to do, he started to comb Linx's hair again.

_______

In the next three days, the boys managed to form a decent schedule of who'll be taking care of Linx.

Though there was a small mess on the first day when Finn had been called over to his work for an emergency, making Kade call off his work early and rushing home so Linx wouldn't be left alone, it was mostly good after that.

It would've been completely good if it wasn't for Ivy visiting Linx each day for a few hours. Each time she did Linx would overexert himself by either talking way too much until he had a coughing fit or using too much physical energy that his body would force him to nap.

But they couldn't do anything about it because Linx had looked so peaceful in Ivy's company. So instead both sides made a comprise; Ivy can keep coming over as long as Linx cooperates with them to his best ability.

With this negotiation, all their days have been relatively calm.

Orion was currently picking up all the colored pencils and stuffed animals off the floor and putting them in the dubbed 'Ivy corner', where a large plastic bin was holding all of Ivy's belongings. Ivy had just left a couple minutes ago with Rose, holding a half an inch of papers with all the drawings the two of them managed to draw today.

Orion, satisfied with the cleanup, turned around towards Linx. As he expected, Linx's food was left untouched as he tried to blink his sleepiness away. It was obviously failing though because with each blink it took twice as long to open them back up.

Orion walked over and sat on the stool next to Linx's bed, a stool which was borrowed from the kitchen, and scooted closer to the bed tray which the chicken noodle soup was resting on.

Though he would've let Linx sleep, he hasn't eaten since breakfast. So they just needed to get this out of the way and Linx can be sleeping beauty once again.

"Linx, eat first then you can go to sleep." Orion grabbed his shoulders and slightly shook them, Linx's eyes fluttering open. He briefly gave Orion a questioning look, before his eyes shut down again but his eyebrows were still creased.

Seeing his glossy eyes, Orion concluded that Linx didn't hear him. He didn't bother to explain it to him again though, knowing that Linx will be half-conscious.

He grabbed the spoon and dipped it into the soup, blowing on it to make sure it wasn't hot. He shook Linx again, his eyes opening, and Orion put the spoon next to his lips. Without any complaints, Linx opened his mouth and let the warm liquid flow in, chewing on the smashed potatoes.

This repeated over and over again, and Linx ate with his eyes closed the entire time. He would often doze off mid-chew, but with a light tap or a soft calling of his name, Linx would resume his eating. At the very end it seemed like Orion put two pills on the spoon with a warm glass of water soon following.

Linx, too tired to care, didn't bother to check what the pills were. But shortly after swallowing the pills, two arms hooked under his back and knees and rearranged him on the bed. Instead of sitting upright he was laying now, and it seemed like the bed tray had been removed? These were distant thoughts though, for Linx was already sleeping soundly.

Orion sighed in relief once he saw Linx sleeping comfortably, happy to know that he won't have to deal with a stubborn Linx. Because even though Linx has agreed to cooperate, he's still stubborn with almost everything. He'll only give up when he fails so bad that he's forced to get help.

Like when Orion was feeding him the soup. When Finn tried to feed him Linx took the spoon and tried to feed himself. But his hand was so shaky that the soup spilled on the covers, and after a stern talk from Kade that Linx has to remember to cooperate, he finally let them feed him. And that's just one example.

Orion sighed, knowing that the road to Linx's trust will be a difficult one.

He went off and washed the dishes, preparing dinner as well.

_______

"Linxxxx, I'm home!" Finn bursted in Linx's room, a large grin plastered on his face. Linx looked over and stared, not sure how to respond. Luckily he didn't have to because Finn hopped over to his bed and dropped some boxes down.

"So I know you must be super bored in this room, and me being a genius, I brought over some games to play! Cuz Ivy might be the queen of doodling but I'm the king of games! So what'd you wanna play? I got Connect four, Battle ship, and Candy land." Finn displayed each box and looked at Linx with hopeful eyes.

He really hopes Linx doesn't reject to play.

But it wasn't like Linx had anything better to do and his inner-thoughts were starting to annoy him. So he pointed at Connect four and hoped it'll provide him the distraction he needed. His mind was pulling him into too many directions and he wasn't sure in which direction he wanted to go in. And he happily ignored these thoughts once he saw that Finn was done constructing the game.

The two started to play and Linx quickly realized that Finn was horrible at Connect Four. He had no strategy, or more like a horrible strategy, for he just kept on stacking his chips on top of each other like he was expecting that Linx wouldn't cut it off. Linx of course did, and each time he did cut his three-stack, Finn pouted. And after seven games of Finn losing, they switched to Battle ship.

But just like the Connect four game, Finn still lost all three games. Linx wasn't sure how that was possible for this was a simple guessing game with almost no strategy. They switched the game to Candy land after the fourth loss, and out of pity, Linx hoped Finn would finally win a game.

Yet somehow, after two rounds of playing a game which only had pure luck in it, Finn lost both rounds. Finn, after losing thirteen times in a row, flopped onto the game board and buried his face in the blanket.

But as if Finn's persistence was finally being recognized, a light heavenly laugh was heard above him. Finn quickly raised his head and was blessed with the sight of Linx's smile and joyful eyes, a bright sound coming out of him and filling the whole room.

A small smile creeped up on Finn and he gently asked, "What's so funny?"

Linx shook his head as if denying the question, but he spoke up anyway.

"I don't understand how someone can keep on losing games that can only be won with pure luck. It just doesn't make sense! Yet here you are, thirteen games lost in a row." Linx's laugh died down but his energy didn't. A half smile was still present on Linx and Finn's smile kept growing with each second because Linx laughed.

Feeling confident that the mood was right, Finn scooted closer to Linx's side. He then wrapped his arm around Linx's abdominal, pressed his whole body against Linx's left side, and snuggled his head on top of his upper chest.

Finn waited for a few seconds to gauge Linx's reaction, but feeling how relaxed his muscles were and the arm that kept on brushing Finn's back, he too relaxed completely.

After a few minutes, Linx's breathing evened out and muscles all relaxed. Finn peaked up and saw his sleeping face, his lips slightly parted as air quietly escaped through.

Finn stared at those lips, contemplating on whether a quick peck was okay or not. But just as soon as the idea came, it got shut down. For Linx was sleeping and there was no consent with a sleeping person. Plus, Finn didn't want to get the flu.

Instead, he got out of Linx's weak hold and cleaned up the bed. Once all the games were set in Ivy's corner, Finn climbed back in bed. This time he went under the blankets and maintained the same pose as before, except now he had more warmth.

He could stay in this position forever.

Finn soon joined Linx's slumber and the two quietly enjoyed each other's warmth.

And if Finn had to keep on losing for his entire life to keep on having moments like these, he would gladly become a professional gamer.

_______