Calum, Michael and I are curled up on the couch watching Top Gun with our bowls of mac and cheese when Luke shuffles down the hallway. He has the hood of his sweatshirt pulled up over his head, sniffling miserably as he flops down on the couch next to me. I smile when I see that he did decide to wear the pink fuzzy socks.

"Kat," he whines as he snuggles up closer to me. "Calum's stupid soccer game gave me a cold."

Setting my empty bowl on the coffee table, I wrap my arms around his waist. "Aww, poor baby." Glancing over at Calum, I pretend to scold him. "Why did you give my boyfriend a cold? Now he's going to be all sleepy and cuddly."

Michael snickers under his breath and Calum replies with, "You can thank me later, Kat, but you might not want to kiss him for awhile if you're opposed to getting sick. You can still fuck him though. You can go to town with that."

My face feels like it's on fire and Luke pulls the hood of his sweatshirt down over his face as he curls up into my side. "You guys are meanies," he whines, his voice muffled as he rests his head on my lap.

My phone buzzes in my back pocket and I check the latest text from April.

Sorry, the girls and I won't be able to make it to your apartment tonight. Got stuck with the late shift tonight and it's snowing like crazy - there's no way we'll be able to make it back home. Rain check?

I shoot her back a quick text, looking at the three boys spread out on the couches. "April, Liv and Cassidy are out. It's snowing too much for them to be able to get home. It's just us tonight, unless Ashton is planning on spending the night too."

"It's snowing?" Calum repeats excited, rushing over to the window to look. It almost never snows here and he looks around with pure joy at the white flakes.

Michael on the other hand looks crestfallen. "Liv's not coming? Nooo, this was my big chance!"

Luke stretches a hand out to pat Mikey's leg comfortingly. "It'll be ok, Mike, you'll get another chance." He starts coughing violently when he pulls back, leaning heavily against me.

I glance down at him in concern. He finally stops coughing and groans under his breath, rolling onto his back. His blue eyes are red and twisted with misery. Frowning, I press my hand to his forehead. It's hot to the touch.

"Calum, get me the thermometer in the drawer by the fridge, will you?" I call out, trying not to sound worried. But Luke catches it anyways.

He twines one of his hands with one of mine, latching on tightly to my fingers. "I'm fine," he mumbles. "Don't worry."

"I always worry about you," I say gently, reaching over to take the thermometer from Calum's hand. Carefully, I pass it to Luke and he puts it under his tongue. When it beeps I take it out and check the temperature. "101.4"

"But I don't even feel hot," Luke moans, dissolving into another coughing fit. It sounds awful and every cough makes me cringe. "I'm cold." He pulls his sweatshirt tighter around himself and shivers.

Biting my lip anxiously, I run my thumb absentmindedly across his cheek. He leans into my touch, closing his eyes. I don't know much, but I don't like the kinds of symptoms Luke has.

"Kat's worrying again," Michael says as he stretches out across the couch.

I shoot him a sharp glare.

Luke frowns as he opens his eyes.

"Kat and Luke, sitting in a tree," Calum starts to sing half heartedly, his nose pressed up against the glass as he watches the snow fall.

"Oh shut up," I mutter as I pull the blanket draped across the back of the couch down over Luke. He curls up in it, despite the fact that he's running a fever.

There's a knock at the door and Calum walks over to answer it without me having to tell him. Michael looks dejectedly down at his phone. A part of me feels bad for him, he really wanted to ask Liv out tonight.

"Hey guys!" Ashton says happily as he shakes snow from his curly hair, sliding his arms out of his coat. "It's really coming down out there. Kat, Luke, you guys don't mind if I stay the night here, do you?"

"Not at all," I say with a smile as he flops down beside me on the couch. "You can join the slumber party - Cal and Mike are most likely gonna stay too."

"Yes!!" Ash exclaims excitedly.

"But there's a chance Luke might get you sick," I add, running my fingers through his blond hair as I speak. Luke snuggles closer to me in response.

Ashton frowns in concern. "Luke's sick?" he asks, leaning forward to look at him. Ash sets his hand on Luke's forehead, turning to me. "He's burning up."

"I know," I say, adjusting the blanket over him. "But he says he's cold. I figure that we can just let him chill like this unless the fever gets too high."

"Really, you don't have to worry over me," Luke mutters as he curls up on his side. He messes nervously with his lip ring, a distant look in his blue eyes. "I'll be fine."

Calum walks over and sits down on the couch next to Michael, throwing an arm across the back of the couch behind the other boy. He runs a hand through his dark, messy hair, making it stand up on end. "We don't have to, sure, but we do," he says. "So suck it up and deal with our love, asshole."

At that, Luke cracks a small smile, but it's clear he feels too ill to do much of that.

Ash gets up and pads into the kitchen, bringing back a glass of water. "Drink it," he says sternly, holding it out to Luke. "This isn't an option. I'll leave you alone for a while if you drink it."

My boyfriend sighs unhappily and struggles into a sitting position. Silently, we all watch him down the entire thing. Ashton, satisfied, leans back on the couch and resumes the movie. Luke rests his head on my shoulder, snaking an arm around my waist to hold me close. I smile at him, hiding whatever concern for him.

It's been a while since he's had someone mother him, and it's still a bit of a sore topic. But it's one of Luke's super powers to hide whenever he's in pain and everyone is willing to play along with his act of pretending that he's ok as long as he is.