The smell of something burning woke me up. I sat up quickly, under the impression my house was on fire. For a moment I looked around the room in bewilderment, until I remembered I was at Mr. Heywood's apartment. A blush made its way onto my face when I realized I was in his bed. Pushing that though aside, I slid out from under the covers and headed towards the kitchen to investigate the source of the burning smell.

A few pillows and a blanket were lying askew on the couch. At least Mr. Heywood had the decency to sleep on the couch. I felt sort of bad though; after all, I was the guest. I should have been the one sleeping on the couch. Or he we could have just slept in the same bed, we'd done it before-

I shook my head violently. No, we couldn't sleep in the same bed! He was still my teacher, no matter my feelings. We weren't even together. It was a good thing he had slept on the couch. What was I thinking? My hormones needed to control themselves.

"Mr. Heywood," I started, stepping into the kitchen area. "Are you in-ah!"

My foot landed on something soft, making me pull it back in surprise, and lose my balance. My arms flew out as I desperately tried to stop myself from falling. I managed to catch myself just before I fell completely by grabbing the edge of the counter. My eyes dropped to the ground, where they landed on something that made my heart skip a beat.

Mr. Heywood was lying face down on the ground, motionless.

"Mr. Heywood?" I asked, crouching down to the ground.

When there was no response, I put my hand on his back and shook gently. When still no response came, my pulse picked up. I dropped to my knees, leaning over him and grabbing his shoulder, attempting to roll him over.

"Are you playing some kind of joke?" I asked harshly. "Because I'm not finding it very funny."

Still no answer. With surprising force, I managed to roll him over onto his back. His head rolled limply to the side, his eyes shut. Panic coursed through me now, my eyes widening in surprise. Either something was wrong, or he was a very good actor.

"Mr. Heywood!" I called, shaking his shoulders slightly. "Mr. Heywood? ...Chris?"

Now when no answer came, I panicked. What was wrong with him? Leaning over him, I lowered my ear to his mouth, and relaxed slightly. He was still breathing at least. But his breaths were shallow and quick. I gently pressed a hand to his forehead and nearly pulled it back from shock. He was burning up!

My panic increased tenfold now. He had a fever! I didn't know how to care for a person with a fever! My mom always helped me, and as far as I could remember, she hadn't ever been sick in my life! I knew I had to get him off the kitchen floor though.

Lifting Mr. Heywood off the ground was impossible. He was just too heavy! After a minute of biting my lip, I decided on the next best course of action since I couldn't pick him up: dragging him. Grabbing him by the arms, I began to pull him across the kitchen floor, through the living room, and into his bedroom. I brought him all the way up to the bed. Now came the tough part; getting him on it.

If I could get his front half up, then I could easily bring up his bottom half. But the question was; how was I going to do that? I squatted down by Mr. Heywood's head, pursing my lips. Maybe I could lift him up by his armpits... Well, it was worth a shot.

Moving into a kneeling position, I put my arms under his back and hooked them up through his armpits. I tested lifting him up by this method, and figured I could probably do it. I switched back into a squatting position, my head just hovering over his. With as much force as I could muster, I proceeded to pull his torso up. A small, strained, groan left my mouth. Mr. Heywood seriously needed to lose weight!

I glanced down at him with a scowl. To my surprise, he was looking back at me with wide eyes. My breath caught and I dropped him in shock, pushing myself back, blushing hard. He landed on the ground with a loud thud and a groan. I blushed even deeper and winced.

"Sorry!" I apologized, bringing myself closer. "Are you okay?"

"What am I...?"

Mr. Heywood looked at me with an extremely confused expression. His expression, mixed with his messy hair, and worn out look made him look like a lost puppy and I couldn't help but stare at him in awe. He looked so cute! Mr. Heywood continued to look at me like that as I gawked, a smile spreading across my face. How I wish I could take a picture...

"Ow," Mr. Heywood groaned, bringing a hand to his head. "Shit."

"What's wrong?"

"Headache," he told me, shaking his head in dismissal. "Why are we on the ground?"

"Oh, um... you have a fever."

"That doesn't explain why we're on the ground..."

My face became hot again and I adverted my gaze. "Um... well, you kind of passed out in the kitchen, so I tried to bring you to your bed... but you're heavy and I ended up dragging you, and I was just attempting to pull you onto it, but you caught me by surprise so I dropped you."

Mr. Heywood smirked slightly, but it was ruined by a sudden coughing fit. When it was over, Mr. Heywood put his hand on the side of his bed, attempting to push himself up. I reached out my hand for support, but he ended up putting a hand on my shoulder, making me sink under the pressure as he managed to get himself to his feet. Then he collapsed onto the bed with a sigh.

"Holly."

"Yeah?" I asked, straightening myself out.

"Get out."

"Huh?"

"Go call Jeremy or something, just get out," Mr. Heywood ordered, his voice muffled by his comforter.

"What? Why?" I asked in confusion, a little hurt by his words. What did I do?

Mr. Heywood flipped over onto his back and laid a hand across his eyes. "Not like that, Holly. I just don't want you to get sick too. I'll feel like it's my fault."

A frown slipped onto my face. Now that I was thinking about it, I realized it was probably my fault Mr. Heywood had suddenly gotten sick over night. He had spent three hours in the cold rain searching for me. I looked guiltily at the floor. "I'm going to stay to take care of you."

Mr. Heywood chuckled. "I don't need someone to take care of me, Holly. I've lived on my own for the past four years. Go on a date with Jeremy or something."

"We aren't dating!"

Mr. Heywood raised an eyebrow in amusement as I flushed once more. That had come out more defensive than I had meant it to be. Mr. Heywood chuckled again, but it turned into a cough.

"If you want to help, go get me some cold medicine. It's behind the mirror in the bathroom."

"What's the magic word?"

"Please."

I stared at him in amazement. He must be sick, I thought. He never said please. Nodding, I started towards the bathroom, still blown away with his "please". As I passed the kitchen again, the burning smell filled my nose and my eyes widened. Crap! I had forgotten to figure out what the burning smell was!

Rushing into the kitchen, I immediately went to the oven. There was nothing on the burners, so I opened the oven door. Large clouds of smoke met my face as soon as the door opened. I coughed and removed my face quickly, trying to wave the smoke away. I located the oven dial and turned it off, still trying to clear the smoke around me. After a few moments I opened the oven again, peering in. Small, black, burnt mounds of... something were sitting on a silver tray. I closed the oven door again. I'd deal with those... things... later.

With a glass of water in one hand, and two small pills from the bathroom in the other, I returned to Mr. Heywood's bedroom. Mr. Heywood was now sitting on the edge of the bed, his hands holding his head. I cleared my throat quietly and he looked up at me.

"Here," I said, holding the glass of water out to him.

"My hands are shaking to hard to hold the glass," Mr. Heywood responded, glancing at the glass. "How about you pass it to me by mouth?"

What? I stared at him in shock. I dropped my head in embarrassment, feeling my hot face grow hot again. If Mr. Heywood kept this up, my face would be well done before the day was over. He started laughing and I felt him attempt to take the glass away from me. I let him do so, then handed him the pills, still not looking at him.

"Holly, it's no fun if you're not looking at me when you blush."

"M-Mr. Heywood, I think-"

"Chris," he corrected me.

For a moment I stayed quiet, looking at him wonderingly. It had been forever since he had corrected me. It felt nostalgic. A smile crept onto my mouth, and I shook my head. "Um, Chris, I think you should rest for a while..."

"I'm hungry," he complained. "I want to eat first."

"I'll make you something," I offered, excited by the idea of being able to cook something for him while he was in need.

His facial expression told me he wasn't sure if he wanted me to cook him something. "I think I'm-"

"I can cook," I told him, a little resentfully. "Just because some of us aren't professional like you, doesn't mean we can't cook."

He grinned and laughed quietly. "Okay. There's some can soup in the cabinet. You can handle that, right?"

"Yes," I snapped, narrowing my eyes at him.

"Well, get to it."

With a roll of my eyes, I exited the bedroom and headed for the kitchen again. A scowl appeared on my face as I huffed. Mr. Heywood really needed to stop teasing me. A part of me told me that was one way of how he showed he cared, but I tossed that thought away. He still was a jerk. But, he was a jerk I loved. How cliché.

The sound of a phone ringing filled my ears as I reached for one of the cabinet doors. The sound was coming from the living room. Going back out there, I spotted Mr. Heywood's cell phone on the table in front of the couch. I grabbed the phone and looked at it, wondering if I should bring it to him. My heart skipped a beat when I realized Jeremy was calling. After a second of hesitation, I hit the talk button and put the phone to my ear.

"Chris? You finally decided to pick up? Do you know how many times I called you and texted you during the past twelve hours? Did you find Holly? Is she okay? Where's Shawn? What happened? Is Holly with you? She's not answering her phone either!"

"Um, it's me..."

There was a silence on the other side of the line, and then I heard a deep sigh. "Holly..."

"Jeremy..."

"Are you okay?"

"I'm okay," I told him, chewing my lip. "Are you?"

He laughed. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"Oh, um, I don't know," I responded, smiling sheepishly.

"Holly, I'm sorry about last night," Jeremy apologized, making my eyes widen in surprise.

"What?"

"I said I'm sorry-"

"No, I heard you," I said, cutting him off. "But what are you apologizing for? Don't! You didn't do anything wrong. It was as you said; I was just being over-dramatic. I should be the one apologizing for snapping at you! I'm also sorry I called you a liar and-"

"Holly, breathe," Jeremy ordered with a laugh. "It's fine, I understand. You were just stressed out yesterday. I didn't take anything seriously."

"I'm still sorry..."

"Don't worry about it," Jeremy said easily. "I'm guessing things are okay now?" he asked, changing the subject.

I cleared my throat, glancing at the ground in embarrassment. "Oh, yeah..."

"Where's Chris?"

"In his bedroom. He has a fever."

Jeremy laughed. "Well that's what he gets for running around in the rain."

"Jeremy, I really don't know anything about helping sick people," I said honestly. "Do you think maybe... you could come over and help me out?"

Jeremy was quiet for a minute. "Well, I guess."

"You don't have to if you don't want to..."

"No, I don't mind," Jeremy assured me. "I just thought you'd like the alone time with Chris."

A blush made its way onto my face again. "I-I don't... it's n-not... I mean I d-don't..."

Jeremy laughed. "Holly, you're too cute."

"Shut up," I snapped, glaring at the wall.

"I'll be over in about twenty minutes."

"Okay, I'm going to make Mr. Heywood some soup."

"Behave," Jeremy responded in a singsong voice before I heard the click of the line hanging up.

I scowled, bringing the phone away from my ear to shut it, but something on the background caught my attention. My eyes widened in surprise when I realized it was a picture of me... kissing Mr. Heywood? Another blush found its way to my face and I looked around in bewilderment. When had this happened? And why was it his phone background?

Suddenly it hit me. That time he had kissed me to blackmail me! But why was it his background? It was so embarrassing! I couldn't leave it as this! An idea popped into my head and I quickly turned Mr. Heywood's phone camera on. I made the funniest face I could think of and took a picture. Removing the one of Mr. Heywood and I, I replaced it when the comical self-portrait. How I just hoped I wasn't around when Mr. Heywood realized I had seen and changed his background.

I tossed the phone onto the couch, still flustered. Why would Mr. Heywood have that as his background? For how long... Realization ran through me like electricity. Jeremy's words rang through my head. "If you ever get the chance, look at his cell phone." It made sense now. But the question still was why? Was it because...?

I shook my head. No, I couldn't afford to assume things. I didn't want to ask him about it either; it was too embarrassing. Maybe Jeremy knew... he seemed to know a lot of things, I thought wryly. Maybe Jeremy knew too much...

Shaking my head, I made my way back to the kitchen to make his soup. It was the can kind, so it only took about five minutes. After a minute of searching I found a bowl to put it in, and a spoon, then made my way back to Mr. Heywood's room. He was laying back on the bed, under the covers.

"Mr. Heywood?" I said, going over to him. "Mr. Heywood? Are you sleeping?"

When he didn't answer, I frowned. How could he have fallen asleep so quickly? I squatted by the bed, peering at him for a moment. His sleeping expression caused my face to heat up a little. How could someone be as handsome as him? It had to be illegal to look like he did. Sighing, I reached over and shook him. He could sleep after he eat his soup.

"Wake up," I said loudly. "Mr. Heywood."

Mr. Heywood groaned, pushing my hand away. I laughed slightly at his action. "Get up. Your soup is done."

"Ms. Evers?" he said sleepily, gazing at me through half open eyelids.

My eyebrows furrowed slightly. Why did he call me Ms. Evers? I shrugged it off, frowning at him. "It's me, Mr. Heywood. Your soup-"

The rest of what I was going to say was cut off when Mr. Heywood suddenly brought his hand to the back of my head, forcing it down. My eyes widened as our heads grew closer.

Then our lips made contact.

My eyes widened in shock as Mr. Heywood's lips pressed against mine softly and gently. It took me a second to realize what was happening. Immediately I pulled away, blushing furiously. Mr. Heywood gazed at me for another moment before closing his eyes again and dozing off without another word.

I straightened myself and staggered a few steps away from the bed, a hand slapping across my mouth. My thoughts raced frantically, matching the sharply increased beating of my heart. Mr. Heywood had kissed me!

"Holly? You in here?"

A startled gasp escaped my lips as I twisted to see Jeremy looking at me curiously. He had gotten here quickly!

"What's up? You look red."

"Um... I, um, I think I might be getting sick too," I made up quickly, thanking God that Jeremy hadn't shown up a minute earlier. "In fact, I feel a little dizzy."

"Not good," Jeremy told me, coming over with a frown on his face. He placed a hand on my hot forehead and his frown deepened. "You're hot... I think it'd be best if you left this room..."

I couldn't agree more. I nodded my head, hoping to get away just in case Mr. Heywood woke back up. "I'll go rest on the couch."

"Sounds good. I'll check on Chris."

I exited the room without another word, my heart still pounding. What was going on? What was Mr. Heywood thinking? Wasn't he the one who told me not to confess until I was eighteen? Why had he suddenly kissed me? I thought the burning of my face was never going away. The worst thing about the kiss though, was how much I liked it.

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I've decided to have a few calm, fun, kinda-filler chapters. It's been pretty intense in the story lately, and I think we could all use a break... and I can get my thoughts together for what I want to happen next. So yeah. :D That's it.

Well, they kissed... sort of. SO. I think I deserve a vote from every one of you :3

Facebook fan page in external link... I feel like I don't have to say it, but join!