The air in Lennon's apartment felt fresh, with the chill of the winter breeze and the sharp smell of cleaner. She had woken up that morning feeling better and a need to move. Headphones in, pajamas still on, she had started cleaning her apartment. She was finishing wiping down her fridge when she turned to find someone standing behind her.

"What the?!" she screamed.

She jumped and her elbow hit the corner of the counter, sending painful shocks running up her arm. She pulled her headphones out.

"What are you doing here?" she asked Kade.

"I've been calling your name," he said. "How did you not hear me?"

Lennon took a deep breath, trying to calm her racing pulse.

"I was listening to music," she said.

"You seriously didn't hear me at all?" he asked.

She rolled her eyes and smiled.

"If I had heard you, I wouldn't have jumped" she said.

He gave her a curious look. He placed her keys on the counter and looked around. Her apartment looked messier then it had when she started to clean. The couch cushions were in disarray, towels littered the floor, the vacuum cord wound its way around the room.

"What are you doing?" Kade asked.

"Cleaning," she said.

He gave her a worried look.

"Why are you cleaning? You're still sick," he said.

"I'm fine," she said, waving away his worry.

She quickly fixed the cushions, gathered the towels and vacuum. She turned to find Kade giving her an amused look, his hands in his pockets.

"What?" she asked.

He let out an amused small laugh and shook his head.

"Nothing," he said. "Do you want help?"

"I didn't know Kade Matthews, lead singer of Hey Farewell, knew how to clean."

"Kade Matthews lead singer is off duty. You got stuck with just Kade Matthews today."

"Boring," Lennon said evenly.

Kade's eyebrows shot up in surprise.

"And it looks like I got stuck with sassy, stir crazy Lennon today. Is it to late to make an exchange?"

"Ha ha" she said gave a dry sarcastic laugh.

"Ok. Today should be interesting," Kade said.

Lennon sucked her lips in and tried to rein in her energy. She felt ready to burst after staying stagnant even for two days.

"Is there a reason it's like the Arctic in here?" Kade asked, looking for the culprit of the cool breeze chilling the apartment.

He found the window guilty and moved to close it.

"The air felt stale," Lennon said.

"I think you took care of that problem," he said. "What shall we do today?"

"I don't know," she said, her legs jumping. "How about lunch or breakfast? What time is it?"

"It's almost eleven," Kade said.

"Brunch it is!" Lennon said. "I'll just grab my shoes and we can go."

"Lennon," Kade said.

"What?"

"Maybe you should shower."

"Why?"

He pointed to the mirror in her bathroom. She turned and found her reflection looking like a mess. She had stray wisps of hair, half was out of her bun and she was still wearing her pajamas.

"Maybe I'll just shower before we go," she said.

Kade smiled and nodded in agreement.

Lennon felt more human as she stepped out of her room with clean hair and clean clothes.

"Feel better?" Kade asked.

"Yes but slightly offended. Were you embarrassed by the way I looked?" she asked with scorn.

He studied her for a moment and shook his head.

"I'm not going to win today, am I?" he asked.

Lennon laughed.

"Probably not," she said, grabbing her purse and sweeping out of her apartment.

*******************

"Bam!" Lennon shouted, as she brought her hand down hard on a pair of Jacks.

She gleefully added them to her pile and put another card down.

"I think I liked this game better when you were sick," Kade grumbled, flipping his own card.

After grabbing brunch, they had ended up back at Lennon's apartment, playing cards.

"You're not that bad," Lennon said.

"Is that you trying to console me?" He laughed. "You've won the last seven games. The last one only took you five minutes. I think I'm done after this."

"No!" Lennon said. "We can play something else. How about rummy?"

"Fine," Kade said.

Lennon tossed down her cards hours later after they had exhausted card games.

"Let's do something!" Lennon said.

Kade gave her a tired look.

"What do you have in mind?" he asked.

"I dunno," she shrugged. "Are there any parties?"

She felt antsy and started pacing. Kade gave her a surprised look.

"Do you really want to go to a party?" he asked.

Before Lennon could answer, there was a knock on the door.

"Did you order something?" he asked.

She shook her head.

"Did you?" she asked.

Lennon threw the door open and got quick glance of Will before someone threw themselves around her.

"What are you doing here?!?" Lennon asked Jessie.

"I arrived this morning!" Jessie squealed.

"I'm so excited to see you!" Lennon said, giving Jessie another hug. "How long are you here for?"

"Five days and then Will and I are flying out to be with my family for Christmas."

"I'm so excited! How were your finals?"

"How about we let them come in before we all get cold," Kade suggested.

"Of course, come in," Lennon said, stepping aside.

"Hey Lennon," Will said.

"Oh no!" Jessie said, looking around Lennon's apartment.

"What?" Lennon asked

"Lennon Kayhill, do you know what time it is?" Jessie asked.

"Five p.m.," she said.

"It's Christmas time!" Jessie said. "Why does your apartment look like Scrooge's house?"

"I'm not going to be here for Christmas," Lennon said.

"That doesn't mean you can't put up twinkle lights and get a tree," Jessie said.

Jessie gave the apartment an appraising look. She then turned to Lennon with a gleeful look in her eyes.

"That's it, we are decorating your apartment for Christmas!" Jessie said. "I'll make it my project. I'll start a list of all the things we will need and then we will go shopping."

"Ok!" Lennon said, catching on to her enthusiasm.

Lennon wanted something to do and Jessie had provided it.

"First we will need a tree!" Jessie said "We can do a themed Christmas tree! How about silver and blue?"

She didn't wait for an answer as she left to explore the rest of the small apartment.

"She'll come back to reality, eventually," Will said. "Just give her some time."

Lennon turned to find Will had taken a seat next to Kade on the couch. He patted the open spot next to him and she joined them.

"Is she always like this?" Lennon jokingly asked.

"You have no idea," Will said affectionately annoyed. "She's not allowed at Bed, Bath and Beyond anymore."

"I think she stole all my energy" Lennon joked.

"Now you know how I feel," Kade said.

"Sorry, if my apartment just took over any of your plans for tonight" Lennon said to Will.

"It's ok. We didn't really have any plans. We came over here to see if you guys wanted to do something," he said.

"Well, you showed up at the perfect time. Lennon was just trying to drag me to a party," Kade said.

"You wanted to go to a party? I thought you mildly tolerated them at best," Will said.

"Well, anything seemed like more fun then sitting around with Mr. Boring over there," she said, jabbing her thumb in Kade's direction.

"Well, I'm sorry I'm not Mr. Energetic after taking care of you while you were sick."

"Have you two considered couple's counseling?" Will said.

"Ok," Jessie said, coming to stand in front of the couch. "By the time I am done, your apartment is going to look like a scene out the North Pole."

"So, filled with workbenches and little elves?" Kade asked.

"Ok, more like a scene out of a winter fairy land...Don't" she said, cutting off another comment from Kade.

He laughed.

"Lets go!" Jessie said.

***********************

"This is the tree, I know it," Jessie said, after they had wandered the Christmas tree lot three times.

"I think it's too big," Will said

"But the branches are perfect. There aren't any bald spots and it's so full," she said.

"None of that will matter when we can't get it through the door," Will countered.

"But Will if it's not perfect then my whole vision will be ruined," Jessie said stubbornly.

"I'm sorry but I can't change the law of physics," Will said.

Lennon laughed and turned away from them and set out of her own. Faint, fuzzy Christmas music drifted through the air and mixed with excited voices. Lennon pulled her jacket closer to guard against the winter chill.

Growing up, Christmas tree shopping had always taken place the Saturday after Thanksgiving. Her mom was always eager to start decorating the house and she insisted the whole process had to begin with the tree. The three of them, her dad, mom and herself, would pile into her dad's pickup truck and drive to the local farm. Lennon and her father would head directly to the hot chocolate and hay bales, while her mother wandered the rows of trees. Just about the time she and her father were finishing their drinks, her mother would appear with a spark of joy in her eyes and proudly show them the tree she had chosen.

Lennon turned down another aisle, her feet scraping along the concrete of the parking lot. She was inspecting a fat, squat tree when Kade appeared at the end of the aisle.

"Have you found a winner?" he asked.

She held a small tree out for him to inspect.

"I like it," he said.

"That was easy," she said.

"It's a tree," he shrugged. "I don't think making a choice should involve more then the fact that it's green and not dying."

"Can't be dying? You're so picky," she said.

As if on cue, Jessie made a dramatic comment about the stature of a tree. Lennon's hand jumped to her mouth as she tried to mute her laughter. Kade smiled.

"Wanna get some hot chocolate?" he asked. "I think I saw them selling some by the entrance."

With her past Christmas memories fresh in her mind, there was nothing Lennon wanted to do more.

"Sure," she said.

As they sat on hay bales, hot chocolate warming their hands, Lennon and Kade exchanged Christmas memories. Kade told stories about his family and they were more entertaining now that Lennon knew them personally. As Kade talked Lennon reflected on the way their relationship had started and how far they had come. Sitting beside him, listening to him laugh about his family, she realized he had become one of her close friends.

Eventually, Jessie was able to make a decision and walked from the maze of trees with a victorious look, Will following with a tree slung over his shoulder. Next, they went to Target. Jessie got lost in Christmas lights, ribbon, sparkling ornaments and Lennon decided to blaze her own trail. It didn't surprise her to find Kade had followed her.

"Where are we going?" he asked, a spark of excitement in his eyes.

"Every tree decorating party needs cookies," she said.

She found the baking aisle and began to gather ingredients.

"I thought we were going to do something exciting," Kade said.

"Cookies are exciting," Lennon said.

He let out a low grumble and left.

Lennon was debating between which type of cookie to make when a masked figure appeared at the end of the aisle, a dart gun trained on her. It took her a moment to comprehend what she was witnessing and in that moment, the gunman was able to get off a round, the orange foam dart hitting her in the shoulder.

"Kade," she said, as another dart bounced off her forehead.

He shot her again and she ran. She raced down the aisle, Kade in pursuit. She ducked into the toy section, searching for her own weapon. Kade followed, laughing while he shot her. Lennon reached for the closest weapon she could find, a light saber, and tried to defend herself. Kade's aim was impeccable and Lennon's defense was sloppy.

Their battle was brought to a sudden halt when a stern looking Target employee rounded the corner and fixed them with a stony glare. Smiling sheepishly, they returned the toys to their shelves. Kade took her hand as they left, laughing.

They ended the night, after Jessie decorated Lennon's apartment, on Lennon's couch. A Christmas movie playing as they ate chocolate chip cookies. Lennon tiredly rested her head against the armrest, her energy for the day officially spent, but in its place a satisfied happiness.

**********************************************************************

Hey!

So I think I got sympathy sickness from Lennon. This morning I woke up with a cold. Hopefully I'll jump back as easily as Lennon did or maybe a famous, extremely attractive and caring pop star with come take care of me. Really I'll take either option. Though my fingers are crossed for the hot pop star. (Though in retrospect do I really want him to see me looking like death. Dang it! I think I'll wish for the first option instead.) What do you usually do on a sick day? Besides the obvious of flirting with the pop star taking care of you.

Vote, comment, follow, because I could be dying and really it would make me tremendously happy. Or don't and know that you broke the heart of a dying girl. ;)