Archer's POV

"Baby, did you experience any heartburn the last weeks?"

Baby. One word lingered with me. He'd called me odd things before. He'd referred to me as a type of food before, saying I reminded him of it. 'Pancakes' had been said as more of a tease than endearment. His use of the word 'baby' was different. It wasn't just how he said it. It was the way he was looking at me that told me he didn't just throw the word in.

"Yeah, a little", I replied, remembering that besides the word 'baby', he'd said something else.

I'd had heartburn for about a month. It always happened when I ate too much, and admittedly with the way I'd been the past months, I'd eaten too much a lot. I never really thought much of it. The discomfort didn't last long.

"If I'm right you have mild acute gastritis..." he said and said something else. I wasn't listening after I heard his pre-diagnosis.

I had never had gastritis in my life, but it sounded serious. With the way I was suddenly feeling, I couldn't help but look alarmed. I was nauseous and felt sick to my stomach. The pain on my abdomen was getting worse. I was suddenly feeling colder than I was before, yet I could feel beads of sweat forming on my forehead.

I was getting dizzy. Felix did something I didn't expect – no surprise there – by pulling me into his arms. I immediately welcomed the gesture, putting my arms firmly around him. His arms were warm, but I was still feeling cold. I snuggled closer, pushing myself more into his arms. It was behavior to be ashamed of, but I couldn't help myself. I needed the comfort his arms provided, even if it was little.

"You are going to be fine baby. I promise. I'm here and I'm going to take care of you", he whispered. Though his voice wasn't as clear as it normally was, it sounded assured.

His words were comforting. He knew what I had and he probably knew how to treat it. He seemed to know more about illnesses than the average human. I was in the hands of a screwed up man but a knowledgeable man nonetheless.

"You better, because all of it is your fault", I said.

The hug lasted longer than any hug I'd ever had. I was certain I wasn't holding onto him anymore. We just sat there with everything quiet except the sounds of our heartbeats – mine in particular. My heart was beating uncomfortably fast and I could tell Felix was aware of it.

He pulled out of the hug slowly, keeping his hands around my waist. I almost fell over. He noticed that too. The nausea and the dizziness were making me feel weak.

"I feel like shit", I managed to say.

"You'll be okay", he assured. "You should lie down".

Before I could protest, not that I would have managed it, he set me up nicely on the couch, providing me with more cushions than was necessary. He adjusted and adjusted the cushions until I gave him an annoyed stare. He adjusted the cushion one more time.

"Would you cut it out before you break my neck?" I complained.

"Sorry", he said sheepishly, giving the cushion a slight tug. "I'm gonna get you some water", he said going to the kitchen, walking backwards so that he was still facing me.

A few minutes later he had me tucked in a blanket on the couch. I'd taken a sip of water. It didn't help with how terrible I was feeling. I was getting worse by the second. My head was still being hammered, my abdomen was being repeatedly stabbed and I wanted to throw up everything I had ever eaten.

He sat on the other couch before saying, "You should call your friend. He must be worried".

The call to Clark was made quickly. I told him I was fine, though I couldn't tell him where I was. I promised I'd be back the next day and made sure to thank him for taking me out. Felix scoffed at that because apparently he wanted to shift some of the blame to Clark.

Felix and I didn't talk for some time. He busied himself with cleaning the mess I had made before running out of things to do. He sat on the other couch and looked at me every now and then. I tried to hide from him just how bad I was feeling. The nausea was intense. I was shivering under the blanket. I could feel waves carrying whatever remained in my digestive system to the surface. The waves were there, the final step wasn't.

I was sweating more and more. I wanted nothing more than for my miserable state to disappear, but that wasn't happening. Instead I was wondering bit by bit if Felix was right with his diagnosis. How long would I go on feeling like crap?

I closed my eyes to Felix's form and the room I was in, wishing I was anywhere but there. If I hadn't gone out with Clark and his friends, none of this would have happened. If I had never met Felix, I would have been okay at that moment. Felix was the cause of every single thing I was feeling at that moment!

I had a chance to make sure he never set his ugly feet in my life, but I ruined it. He could have been rotting in prison at that moment, instead of sitting there and looking at me like the stalker that he was.

I wanted to scream in frustration, but I couldn't. Everything in me wanted to blame Felix, but I couldn't. I was feeling everything because of him, but not everything was bad.

We had never talked about the night we'd slept together. I'd tried shoving it at the back of my mind when he disappeared and because I was ashamed at having given myself away so easily. I hoped I'd never get to think of it even when I was missing him terribly. But at that moment he was sitting just a few feet away from me.

His face swam in my mind's eye. The dark eyes teased me. The devilish grin he possessed assaulted me in a wonderful way. I thought back to our conversations in his basement and the night I'd lost whatever sense I'd had. That guy sitting so close yet so far away from me was the guy who'd screwed me over. It is with shame to admit that at that moment I wished he wasn't so far away. I wanted him close to me. I wanted his hands around me. I wanted him to tell me I was going to be fine.

I opened my eyes slowly as a shiver encompassed my body before disappearing. Felix wasn't where I had last seen him. I looked around, wondering where he'd gone and how I hadn't heard him leave.

Fear engulfed me. I knew I was safe in the cabin, but I wanted Felix close to me. I didn't know why but I needed him to be there with me. I craved his presence.

I raised my body slowly only to be scolded for doing that. The source of the scolding was none other than Felix. He'd just emerged from the kitchen. I breathed a sigh of relief which I tried to mask by coughing.

He walked to the couch I was lying on. He had a small cup in his hand that contained some green stuff.

"Sit up. I brought you something", he said.

I scrunched my nose. "What the heck is that?"

"It's a cocktail", he said smiling.

I narrowed my eyes. "It doesn't look nice".

"Things that are good for you are usually not nice. This is a mixture of a bunch of things designed to make you feel better, also known as a gastrointestinal cocktail", he said.

I sat up and he propped me up. I didn't drink much of his "cocktail" before I felt like throwing up. I forced myself to finish it. The taste was terrible. Felix made me drink water afterwards, probably hoping I'd stop making disgusted expression.

"So is it like a home recipe?" I asked.

He shook his head. "It's a bunch of drugs mixed together".

I opened my mouth slightly, with my widened stare enough to show him I was skeptical.

"Don't worry, it's not illegal drugs. It's medical drugs you get at a hospital, and I measured them correctly", he assured. "The least you can do is throw them back out".

"How-how do you know all these combinations and antidotes and stuff?"

He pushed my legs together slightly, making a spot for him to sit.

"I studied a bit of medicine, pharmacology and toxicology", he said and shrugged. "It was um...for my job".

"Killing people?" I said bluntly.

He chuckled slightly. "Yeah".

"You..." I said and was interrupted when my body shuddered. I was shivering more. My body was starting to ache.

Felix looked concerned. I'd been trying to not let him see how weak I was, but after the last wave of shivering I leaned back on the cushion. Sitting up had meant I couldn't cover my whole body with the blanket since I had to use my hand.

"How do you feel?" he asked. His tone worried me.

"Terrible", I said smiling. I wanted to sleep forever, but I had to keep up appearances. When Felix looked concerned it scared the hell out of me.

He stood up from where he was sitting and made me sit up. I was too weak to register what he was doing before he sat where my head was supposed to be. He made me lie against a part of his chest, putting his arm around me.

Adjusting the blanket to cover us, he said, "You are quite hot".

I only had to look up slightly to be met with the view of his lips. For a few seconds my eyes were fixated with them. Felix looked down into my eyes and I burned with fire not a product of the fever. I wondered if he could tell I was blushing.

"Thank you for that compliment", I said winking. I hadn't needed to think about my reply. It came naturally. It was so exhilarating teasing Felix.

He narrowed his eyes and a glint crossed his dark irises. The look in his eyes was magnetizing, yet a bit scary. It made my body tingle. I didn't know if I wanted to know what he was thinking.

My body shuddered again, and this time Felix put his hand around my waist. I stopped breathing. I could have done something that didn't require me to take huge starved breaths afterwards but I chose to hold my breath when I could feel Felix's arm around me. It was as if I wanted to make sure there was no distraction to the moment.

When my body decided it wanted oxygen, I took a huge breath. That was alarming to Felix. He cocked a brow and I died in embarrassment.

"Tell me that was intentional", he said.

"Could have been", I said smiling.

Either his weird concoction was working, or Felix's presence was making me feel better. My abdominal pain receded. I still felt a bit nauseous, cold and weak, but other than that I was okay.

I noticed just how intimate Felix and I were. This was beyond a hug and yet felt just as comfortable. I was pretty much certain it was not an ordinary thing, but nothing with us had ever been ordinary. Either way, there was more to this that neither of us had tried exploring with the other. We'd slept together months back, kissed, hugged and now I was lying in his arms.

There was no name to our relationship but there was obviously something. A part of me wanted to keep on enjoying being in his arms, but I knew I'd ignored whatever existed between us long enough.

"You seem deep in thought", he commented.

I shook my head.

"You are wondering why you are in my arms and what it means", he said coolly.

I could have let my eyes enlarge, but I controlled myself. Felix was getting creepier every second, as if stalking me wasn't creepy enough. It was as if he could hear my thoughts. I hadn't gotten over how he knew earlier that I had a knife without even looking at me.

"I'm not", I lied.

He gave me a small smile and leaned his head against the couch armrest, moving his legs such that we were both lying on the couch. The couch wasn't big enough for the both of us to lie parallel. Our legs ended up tangled with my arm on Felix's chest. My head rested a little on his shoulder. His arms wrapped around me. The position was so comfortable I closed my eyes.

"In case you are wondering, I care about you Pancakes", he whispered.

Being cared about was what many people desperately wanted and craved. It was surprisingly not what I wanted from Felix. I felt...disappointed.

I didn't say anything.

"Are you still cold?" he asked.

I shook my head slowly.

"You never told me why you punched a guy", he said.

I moved my hand slowly on his chest. "He was irritating".

He cocked a brow. "That irritating? You aren't violent".

"He was a lot like you", I said grinning.

He grinned too. "I didn't know I evoke such potent feelings in you".

"Well, no. You..." I said and he cut in.

"You can't take it back. Earlier you said I made you punch a guy", he said.

"It was just for effect", I lied.

"The tears too?"

"Can we talk about something that doesn't make me want to punch you?" I said. I was under threat of turning red. Even I didn't know why tears had grazed my cheeks when I prematurely realized Felix wasn't who I thought he was. Other criminals didn't make me want to cry.

"Sure", he said. "What do you want to talk – are you feeling okay?"

I raised my head a little to look at him. He looked genuinely concerned, but I couldn't figure out why. I hadn't shivered in a while and I wasn't retching. I hadn't made any sudden movements either or grimaced.

"I'm ...fine", I said slowly. "I mean, I still feel weak, but I'm fine".

He gave me a small nod. "So what do you want to talk about?"

I was about to ask him why he looked concerned when my phone rang. I'd held on to it after he'd given it to me to call Clark. The caller I.D indicated that Damian was calling. I held the phone in my hands for a few seconds, wondering if I should answer. I did. I'd kept the guy in the dark for a week.

"Hi", I said, moving into a sitting position.

"Hi. How are you?"

"I have some mild gastritis, other than that I'm fine", I said, wondering what I was going to say to excuse my behavior.

"Stella is really worried about you", he said.

"I know", I said. "Hey look, I'm sorry about standing you up the other day –" I said and tried standing up. Felix put his arm around my waist, effectively pinning me to the couch.

I glared at him but he just smiled.

"Uh...I'm really sorry. I came down with...what I have right now and I was just feeling down. I wanted to tell you, but the last few days have been forgettable", I said into the phone.

"It's okay. I would rather you told me earlier, but it's fine. We can reschedule if you like", he said.

"That – that'd be great", I stammered.

"The next weekend?" he suggested.

Felix was looking at me intently, which surprisingly made me uncomfortable. Why on earth would he care about my call?

"The next weekend sounds great, only if you are prepared to deal with a grumpy me should we lose our opening soccer match", I said.

"I can deal with that", Damian replied.

"Great. It's a date then", I said.

"Looking forward to it. I have to go now. I hope you get well", he said.

"Thanks", I said and hung up.

I looked at the part of Felix's arm that was on me and then at his face.

"So what's with the possessiveness?" I asked casually.

"I'm not possessive. You are sick. If you want to collapse, it'll be my pleasure to let you roam the place", he said sharply. There was no mirth is his voice or his eyes.

"I wasn't going to roam the place", I said. "I just wanted to stand up".

He let me go. "Fine!"

That sounded like a snap. He looked angry, making me wonder what I did. I was reluctant to resume lying on his chest so I just sat where I was. I couldn't understand Felix's reaction. I'd merely wanted to stand up. Even if I wanted to roam the place as he so said, it was my choice. I was the one who felt the weakness.

Roam the place...the words played in my mind. If I didn't know him as a straight-shooter I would almost think it was a euphemism for something else.

"So...who was on the other side?" he asked. His voice had softened.

"Damian", I said.

"And who's Damian?"

"Stella's friend. He asked me out...a week ago actually", I said.

"Get back here before you start feeling cold again", he ordered, taking me by surprise.

He lifted his arm up and I snuggled up on his side. He covered us with the blanket and brought his arm down to lie around me.

"So, do you like him?" he asked when we were comfortable.

"I don't know. I don't really know him", I said.

"Do you believe in love at first sight?"

"No", I replied.

"What about connections at first sight?" he asked.

"Depends what you mean by a connection", I said.

"Chemistry", he said.

"Yeah, that's a lot helpful", I said sarcastically.

He chuckled slightly and I had to resist the urge to look up into his face. "Non-judgment, mystery, attraction, trust, effortless communication, can also be described as a spark or just a feeling of clicking when you are with someone".

"I don't know", I said.

He'd asked an interesting question. I didn't think about my answer. I knew if I did it would lead me to him. Maybe it was just me, but I felt all of those things with Felix. He was mysterious, which made me want to know him more. I trusted him. I didn't know why, but the moment I realized it was he who was shooting bottles outside, I breathed a sigh of relief. I could talk to him about things I had never even thought about. If that was chemistry to him, I had it in abundance.

"I hope you have fun on your date", he said.

I didn't say anything. I was bloody thinking about him and he was thinking about my date! I should have been delighted with his well-wishes, but I wasn't. I was single and ready to date again, so why didn't I like being wished well with Damian? He seemed like a great guy.

"Thanks", I mumbled.

It was rather comical. I was lying in another guy's arms and the same guy was wishing me well with someone else. But of course lying in his arms didn't mean what it usually implied. I was sick and falling apart. Felix was only holding me together, assuring me that I was going to be okay. He was doing all of it out of guilt, even though my sickness wasn't his fault.

I sighed inaudibly and closed my eyes.

h_\