Love Addict's RPG Ch. 28 (Patreon)

Mia didn't mess around, entering battle mode now that she was on the case. Turned out he had a fever of a hundred and one. Not great, but she had it covered. Mia got an ice pack from Oliver's freezer, wrapped it in a washcloth, found his medicine cabinet without asking where it was, poured out two ibuprofen tablets, and got him an iced tea from his fridge.

Before bringing it all over, she called out to him, "Is it just a fever, or do you feel like you've got a cold? You've got some cold meds in here, so-"

"Not a cold, I don't think. Pretty sure it's just physical exertion."

"No runny nose, sore throat, and so on?"

"I'm good, mom. Thanks"

Mia raised an eyebrow. "Didn't sign up for the mommy's special boy treatment plan. That's an add-on."

"Damn, maybe next time..." Oliver laughed weakly.

She smiled a soft smile, asking, "Anything else you want while I'm still up?"

"Some coffee would be nice. I'm barely awake."

"Nuh-uh. Already sweating like someone's holding a gun to your head, not gonna give you something that'll just dehydrate you even worse. 'Sides, you don't need to stay awake. Need more sleep."

"...You sure you didn't sign me up for the mommy's special boy treatment plan after all? Because you're sure acting like you did."

"Called being a good friend, Ollie," Mia walked back to his bedside and handed off the pills to him. Oliver struggled to raise his hand enough to get them in his mouth, barely managing to do so. He tried taking the cup from her, but Mia didn't see the point after seeing how much his arms trembled whenever he raised them. She held the glass up to his lips. "Here."

He stared at the cup and then at her, certain that his face was now a little bit redder. "Guess we're going the whole nine yards today, huh?"

"Not leaving me another option," she shrugged. "Open up."

Though embarrassed, Oliver did what she told him and drank down the pills with Mia's help. She was satisfied and placed the cup on his nightstand. Next came the ice pack, which she gently laid across his forehead. A cool, stinging chill permeated against him, helping with the unbearable heat. Oliver let out a sigh as soon as it made contact.

Satisfied, Mia took a moment to register her surroundings in greater detail for the first time since arriving. "Don't have many places a guest can sit around here," she commented.

"Yeah, sorry... not really the type to entertain a lot of guests in the first place, so..." Oliver looked over at his coffee table. "There's some questions on the ground over there?" He pointed out as if she'd somehow missed them.

"Lumbar is fucked up enough as it is, thanks," Mia gave him a dry laugh. "Would it be weird if I sat at the foot of your bed?"

"Yeah," he offered up with a tired smile. "But it'd be the good kind of weird."

"How so?" She cocked her head innocently.

"Never had a girl on my bed before."

"Never been on a guy's bed, myself. Didn't think this'd be how it happened, but I can think of worse ways." Mia shot him a quick grin bordering on playful before grabbing her messenger bag and taking it to the foot of his bed, where she sat. Since Oliver wasn't the tallest guy around and Mia was even shorter, there was plenty of room for her at the end of his full-sized mattress.

Things became a little awkward once they were sharing the bed together. He looked at her, and she looked back at him. Both were happy in each other's presence, but the tension was killing them- Oliver more so than Mia. They'd picked up right where they left off the night before, and the flirting was too much for him to take in his weakened state.

Mia had a way of telling when something was bothering Oliver, mainly because 'vaguely troubled and trying to bullshit everyone around him into thinking otherwise' was his default facial expression. "Something on your mind?" She asked, not falling for it.

"...Kinda," Oliver groaned, forcing his eyes away from the cute girl sitting a couple of feet away from him to stare at the ceiling above. "It's hard to talk about, though, and I don't know if now is the best time."

"We can leave it hanging for now if you want," Mia frowned.

He picked up what sounded like a hint of disappointment in her voice, prompting him to play a little more of his hand. "It's just that... we went from barely even talking to each other to hanging out outside of work to you coming over to take care of me while I'm sick in the span of about four days."

"You complaining?"

"N-No, of course not," he rushed to clarify. "It's just all going really fast, especially the flirting..."

Silence took hold of the room. He said more than he meant to. Nervous, Oliver looked back at Mia. Blank-faced, hard to read, slight blush. He second-guessed himself.

"We are flirting, right?"

She continued to stare at him in total quietude long enough to make him several degrees more uncomfortable. Her response only made it worse. "Been flirting with you, yeah. Personally thought I was being pretty blunt, but guess I wasn't clear enough. It's a two-way street, though, so what about you?"

"...Yeah, I've obviously been trying to flirt with you," Oliver mumbled. "That was a stupid question. Forget I asked."

"It's cool," Mia folded her arms and bent her knees, resting her chin on her forearm. "Reading between the lines isn't everyone's expertise. Helps to air things out, put aside the innuendos, be honest with each other... and for the record, I think you've been doing a pretty good job. Might've even made me blush a couple times."

It was funny. The way she phrased it sounded like a jab, but there was sincerity in her words that made Oliver feel like Mia was genuinely complimenting him, like she knew and understood how hard this was and appreciated the hell out of him for trying as hard as he was.

He smiled. Deeply.

"We need to talk about what's going on between us, don't we?"

"Not gonna rush it, especially not while you're sick," Mia looked off to the side and stared at his bare-bones wall devoid of any posters, photos, or anything that might liven the place up. "But I think we're just about at the point where I'd like some kinda indication on where this is going, yeah."

There was a lot Oliver wanted to say that, but she had a point about his exhaustion. It wasn't the right time. He wanted to be at his best whenever they had that talk, and he felt like he was pretty close to falling asleep again at this rate.

"Think you're overthinking how fast this is going, though," Mia continued.

"I overthink a lot of things..." he laughed meekly.

"Known each other for a long time, Ollie. Just needed a spark to get us going. Not much more to it than that."

"You sure made it sound like there was a lot more to it."

Mia looked into his eyes, seeing the anxiety and a little bit of shame. "...Don't tell me that's why you couldn't sleep last night?"

"It's not the only reason I couldn't sleep..." Oliver said sheepishly. "I really did get excited thinking about you and all that other crap I said, but after a while, it kind of dominated my thoughts. What with how amazing everything has been going, how am I supposed to not worry that you have some kinda secret you're worried might change things between us?"

Mia took a deep breath to calm her nerves. She suddenly felt responsible for his current state, which wasn't a great feeling. If she knew he was going to torture himself over it, she never would've said a word. Mia didn't come here today to talk about this whole thing, but it didn't sound like she could get away with refusing to comment on it entirely.

"It's not a secret. Might not even change a thing," she mumbled. "Don't know. You don't got a patent on overthinking shit, I do it too."

"I shouldn't have brought this up," Oliver groaned, reaching up to press the ice pack harder into his head. "You came over to help me, and I'm just making things awkward. Gonna try and sleep this off, didn't mean to guilt you or-"

"Known you longer than you remember. We went to high school together, Ollie."

Dead silence.

Oliver struggled to sit up slightly, managing it so he could look her in the eyes. She saw that he wasn't thrilled by this revelation but was more curious than anything else. "Which one?"

"Quincy Adams High..."

Now he looked a little more distraught. "So that's how you knew about me and Stacy."

"Yup..."

"I'm... um... not sure what to say. Are you upset that I didn't recognize you? Because I was only there for like three months, and I try to block out as much of those memories as I can..."

"Had a few classes together, and we were chemistry partners, like, once or twice, maybe... but we never talked beyond that..." Mia found it challenging to meet his eyes. She was speaking slowly, choosing her words carefully. Guarding them.

Oliver was too focused on fighting back his uncomfortable memories to notice. "Oh, God. You saw me during my phase, then..."

"Mean when you wore a leather bomber jacket everywhere and spiked your hair like a j-rock star?"

He collapsed flat on his back, groaning out of embarrassment. Terrible time to have a fever, as he just kept feeling worse and worse. "That's the one."

"I mean, I thought you looked cool."

"So did I," Oliver managed a humorless laugh.

"Decently popular back then, too, from what I remember."

"Until I wasn't."

"Until you weren't," Mia sadly agreed.

"The way I see it, we have two options. Either you leave me here to wallow in my shame, or you smother me with my pillow. I'd prefer the latter, but the former is almost as good."

Mia perked up a tiny bit. "Not leaving until you feel better, and the only thing I'm willing to smother you with is my not-quite-so-platonic affection."

Oliver let out a disappointed sigh, though his heart raced at Mia's implications. "I was trying to do that whole 'high school debut' trope you see in anime all the time. I didn't have many friends in middle school, so I wondered if I reinvented myself and made up a fake personality..."

"Don't need to defend why you dressed like Leon Kennedy auditioning for GACKT," Mia giggled ever so softly. "Already said I was into it."

"Changed my mind. Please use my pillow to stop me from breathing, Mia. I'm begging you. Just go fucking Silent Hill 2 on my ass."

She laughed harder, the adorable sound helping him past this awkward revelation. "No can do. Rather you kept breathing for the foreseeable future. Least as long as I'm around."

After a few seconds of quiet, Oliver smiled out of half-amusement and asked, "Why did you think this would change things?"

Mia tensed up. She hesitated, then answered, "Thought you might not want another reminder of the worst part of your life hanging around."

"Well, I would've preferred if I got to tell you about that on my own terms, but it's not a dealbreaker. Not by a long shot."

Mia wanted to smile but couldn't.

"...Fever Oliver might not be your best version to ask, but I wanna be clear. You sure you don't recognize me? Take a long look if you have to."

Oliver dredged his body up again enough to meet her gaze. Mia was looking at him with a fierce expression. Sweating, too. Not as bad as he was, but noticeable. Mia was nervous and out of luck if she hoped for him to recognize her.

"Sorry. The only thing that Fever Oliver sees is his cute coworker."

Mia brushed some of her bangs out of her face and slouched against the wall. Her smile said little, making it hard to tell whether she was relieved or not to hear his words.

"That was me trying to flirt, by the way," he clarified.

"Would've missed that if you hadn't pointed it out," she smirked. "Thanks for the heads up."

Oliver ignored the sarcasm, asking with a yawn, "Any other major revelations you wanted to drop on me before I pass the fuck out?"

Mia stared at him for a long time. Something was caught in her throat, and she knew it wouldn't come out how she wanted it to, so she avoided it altogether for now. "Not at the moment, no. Kind of curious how you handle Stacy being around, though. Still remember the look on your face when Tessa brought in the new part-timer. What was that, six months ago? Looked like you were gonna have a panic attack..."

"I did have a panic attack," Oliver frowned. He tried to reach for his glass of tea but didn't have the strength. Mia saved him the effort by crawling over his body to get it for him, in reverse of how he was mounted atop her not too long ago. They said nothing about it this time, but Oliver appreciated the gesture and her proximity.

"Almost quit, too..."

"Why didn't you?" Mia asked, resting against the wall again.

"Exposure therapy. Thought it might say something about me if I could get used to being around her without..."

"Without?" She tilted her head.

"Nothing," Oliver shook his. "Freaking out, I mean. That's all."

"Hm. Feel like you've gotten a little more used to her, though. Least from my point of view."

"I mean, I can handle a short conversation with her occasionally. Not sure if I'll ever get better than that." It hurt Oliver to admit as much. Therapy got him back to a state where he could more or less function like any other adult his age, but the chains of his trauma were never broken, only loosened.

Mia reached out and placed her hand on his calf, rubbing up and down his lower leg over the blanket. It felt nice. "Ollie, you're not a goddamn saint. Hating that bitch for what she did to you is completely valid. I mean, fuck, you had to switch schools because of her."

"Yeah..." Oliver's mind was dwelling on the story beyond that part.

She pulled him back down to earth by telling him, "Hope you know that I got your back if she ever gets too much for you. Owe you that much and then some."

"You don't owe me anything," Oliver laughed at her choice of words.

"More than you'd think..." Mia patted his foot a few times before taking her hand away. "Anyway, how you feeling? Starting to look pretty tired, there."

"Yeah," he said, proving her point with another yawn. "Don't think I'm gonna be lucid for much longer..."

"Lucidity is overrated, anyway," she shrugged. "Take a nap."

"Probably will. What're you gonna do?"

"Go through your laptop and see what we're dealing with porn-wise."

Oliver jolted upright, unable to sense the sarcasm. His eyes darted to the laptop on his nightstand, his sweat suddenly increasing. It was the most significant threat a man could face, and he was helpless to stop it.

Mia started laughing at his panicked reaction. "Chill, dude. Didn't mean it."

"...I knew that," he mumbled, flopping back on his bed in total embarrassment.

"Must mean there's some deeply dire shit in there, huh?" She wondered aloud. "Don't worry, ese. Long as there's nothing illegal-"

"Ugh, no, don't even joke about that..."

"Good. Doubt anything you got on there would be a problem, then. Think you'll find I'm pretty open-minded."

Oliver looked up to see her smiling at him. "I will, will I?"

"Seems to be the direction this is headed, yeah," Mia's smile took on a subtle, catlike quality for a split second, and then it was gone. She pulled out a pair of headphones, a sketchbook, and a pencil case from her messenger bag, saying, "Now take your damn nap already. You can sleep safely knowing I've got plenty to keep me entertained without having to go rifling through your porn collection."