"Scotty, I don't feel well," Desiree whined into her phone from the comfort of under her blanket.
"What's wrong?" he asked not sounding all that concerned. Desiree's brother Scott had called to find out the status of the girls on campus and instead was instead being given the run down of his sister's health.
"I think I'm coming down with something."
"No shit, what's wrong?" he asked again.
"I'm cold, I cant breathe, and my head hurts."
"Sounds like a bad hangover."
"Bring me soup."
"No way, you're an hour away."
"I'm your baby sister, and you love me. Please bring me soup. Chicken Noodle with a big spoon. Please."
"No," Scott said with a smile. His sister was always pitiful when she got sick. "Go to the campus cafeteria and buy some soup."
"Scotty...please."
She heard him sigh, and she knew she had him.
"You are such a pain in the ass, Desiree. Are you still gonna want it after about 9pm?"
Desiree smiled and pulled the blanket tighter around her. "Yes I will."
"Fine. See you later."
"Thanks, Scotty. Love you." She got the words out two seconds before she heard her brother disconnect.
She snuggled down in her bed and closed her eyes. She didn't really need the soup, but she wanted it, and plus she hadn't seen her brother in the two weeks she'd been at school and she missed him. She wasn't going to admit to herself that she probably missed Gabriel more than she missed her brother, but she would be grateful for her brother's company.
She closed her eyes and tried to force the image of Gabriel from popping up on the inside of her eyelids. She hadn't talked to him since he sent her the text message, and she wasn't expecting to. Finally Desiree felt herself slowly being pulled toward sleep.
~*~*~
The three sharp raps on Desiree's apartment door pulled her from her fitful sleep. "Who is it?"
"Soup!"
Desiree smiled as she shuffled to the door. She truly loved her brother. "You do love me," she said without glancing through the peephole as she swung the door open.
"You're damn right I do."
Desiree's heart just about jumped out her chest. Gabriel stood at his full height smiling sheepishly at her, enjoying her shocked expression, with a dozen roses in one hand and her soup in the other. This was certainly the last thing she expected when she rolled out of bed.
She ignored his statement and asked where her brother was.
"He's sitting on his ass in his apartment watching television." Desiree raised her eyebrows.
"Well what are you doing here?" she asked. Obviously she had an idea, but she figured it best not to jump to any conclusions considering she hadn't spoken to him in two weeks.
"You gonna make me stand out in this hall all night?" Desiree wanted to tell him she didn't give a damn where he stayed, but she held her tongue and backed out of the doorway. She waited for him to step through the door trying not to get swept up in his manly scent. She shut the door behind him and felt a sense of panic rise in her.
What was she supposed to do now? The man doesn't call, doesn't text – which she hates anyway – and then just expects that he can bring her soup and everything is okay? What is wrong with him? What's wrong with me, she thought as quickly tried to assess how the night had gone from hanging out with her brother to Gabriel standing in her foyer.
"You didn't answer my question," she said hands on hips.
"I wanted to see you," Gabriel said as he handed her the roses. Desiree took the roses and walked into the kitchen to find a vase for them. She tried to hide her shock, and she was sure she wasn't doing a very good job. And did he tell her he loved her when she opened the door? Technically 'no', right? She did say it first, so that doesn't count. And it really doesn't count because she thought it was her brother.
"You wanted to see me, huh?" she truly was at a loss for words. They both knew the reason she kept letting him in, but she was still mystified as to the reason he kept coming back.
Gabriel walked up behind her and set the soup down on the counter and placed the big spoon on top of the container. "Yes Desiree, I wanted to see you."
"I have to go to the bathroom," Desiree chimed, thinking of the only thing that could get her out of this situation and away from Gabriel's gravitational pull.
"No you don't," he said holding onto her waist and pinning her against the counter.
"Seriously, thanks for the soup, the flowers were a nice touch, but isn't this scenario getting old?" Desiree turned to face him, startled by how handsome he looked. He was in jeans and a ripped sweatshirt. He couldn't have looked better if he'd tried.
Gabriel raised a questioning eyebrow and Desiree sighed. "This whole," she said waving her hands through the air. "Ignore me for two weeks then seduce me when you decide you need a sexual fix. Don't look at me like that. It's your MO, and you're becoming predictable."
"Its not ignoring if you don't want to talk me." Desiree crossed her arms over her chest and waited for him to finish. "Last time we were together, you storm out of your bedroom, then don't talk to me during dinner and you run when I get you back to your house. If I knew any better, I'd say you were trying to ignore me." He watched Desiree's jaw clench and knew he struck a nerve.
"I have to go to the bathroom," she said again.
"No. I want you to tell me why you've been acting so schizophrenic around me."
"I'm sick, and I'll cough on you."
"Real mature, and real nice try, but I wouldn't mind having your germs." Gabriel waited several beats expecting her to say something. When she didn't he stepped closer pressing his chest against her folded arms. "Why don't you tell me what you want."
Desiree narrowed her eyes at him. She was beginning to feel a dull ache in the back of her brain, and she was sure if he weren't standing so close to her, she'd be able to think straight. "I want you to move so I can go to the bathroom."
Gabriel stepped out of her way and watched as she made her way to the bathroom. Everything always has to be so difficult with her, he thought as he put her soup in the microwave.
Desiree locked the bathroom door and pressed her head against the cool wood of the door. Was she being crazy? Probably, but what did he expect from her?
She moved over the sink and stared in horror at her reflection. Her hair was sticking up at odd angles and her face was flushed and devoid of its usual color. Why'd he always have to see her at her worst?
Desiree splashed water on her face noting that she probably had a fever. She re-did her ponytail and was prepared to thank Gabriel for everything, but tonight was not the night for confrontation. Desiree opened the door the door and watched as Gabriel took her soup out of the microwave and set it on the table.
"Um, thanks," she said. She sat down and took several sips of her soup before realizing she didn't have an appetite.
"I liked your hair better the other way," he commented as he studied her.
"Yea well if I wanted to turn you to stone, I would have left it that way."
"Ahh, so you do like me." Gabriel smiled.
"Don't push your luck, I'm sick and delirious." Gabriel continued to study her for a few more moments as she played with her soup.
"Desiree, you're shaking."
"Just the chills. I'm fine."
"Maybe we should get you to bed. I didn't mean like that," he said raising his hands in defense to her glare. "All I meant is that you should probably rest. You don't look so good."
Suddenly feeling as though all her energy had been sucked out of her, Desiree let Gabriel lead her to her bed and watched him with weary eyes as he tucked her blankets around her.
Desiree would have been taken aback by the concerned look on his face if she hadn't had so much trouble trying to stop shaking. Desiree half expected Gabriel to climb into bed with her, but he didn't. He perched himself on the edge of the bed, flicked on the TV and prepared to spend the entire night right there.
She watched him wondering where this person had come from. Certainly this gaberial was an alien because the Gabriel she knew couldn't and wouldn't spend the night with a woman if there was no promise of sex. The fact that he was willing to watch TV while she slept was a little unsettling.