Walt was beginning to think that turning up unannounced probably hadn't been the best idea. He banged on Jesse's door one last time and then turned to go. He was halfway to his car when he heard Jesse's voice calling him back.

"Mr White?"

Walt turned. "At last! What took you so long? Didn't you hear me knocking?"

"Shhhh. Keep it down. My head's killing me."

Walt narrowed his eyes as he took a closer look at Jesse. "Jesse, are you okay? You look a little pale."

"No, I'm not okay." Jesse zipped up his hoodie and folded his arms as if to hug himself. "I feel like shit, all right? Like I have the flu or something. If it's okay with you, I'm gonna head back to my sofa to die. Are you coming in?"

Walt nodded, then followed Jesse into the house and shut the door behind them.

Jesse sank down onto the sofa. "You can make coffee if you want. Help yourself."

"Would you like one?"

"I'd probably throw up."

Walt reached out and touched a hand to Jesse's forehead. "You do feel pretty warm."

"I feel cold. I've taken meds, but they've done nothing."

"Did it come on suddenly?"

"Yeah." Jesse rubbed his eyes. "I just didn't feel right, and then this hot/cold thing hit me and I felt like I needed to crash. So I lay down here and I haven't moved since. Oh, except for when you banged on my door a zillion times like a crazy bitch."

"Okay, mister. That settles it. You're going back to bed. iRight/i now. No arguments."

"Nahhh." Jesse curled up and pulled his hood over his head. "I wanna stay here."

"You need to be in bed, Jesse. Trust me. C'mon, I'll help you."

"Don't you have to get back?"

"Oh, I'm not in any hurry."

"Why not?"

"Well... Let's just say I'm not Skyler's favourite person right now. So, are we walking to the bedroom or am I carrying you?"

"Go for it."

"C'mon, Jesse. Meet me halfway, huh? You got to the door, you can get to the bedroom."

"Here to the door wasn't so far."

"Like I said, I'll help you. Put your arm around me... That's it."

They made it to the bedroom without incident, and Jesse flopped onto the bed like a sack of lazy potatoes.

"Right." Walt looked around the room. "Now, what do you usually wear in bed?"

"I'll stay in my clothes." Jesse closed his eyes. "It's fine, Mr White."

"C'mon now. Cooperate with me here."

"Just let me stay like this, it's fine."

"Your clothes will get all sweaty, Jesse, and so will you. You need to be as unrestricted by clothing as possible with a fever, even a low grade one. Do you have pjs?"

"There, on the chair."

"Okay." Walt grabbed the shorts and tee shirt and handed them to Jesse. "C'mon, take off your pants and sweatshirt and put these on."

Jesse sighed. "Okay, okay, I'll do as I'm told."

"Good." Walt smiled. "You'll feel a lot more comfortable. Is there anything you need?"

"Some water, maybe."

"Okay. I'll go get you some. Then I'll get going, shall I? Let you get some rest. I can drop by again tomorrow, see how you're doing-"

"Mr White."

"Yes?"

"Will you stay? Just a little longer?"

"Er. Well, I-"

"Please. You said yourself you don't have to get back yet."

"I know..."

"Please, Mr White."

There was something about Jesse's tone, something about the way he pleaded with Walt with his eyes...

Walt nodded. "Okay, Jesse. I can stay for a little while. I'll go get your drink."

Walt grabbed a large glass from the rack and ran the tap until the water was running nice and cold. While he was there, he took an impromptu inventory of Jesse's food situation: Instant noodles, Funyuns, two frozen pizzas and a half eaten tub of ice cream. Not a lot to be going on with, vitamin-wise.

When he got back to Jesse, Walt found him dozing. As he placed the water on the bedside table, Jesse opened his eyes.

"Thanks."

"Shall I go get you something to eat?" Walt asked.

"I've got food."

"Well... in a manner of speaking."

"I'm not hungry."

Walt sat on the bed and felt Jesse's cheek. "You're a little clammy."

"I still feel like shit. But it's better now I'm in bed. Thanks."

"Scoot across a little, would you?"

Jesse did as he was asked. Walt plumped up the pillows before lying down beside him, with his legs stretched out and his hands laced on his chest.

"Try to get a little sleep, Jesse. It's the best thing."

"Being sick sucks."

"Tell me about it."

"Sorry. Sometimes I forget. Well, not forget, exactly-."

"I know what you mean, Jesse, and I'm glad you forget."

"Maybe you shouldn't be here, Mr White. You could catch this."

"I've had my shots. I'll take my chances. Go to sleep."

Walt closed his eyes and waited for the changes in Jesse's breathing to indicate sleep had come to him. When at last it came, Walt's watch said four o'clock. He'd been there for more than an hour already. Maybe it was time to go. He glanced across at Jesse, who was now murmuring in his sleep, and oh-so-carefully began to make his move. Just as he did so, however, Jesse turned and moved closer, resting his hand against Walt's stomach. Then he moved closer still and his arm wrapped itself completely around Walt, accompanied by an audible sigh of newly found contentment.

At first, Walt was a little taken aback. But that didn't last. Instead, he found himself taking Jesse into his arms. Jesse tightened his hold in response and snuggled up. Seemingly driven by some deep-seated instinct, Walt smoothed Jesse's hair, and then kissed his head. He closed his eyes and collected up the fragments of the moment in his mind: Jesse cuddled up in his embrace; his own fingers running through Jesse's hair; Jesse's skin, warm and slightly damp...

Jesse stirred against him, and then his lips were suddenly at Walt's neck. It was a quick peck, but definitely a kiss.

"Jesse..." Walt whispered.

"Ummm?"

Another kiss, this time lingering a little, sent a tiny erotic charge through Walt's body; the next sent a bigger spark. And Walt felt the lack of them when Jesse sank down again and went back to sleep.

He stayed with Jesse until it was dark. It was harder to leave than he cared to admit.

He stayed in touch with Jesse by phone the following day - when Jesse answered, that is. He sounded awful and Walt wondered if he should go and visit him again. The decision was made for him when Jesse texted and said he was just going to try to sleep it off.

When Walt arrived at Jesse's house the following day with a bag of groceries, it was already late afternoon. He'd spent pretty much all day attempting to get away, without success. One thing after another had needed his attention, and several unexpected events had conspired against him. Once more springing a surprise visit, he wasn't even sure if Jesse would be awake to answer the door. Plan B was to leave the food on the porch and text Jesse to let him know it was ready when he was, but, to Walt's relief, Jesse did answer, not only awake but up and dressed.

"Oh good, you're up!" Walt said "I've brought you some supplies, stuff that's good for you when you're sick. It's just..er... soup and some wholewheat bread, crackers, some fruit... er, oranges mostly. I also picked up some multivitamins."

"You didn't have to do that."

"Well, I had to come by this way, anyway," Walt lied, "so..."

Jesse let him in and then sank down on the sofa. "Thanks."

Walt went to the kitchen to put the food away. "So, how are you feeling today?" he called.

"A little better, actually. I was sweating like a mofo all day yesterday though."

"That's good. You sweated it out. So have you been up long?"

"Couple hours maybe."

"Take it easy," Walt warned as he joined Jesse on the sofa. "You might not be out of the woods yet."

"I know... Thanks for taking care of me the other day, by the way."

"I couldn't just leave you, could I?"

"Yeah. You could."

"Well. I didn't."

"No, you didn't. You stayed and held me."

"Do you think you could eat a little soup now?" Walt asked breezily, in an attempt to not go there - despite the fact that, deep down, he wanted to.

"Mr White..."

"I could eat. Let's have some soup, huh?"

"I remember... you held me and I..."

Walt looked back at Jesse, caught helplessly between the need for him to remember and the sneaking fear that he'd want to forget.

"What, Jesse?" he said.

"Did I...? Did I kiss you?"

Walt nodded. "Yes."

"I was a little... out of it."

"I know. It's okay, Jesse. No big deal. It was just a little kiss. Just here." Walt touched his fingers to Jesse's neck and watched as Jesse closed his eyes at the contact.

"I'm not out of it now," Jesse said. "Show me what I did."

"Jesse..."

"Please. Show me."

"This." Walt leaned in and gently pressed his lips against Jesse's neck. Then he kissed him again and lingered, as Jesse had done. The third kiss brought up a moan in Jesse's throat.

"Did it feel as good as that?" Jesse said.

"It felt ivery/i nice, Jesse," Walt answered. "Actually, I kissed you first." He leaned in again and pressed a kiss against Jesse's hair. "Just here."

Jesse pulled Walt into a hug then; Walt willingly fell into it and wrapped his arms around Jesse, holding him tight.

"Could you eat a little soup now?" he asked.

"Okay."

"I'll go fix you some."

Walt began to break the hug, but Jesse held on.

"Mr White?"

"Yes?"

"Will you stay with me tonight?"

Walt hesitated for just a moment before he answered.

"Yes, Jesse. I'll stay."