Title's totally inspired. Inspired from where... is a whole other story. This is the first Rily fluffball I've ever written. :p

-SICKIES CLAD IN PJAMS-
by Ellie

Lily pulled a seat next to Travis, who had his headphones on and was flipping through a book.

"What are you listening to?" she asked, taking a drink of water.

Realizing she'd said something, he took the headphones off. "What?"

"What were you listening to?"

He grinned. "It's this cd of ancient egyptian music. It's fascinating."

She nodded her head. "Don't take this the wrong way, or anything... but how would one know what ancient egyptian music actually sounded like?"

He looked at her like she was stupid. "You listen to the CD."

She let out a half-hearted laugh and shook her head, as Ray sat down next to her.

She sneezed.

"Uh, bless you?" he quipped.

"God, what are you wearing, Ray?" Her nose crinkled up as she turned her head to the side and sneezed again.

"Oh, you don't like it?" He looked offended, and tried sniffing his shirt.

"What isit? You weren't wearing it earlier." She kept her nose covered.

He shrugged his shoulders. "I dunno, I found it in the locker room."

"Ray, you need to change, or stay away from me," she sneezed again. "Cause whatever that is, I think I'm allergic." She got up and walked off, water in hand.

Ray sighed, and leaned back in his chair. "Ah, the ones I love the most are always the ones who leave me." He glanced over at Travis. "Isn't this the time where you whip out a quote and I nod as if I understand?"

Travis rolled his eyes and grinned. "Yeah, I'm not good with love advice."

"Oh, I know, Mr. I'm... Not-Good... With-Love-Advice..." He paused. "Well, that was lame."

Travis laughed. "There's this chinese proverb, 'love is blind; friendship closes its eyes.'"

Ray raised his eyebrows.

"Um," Travis started, "just think about it."

Ray nodded and sniffed his shirt. "Hey, Travis? My nose is stuffed up, I can't tell... do I offend?"

"Odor-wise? Yeah. Otherwise? Also yeah." Ray just rolled his eyes. "You know, Ray... first you find something that smells good, and then you only spray once or twice."

"Oh, the stuff I put on, it wasn't in sprays. It was a continuous one, like... hairspray." He laughed. "So cool."

"Let me guess, was it industrial-size?"

Ray glared for a moment. "Have a shirt I could borrow?" Travis shrugged his shoulders, as Robbie sat down.

Ray coughed loudly, and Travis and Robbie glanced at him. "You look like crap, Ray," Robbie mentioned, taking a bite of his sandwich. "Where's Lily?"

Travis grinned. "Thanks to Ray's sudden bout of anosmia, he scared Lily away."

Robbie and Ray both cocked their head to the side in confusion.

Travis rolled his eyes, "Can't smell. Just means he can't smell."

Robbie looked over at Ray. "Dude, Ray, are you ok? I don't want you getting me sick or anything."

"Are you guys saying I should milk this one? Miss the rest of school?" Ray raised his eyebrows, contemplating.

Robbie nodded his head. "If you're sick, take advantage."

"Well then," Ray grinned, as he stood up. "Send Lily my regards." And he walked off.

------

Ray's house, 3:30pm

Ray heard his bedroom door open, and watched as Lily appeared.

He smiled from his bed. "Hey, Lil... what are you doing here?"

"Uh, heard you were sick, and, just for the record, you sound like crap." He just nodded, watching her glance around the room. "I, um, brought you some soup..." She looked at the floor in disgust. "Ray, when was the last time you cleaned up in here?"

"Cleaned?" He paused. "So, you brought me soup, huh?"

"Campbell's chicken noodle in a can. My specialty."

He grinned. "That's sweet, you never get me anything." He paused. "Well, except for that one demented Furby for my birthday... oh! And chicken pox in the 3rd grade."

"I didn't give you the chicken pox, I told you to stay away from me cause I was contagious."

He let out a nasty cough, and she winced a little bit.

"So, Ray, if you want the soup, you're going downstairs. I'm scared I'll catch something if I step into your room."

"Are you making fun of my bachelor pad?"

"This hellhole's your bachelor pad? No wonder you're single."

His mouth dropped in fake-surprise. "Lily! That really hurt! Why don't you just punch me again while you're at it? Add to the permabruise on my shoulder?"

She smiled. "I would, but I'd have to clear a path on your floor to get to you, and I'm not in the mood to do any menial work. Come on, get up... you can lay down on your couch."

Downstairs

Ray was enjoying his soup, lying on the couch, while she opted for the chair. "I've never really seen you sick, Ray."

He paused. "Yeah, same here. You've got like a freaky immune system."

He sat down his bowl on the coffee table, and coughed again.

"I'd give you some cough drops, Ray, but you eat those things like candy even when you're not sick."

"Hey! They're good."

She laughed, rolling her eyes. She stretched her arms out in front of her, and yawned. "Well, I guess I should head off to RFR. Can't let the boys down."

"Fine, fine." He paused. "And I shall walk you to my door, like a gentleman."

She smirked, as he stood up, clad in pjams. "How nice of you, Ray."

He coughed again and she glanced over at him.

They now stood in the doorway.

"You gonna be ok, Ray?"

"Yeah, yeah. So, um, I'll see you tomorrow at school, hopefully, if I get better." He glanced down at the ground. "Thanks for coming over, by the way."

She smiled. "Yeah."

"But, before you go, I just have to do something," He quickly leaned in, and pressed his lips to hers, and what was originally meant as a payback maneuver, turned into something completely different when he felt her actually kiss back.

Once she realized what she was doing, she quickly pulled away, surprised. "Oh, ew, you have a cold!" He saw a small blush creep up her face. "...why did you kiss me?"

"Just, uh, payback for giving me the chicken pox."

Her mouth gaped, and she let out an 'I-can't-believe-that-just-happened' laugh.

"And if all goes well, you can hang out at my place tomorrow and we can be a couple of sickies together."

She just shook her head, and glanced down. "Guess that means I'll be bringing the soup?"

FIN

I guess I didn't really need the beginning part, before she went over to his place, but hey... I felt like writing some lines for Travis. He's a nifty dude.