By the time Anti became so exhausted, sore, and cold that he couldn't force himself to keep going, the sun was just starting to rise above the horizon as he used the wall to help him stop.

"It'll be worth it." Anti promised himself as he allowed himself to slump to the ground and take off his skates before giving into his exhaustion.

A few minutes of sleep won't kill me, Anti thought wearily as he closed his eyes, darkness enveloping him instantly.

"What the hell are you still doing here?!?"

Anti was startled awake by Murphy's yelling. Apparently he had fallen asleep on the ice for longer than a few minutes, his skates lying abandoned a few feet from him.

Anti opened his mouth to speak, but found that he couldn't since his teeth were chattering so much due to the cold that had seeped into his bones. It didn't help either that he only had socks covering his feet, which were now soaked like his t-shirt and jeans.

He glanced down at his bare arms and found that they were a light blue hue, which he knew was definitely not normal.

"C'mon, let's get you home." Murphy grunted as he carefully scooped Anti up in his arms bridal style. Anti felt Murphy's warm chest against him as he was carried out.

"M-m-m-"

"Shh, you're going to be okay." Murphy promised him softly, his tone reassuring like a parent's.

He wanted to ask if Murphy remembered his skates. He hoped he had.

Anti didn't even realize that he had fallen back asleep until he suddenly woke up to find that he was lying on a large comfortable bed wrapped in what looked like thousands of blankets with a warm washcloth draped across his forehead.

"What were you thinking?"

Anti turned his head slightly to see Murphy standing in the doorway, forest green eyes shining with concern.

"Where am I?" Anti rasped, his voice cracking from lack of use.

"I didn't know where your house was, so I brought you to my place." Murphy explained as he sat down on the edge of the bed.

"You were at the rink for hours after I left." Murphy shook his head in a mix of disbelief and anger that seemed directed at himself.

"When did you stop?" Murphy demanded.

"Sunrise. I sat down on the ice to take a quick nap after I took off my skates." Anti answered.

"It was noon when I found you! I didn't even know you haven't gone home!" Murphy exclaimed

"I wanted to prove that I was a fast learner." Anti swallowed, hating how weak he felt and sounded. He always prided himself on being independent, yet here he was laying in his coach's bed feeling like he could never be warm again.

"You're so stubborn." Murphy chuckled softly.

"So I've heard." Anti smirked weakly before breaking into a coughing fit.

"You've got one hell of a cold, but nothing too serious thankfully." Murphy told Anti as he stood up and disappeared from the room, quickly returning with a bowl full of steaming chicken soup.

Anti nodded in appreciation, his lungs burning as he continued coughing. It took all of his willpower for him to finally stop so he could eat the soup.

"I shouldn't of let you stay." Murphy sighed as he ran a hand through his hair in exasperation.

"It's not your fault. Like you said, I'm stubborn." Anti shrugged, careful to not slosh soup out of the bowl and onto the brown covers.

"A friend of yours kept calling you while you slept, he seems very...nosy." Murphy handed Anti his phone.

He had missed ten calls, nine of them from Infelix and one from Dark.

"Something like that." Anti slurped up more soup. It tasted really good, but he couldn't tell if it was homemade or not.

"I was going to make you skate more today, but since you're sick-"

"I'm not sick!" Anti protested.

"Have you even heard yourself?" Murphy scoffed.

"Yeah." Anti mumbled, knowing that Murphy was right. His voice sounded nasally since his nose and chest was congested. T

"Trust me, it'll be easier for both me and you when you're not sick." Murphy promised him.

"Can I go home now?" Anti asked once his soup was finished.

"Yeah, do you need carried again?" Murphy teased Anti.

Anti showed Murphy his favorite finger before he managed to peel off the layers of blankets and crawl out of bed, following Murphy to his car and climbing into the passenger seat.

"Who's this?" Anti held up a small picture of a guy that looked like he was eighteen. He had buzz cut hair the same color as Murphy's as well as blue eyes. He was dressed in a military uniform with a small smile on his face as he looked at the camera.

"He's...that's my boy, Braylon." Murphy replied, his playful mood abruptly shifting.

"He looks like a good soldier." Anti remarked.

"Yeah....he was a great soldier. An even better man." Murphy spoke absent mindlessly as he started the car and pulled out of the driveway.

"Sorry." Anti apologized lamely, putting the picture back.

Murphy didn't reply.

Anti gave Murphy directions to his house, which wasn't too far from where they were.

"Let me know how you feel tomorrow, okay?" Murphy instructed as he stopped in front of Anti's house.

"Yes dad." Anti jokes, rolling his eyes.

"And I swear to god if you start skating again when I leave-"

"I won't, I promise. Besides, I'd much rather enjoy being a lazy potato since I have a valid excuse." Anti interrupted Murphy with a smirk as he walked inside, closing the door behind him.

He watched Murphy's car drive away until he couldn't see it anymore before he trudged up to his bedroom.

As soon as he entered his room, Infelix started calling him again.

"What?" Anti answered, sniffing as he sat down on his bed.

"Dude, what's up with your voice?" Infelix questioned.

"Fell asleep in the ice rink for several hours and got a cold." Anti explained, holding the phone away from him so he could cough.

"I'm not going to even bother asking why you fell asleep in the rink, just get better soon."

With that, Infelix promptly hung up.

Anti trudged to the bathroom and took a roll of toilet paper with him to use as tissues since there were none to be found.

Once Anti was back in bed with a warm cup of coffee and had Netflix pulled up, he decided to call Dark.

He answered on the third ring.

"Yeah?" Dark answered groggily.

"Did I wake you up? I can always call later-"

"No, it's okay. Are you okay?" Dark asked.

"I got sick." Anti stated with a sigh.

"What happened?" Dark asked, instantly sounding more alert.

"Murphy left me at the rink around eleven at night, and I practiced until sunrise. I ended up falling asleep on the rink and he found me about an hour ago. He says I have a cold, but boring too bad." Anti filled him in, taking a sip of his coffee. He could barely taste it since his nose was clogged up.

"I'm gonna freaking murder that guy-"

"Dark chill! If it wasn't for him, I'd probably be dead or more sick than I am now." Anti pointed out.

"But he's the reason why you were at the rink so late." Dark argued. Anti could imagine fury flaring in Dark's eyes.

"I chose to stay so late, I could've left at anytime, I was just stubborn." Anti admitted.

"I don't have practice until eight, so I can talk to you until then if you want." Dark abruptly changed the subject.

"What time is it in LA?" Anti asked.

"Five in the morning. You?" Dark countered.

"One in the afternoon." Anti replied.

"What are you up to now?" Anti heard something on Dark's end creak, presumably his bed.

"I'm getting ready to watch Netflix and chill." Anti yawned as he reached over towards his bedside table and grabbed his tv remote.

"Hey, do you wanna Skype?" Dark asked.

"Sure!" Anti exclaimed, ending the call so he could pull up Skype on his phone.

A few moments later, Dark's face filled the screen of Anti's phone.

His black hair was sticking up in various places and his black t-shirt was wrinkled. His dark chocolate brown eyes betrayed how tired he was despite how hard he tried to hide it from Anti. Anti could tell that he was in a king size bed, meaning that he was in a hotel.

"Why'd Infelix let you go to a hotel and not me?" Anti pretended to pout.

"Infelix didn't want me going back home since my mom's still there. If she saw me, I'd probably be trapped in the house forever." Dark admitted.

"You look like shit." Dark remarked.

Anti looked down at the corner of his phone at his face and saw that Dark was right. His pale skin was paler than usual, his emerald green hair faded and nose bright red. There were also bags underneath Anti's blue and green eyes due to lack of sleep.

"Thanks, makes me feel real good about myself." Anti snorted in amusement.

"So, what are you thinking about watching?" Dark prompted.

What do you think?" Anti picked up hid remote and began scrolling through options.

"I've heard Supernatural is good." Dark shrugged.

"Supernatural it is." Anti grinned as he selected it.

"God there's twelve seasons." Dark chuckled.

"It just means more watching tv together." Anti responded as the first episode began.

"Someday we'll be able to snuggle and watch something together." Dark promised him.

"Probably by then there'll be twenty seasons of this show." Anti mused jokingly.

Dark chuckled before falling silent, watching the show with Anti. They made it through four episodes before Dark had to leave for practice.

"I'll be back around noon, so we can watch more if you want." Dark offered as he grabbed his black skates before putting the phone face down so he could change.

"That sounds good." Anti smiled, blowing his nose again. He had already gone through half the roll of toilet paper.

"Get some rest, okay?" Dark flipped the phone back up. He was dressed in a red and black flannel shirt with black sweatpants.

"Got it." Anti flashed him a thumbs up.

"I lo-I'll see you later." Dark waved goodbye before the call ended.

Anti placed his phone on his bedside table before rolling over in his bed and wrapping himself in his familiar neon green and black covers before he drifted to sleep.