Alyssa's PoV:

The morning sun invaded my room and I groaned in frustration once I felt that warm on my face, after the awful night I had, this radiant light to woke me up and I felt so tired and like I'd been hit by a truck. My throat was scratchy, my head was pounding, and every muscle in my body ached. Shit...

I am sick.

The cold from last night must have gotten to me after all.  I tried to convince myself that I was fine, but as I attempted to get out of bed, a wave of dizziness hit me, and I had to sit back down. My blankets were wrapped tightly around me, covering me from the cold air in the room, but they did little to fight off the shivers that ran through my body.

As I gained the courage to stand up, Emily poked her head into the room. "Alyssa? Get ready we are going to the mountains today" she said entering the room, she stopped in the middle of the room looking at her previous bed, the one she was supposed to sleep in.

"Let the sun come in, I feel some weird energy here" She claimed opening the curtains, that weird energy is probably just the air that is contaminated by my sickness

I tried to get up but I failed again letting out a groan, that caught my friend's attention.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine" I mumbled, trying to muster a smile. But it came out weak and unconvincing, and I knew Emily could see right through it. She placed a hand on my forehead and frowned.

"You're very warm... and that's unusual"

"I just have a little cold, that's all," I insisted, slowly getting up and wrapping the blanket around me like a cape. My legs felt like jelly, but I forced myself to stand. "I need to check on Chase" I remembered

Emily gave me a doubtful look but didn't stop me as I shuffled weakly out of the room and made my way to the living room, from upstairs I saw Aiden lifting Chase up from the couch where he'd crashed last night. Chase looked tired, but at least he was awake and able to stand. Aiden, however, didn't look pleased.

"You need to leave, Roacher" Aiden said, his voice low and firm. "I still don't trust you."

Anger started to build up inside me. I couldn't stand Aiden's overprotective attitude sometimes, especially when he tried to control who I spent time with.

"Aiden, stop it," I interrupted walking down the stairs, my voice coming out weaker than I intended, both Aiden and Chase turned to look at me, surprise flashing across their faces.

Aiden looked ready to argue, but Chase spoke up first, giving me a crooked grin.

"Alyssa, I'm fine. Just a little hungover. But I think your brother's right—I should probably head out. I don't want to cause any more trouble."

I could see the hesitation in Chase's eyes, the way he avoided looking at me directly. He was trying to do the right thing, but I couldn't help feeling frustrated by how everything had spiraled out of control, especially when my brother was half to blame

"You don't have to leave," I protested, stepping close to him. "You're not causing any trouble, and you're probably hangover and with a cold"

Chase shook his head, his smile fading. "No, it's better if I go. I'll catch up with you later, okay?" He glanced at Aiden, who was watching our conversation.

I opened my mouth to argue further, but just then, I caught sight of Mason leaning on the balcony in the kitchen. He was eating some cereals, probably his breakfast, and when our eyes met, his brow furrowed, and with all the calm in the world he walked to the aisle setting his plate down on the counter near the sink.

"You look awful," Mason said bluntly leaning his body over the aisle, his elbows securing his upper body "like awfully sick."

"I'm fine," I insisted quickly hoping everyone ignored his words

"You really don't look fine" he insisted

"She was a bit warm" Emily remembered out loud betraying me

Aiden stepped closer, his face a mix of frustration and concern, he placed his hand on my head and I watched his eyes grow bigger "You're burning up ."

"I am perfectly fine" I said trying to contain a sneeze

Before I could argue, Mason spoke up. "I can stay with her." All eyes turned to him as he continued, "I'm feeling a bit under the weather myself. Probably from picking Roacher out of the snow last night"

I looked at Mason, surprised by his offer and the way he lied to my brother and to everyone, he might fool them but he doesn't fool me.

Aiden hesitated, clearly torn. He didn't want to leave me alone, but he also knew how much I hated being babied. Finally, he nodded, giving up.

"Fine. But if you start feeling worse, you need to call us right away, okay?" he said looking at Mason, clearly trusting in Mason more than me

"I can call you too," I said jokingly, I saw my brother serious Aiden's eyes and I knew he wasn't for joking around.

He gave me one last look before looking back at Mason

"You got it" Mason commented lifting a thumb to my brother. Aiden turned back to Chase and guided him to the doorway.

"Do you want me to take care of you Massy?" Cady proposed making me cringe at the nickname

"I am sick and so is Alyssa, I don't want to make you sick too," He said... look at him so sweet making me want to barf... or maybe it's from the cold

"You are so sweet" she giggled.

Nate, Amy, Selena, and Emily went despite their pouts and wanting to stay with me. I begged for them to leave and go have fun, I couldn't stand the blame for making their winter vacation a confinement.

"Let's go" Aiden said, leading Chase toward the door. Chase gave me a small apologetic smile as he followed Aiden out.

Once everyone had left, the villa was extremely quiet. I turned to Mason, who was now walking to the couch and sitting on it comfortably.

"You didn't have to stay," I said, sinking into the couch and pulling the blanket tighter around me.

Mason shrugged, sitting down next to me. "It's not a big deal."

"Yeah.. kinda is, you lied to everyone" I commented while looking at him with a stern look

"I am hurt you don't believe I am sick?" he said looking back at me

"Should I say yes?" I asked earning a snort from him and a head shake as he turned on the TV with the remote.

"So when you are done bragging up about my liar capabilities... movie?" he said pointing with the remote to the TV

"I was already done" I commented shrugging my shoulder

"Are you sure?"

"You are just a pretty bad liar" I remarked as he smiled to the TV while scrolling through some movies

"Uhhhh Pearl Harbor" I smirked thinking about the great content of that movie.

"No way" he said making me pout

"Its a really good movie"

"You are too sick for complicated plots" he fired back making me settle down on the couch again

"JUST MARRIED!" I said excitingly in a cracked voice making Mason's head turn slowly at me

"Did you had tea like I told you too?" He asked making me nod subtly

"Of course"

"And I am the bad liar" he laughed

"Just put some rom-com on" I changed the topic

"No way I am seeing rom-com" he protested

"I am sick and weak" I pouted "Can I at least have this one thing? This one movie?" I begged

"Fine"

"NICE!"

"But—" Oh here comes the conditions "One you will stop shouting and ruin your cracked voice. Two you will do everything that I want starting by drinking hot milk tea at breakfast" he said in a demanding tone

"That is way too many conditions for a movie"

"You get to choose our lunch too and the afternoon movie"

"Ok deal" I smiled

Mason nodded, a small smile tugging at the corner of his lips. "What do you want?" he asked scrolling through romantic movies

"SHE'S THE MAN!" I pointed shouting excitedly, as my cracked voice echoed through the big house I recalled his condition and as I slowly turned my head I caught his stern face looking at me and I quickly tried to recover

"She's the man" I almost whispered as he pressed the button to play the movie

F

As the movie started, I found myself getting drawn into the familiar, funny plot, laughing quietly at the screen.For a while, the warmth of the room and the light-hearted movie almost made me forget how lousy I felt.

I got so caught up in the movie that I didn't even notice Mason slipping away to the kitchen. When he returned, he was holding a tray with a steaming mug of honey hot tea and a plate of toast. The sight of it made my heart swell a little—was he actually worried?

"Tea," he said, setting the tray on the coffee table in front of me.

I gave him a nod remembering to agree with everything he said,

It was sweet and soothing, exactly what I needed. As I drank, Mason settled back beside me, and we continued watching the movie. I nibbled on the toast, enjoying the buttery crunch and feeling a bit more human with every bite.

When the credits rolled, Mason got up walking to the kitchen "So our lunch, what's it going to be?"

"Pasta," I said immediately smirking

"You know I can do more than pasta" he replied,

"But I want pasta, that pasta" I recalled and he shook his head in disapproval probably wanting something else for lunch, but eventually he gave in

I followed him, dragging my blanket with me. I sat on one of the high benches at the kitchen island, watching as Mason gathered ingredients and set about cooking. My head felt foggy, a mix of lingering sickness but the warmth of the tea made me feel better.

As Mason moved around the kitchen, my tired mind started to wander. I couldn't help but notice the way his muscles flexed under his black shirt as he chopped vegetables and stirred the sauce, the way he seemed so at ease in the kitchen. The sight of him cooking, so focused and determined, made something twist in my stomach. It was a strange but familiar feeling, one that made my cheeks burn up or maybe it was just some side effects of my fever.

I tried to brush the thoughts away, focusing on the movie we'd just watched, but my eyes kept drifting back to Mason. I recalled my friends and their fanatics moments over Mason, can't believe I just did the exact same for a few seconds.

I got so lost in my thoughts that before I knew it, the smell of garlic and tomatoes filled the kitchen, and Mason was plating up two steaming bowls of spaghetti. He set one in front of me, along with a fork, and took the seat next to me.

"Stop daydreaming and eat," he said with a grin, twirling some pasta onto his fork.

" I was not daydreaming" i mumbled a lie, taking a bite. The food was warm and comforting, the perfect meal for a cold, sick day. As we ate, the conversation flowed easily between us—mostlystapling about how he did the pasta, and he had to list all thnother things he knew how to do.

After lunch, Mason insisted on washing the dishes, even though I tried to help. "Go lie down," he told me firmly in a demanding tone

"Why are you always bossing me around?" I asked with a frown taking me and my blanket to the couch

"Why are you always not doing what I say?" he asked back, I mimicked his question in a tiny annoying voice sitting down on the couch.

As I blew my nose and cleaned up the rest of my cold, I started flipping through the movie options again, looking for something to watch next as I found a more comfortable position to be in this time lying down on the couch.

When Mason finished the dishes, he came over and sat down on the couch next to me, closer this time, right near my head.

"What do you want to watch now?" Mason asked, leaning in to see the options I was scrolling through, I looked up at him, and from this view, I could see his jawline very defined and his pinky lips.

"I was thinking maybe an action movie," I said, stopping on one that looked interesting, he nodded and I hit play.

The movie started, full of explosions and high-speed chases, but as much as I tried to focus, my exhaustion started to catch up with me. The warmth of the blanket, this comfortable couch, and the quiet sounds of the movie all conspired together as if they were singing me a lullaby. My eyelids grew heavier and heavier until I couldn't keep them open any longer.