Alicia gradually wakes up, her eyelids struggling to release each other.

She is bone tired and would love nothing more than to slip back into sleep, but something inside her is waking her up, nagging at her to remember that she shouldn't be sleeping so deeply. She needs to wake up!

At first, she has no idea where she is, but then she recognises the outlines of her bookcase, watery in the early morning light, slowly coming into focus. There's a drum playing a calming rhythm somewhere near her ear, though, which makes no sense.

A drum?

She also becomes aware of soft skin under her hand, and there are things a lot like legs entwined with her own! She is still trying to make sense of it all when Ranger groans and rolls over, pinning her underneath him, instantly reminding her about the situation she'd forgotten.

Confused to find an obstacle in his bed, Ranger raises his head, looking down at the girl with sleep-drugged eyes, unable to understand her presence.

Having him this close to her in such an intimate position snaps Alicia wide awake, and right now, she's feeling too flustered to be relieved that he didn't die while she slept.

Desperate to escape the overdose of weirdness she's subjected to, she pushes against his shoulders and upper chest, wiggling and squirming until he sluggishly releases her from his weight. Rolling away from him, Alicia is suddenly airborne for a second, and her landing on the carpet is not graceful nor particularly soft, causing her to let out a startled yelp. Every single muscle in her entire body is aching this morning.

Sitting up, Ranger watches her with a mocking grin. He bobs his head, acknowledging her impressive bed-dismounting skills. "Do you do any other tricks?"

Alicia also sits up, trying to glare him right out of her bed. She is tired and cranky, absolutely not in the mood for Mr Snarky. As if bleeding on her, causing her to physically over-exert herself and worrying her hadn't been bad enough, he'd kept her captive in her bed all night long. Now, he has the audacity to mock her? He might be amused, but she's not. Alicia is miserable. She intensely wants some time alone now.

Time without Ranger and his confusing body parts in the mix.

Ranger swings his legs off the bed to sit, unsupported, on its edge and winces. He is visibly paling, looking as though he's on the verge of passing out. He closes his eyes for a few seconds, then opens them again and with a groan he gets to his feet, staggers past Alicia, still seated on the carpet, and leaves the bedroom.

A couple of seconds later, she hears what sounds like him urinating in the bathroom, which means that he once again hasn't bothered to close the bathroom door. Growling, Alicia draws her knees to her chest, wraps her arms around their tops and hides her face between them. She cannot understand why Ranger feels the need to be as irritating as possible.

Even now, after everything they'd been through together last night!

She wants to get to her feet and close her bedroom door or, even better, the bathroom door so that she can wander in and out of her room freely, but she's too friggin' tired to bother. She decides it would be better just to sit where she is until she sees him enter his bedroom... and then she would weld his door shut. She misses Aunt Bernice, but she really hates her son.

From her position on the floor, she can see his bedroom door clearly. She must've pulled it shut when she fetched the pants last night because it is shouting "Snubs NOT Allowed!" at her from a red circle with a line drawn through it.

Snubs!

She hasn't snubbed him or anybody else even once in her life! Alicia doesn't snub people, and she's not a snob. She glares at the obnoxious sign on his door as if she can see the offender's face in it, and when her most recent memories of him flood her brain in swoon-worthy detail, she hastily looks away.

She hates to admit it, but Ranger has awesome hair... and skin as soft as a baby's. She's also willing to admit that he is painfully lovely to look at... when he's sleeping... Being cuddled by him wasn't all that bad; it might even have been a little bit comforting.

Understatement!

Alicia clenches her teeth and resolutely shakes her head. None of that matters because he is still the most loathsome human being she'd ever had the misfortune to meet... if he's even human at all! She has her doubts.

The shower turns on, and Alicia shakes her head again, trying to clear her mind. The ordeal is over now. Everything can go back to normal. Jared should be here soon to take over; she can get on with her life now. She could read one of the books she took from the library yesterday and didn't get a chance to read because she was too busy playing nurse.

Last night she unpacked her book bag and blotted away all the drops of moisture that made it into her bag during her walk in the rain. She was relieved that the exposure to water was minimal and none of the books suffered any damage.

She could also study for the upcoming exams or, better yet, dance to her favourite songs and forget about Ranger lying helplessly on the stairs, bleeding, cold and shivering. There are so many ways in which she could wipe the memory of his arms wrapped tightly around her while he cried in his sleep from her mind.

Well, she could try. She would love nothing more than to forget the tangle of conflicting emotions fighting for supremacy in her heart. Hating Ranger is familiar; having compassion with him is not.

An exclamation of pain and a crash coming from the bathroom annihilate all her lofty plans and ideas. She waits for more disturbing sounds to let her know that Ranger is alright, but there's an ominous silence aside from the shower still running. Alicia's heart leaps into her throat, and she scrambles to her feet, running in a panic.

"Ranger, are you alright?" she asks, pausing near the bathroom door.

There's no answer.

Hesitating, keeping a hand over her eyes, and peeking from between her fingers, she tries to see if all is well. She knows that what she's doing is not making any sense. She should just take a quick look and get it over with, but she simply doesn't trust Ranger at all. This could be another of his annoying pranks.

"Ranger?"

No answer.

Frustrated and truly scared now, she removes her hand and inspects the steamy bathroom. Ranger is lying on his side, his head and shoulders outside the shower cubicle, the rest of him inside. Fear prickles her scalp like sharp needles, and gasping with shock, she grabs a towel from the towel rack and runs to his side. She shuts off the water, raining from the shower, gradually flooding the floor and drops the towel over the boy.

His eyes flutter open when she kneels next to him and pats his cheek, calling his name. Groaning, he tries to sit up but only manages to do so with Alicia's help. He is shaking and struggling to breathe. Cringing, she checks his stitches to make sure that the wound didn't re-open and is relieved to see that everything is still as Jared had left it.

"Got a little dizzy," Ranger says, answering her unspoken question.

A little dizzy? The guy was passed out for at least a couple of minutes!

Alicia is not going to debate the issue with him; instead, she clumsily tries to wrap the towel around his waist, too startled and upset to feel embarrassed. He's not helping her. At first, she thinks he might be too dazed to do so, but then she realises that he's watching her with a mixture of amusement and something else she cannot quite read.

"What?" she finally snaps at him. "You're naked."

Grinning, he tucks the towel in securely himself and finally works with her to get back on his feet. Only when his head is resting on the pillow, and the duvet is drawn up to his chin, does she realise that he's in her bed again and he is only wearing a towel.

"What's wrong with me?!" she moans, not understanding why she keeps on dragging him to her bed when his bedroom is right there, where she can see it.

"What?" Ranger seems to be sincerely baffled, and then he connects the dots and grins again. "Secret desires, maybe?"

Alicia snorts, giving him a derisive look. "Why didn't you tell me I was going to the wrong room?"

"Secret desires, maybe," he shrugs, making himself more comfortable.

"Honestly, how is it possible for you to look like you're about to keel over and die and still be so damn obnoxious?" she huffs, and Ranger just shrugs again. He has perfected the art of shrugging to offensively high levels.

"Practice."

Sighing a deep, frustrated sigh, Alicia is about to help him up again to relocate him when his phone rings. It's still lying on the bedside table where she'd left it, along with her own. She grabs the hair dryer, still there too and hands it to Ranger, snatching up his phone with the other hand. Her heart leaps with relief when she sees Jared's name on the screen, and she answers without even thinking about it. She'd done it a few times during the night when Jared checked up on them, but Ranger had been asleep at the time.

"Alicia," Jared says, recognising the voice talking a mile a minute from the second his call connects.

"He seemed fine, but then he passed out in the shower," the girl continues as if he didn't speak at all. Her words tumble over each other in her hurry to get them out, and Jared realises that she must be extremely stressed out.

He wanted to hurry back to the Wentworths' place as early as possible, but after his tiring shift at Papa's Pasta, he was in serious need of some shut-eye, or he would've collapsed as well. He wouldn't have been much use to anybody if that happened.

Before leaving the restaurant around 1am, he'd called and spoken to Alicia, and she'd told him that Ranger was sleeping fitfully, constantly waking himself. She said she'd finally found a way to keep him calm and comfortable but didn't elaborate on her technique. The tone of her voice made him curious, though. He imagined duct tape and rope playing at least some part in it.

"You guys were taking a shower together?" he teases despite feeling anxiety building up in his chest. He's hoping to snap her out of her building hysteria by joking around.

"What?!" It worked.

"Is he still unconscious?" Jared asks, swallowing against the nervous lump in his throat.

"No, he's lying here, giving me bratty looks."

"Hey! I don't do bratty," Ranger points out, groaning as he tries to get himself into a better position to blow-dry his hair. "I do arrogant, annoyed and disgusted. Right now, I'm wondering why the hell you answered my phone."

"Well, if he can talk that much, he's fine," Jared chuckles while Alicia tries some looks of her own out on Ranger. She's aiming for contempt, but she mostly just manages, freaked out and confused.

"I'll be over soon," Jared assures her. "Would you mind feeding him something, please? His blood sugar is probably very low after the adrenaline rush during the incident; that could be why he passed out."

"Feed him something," Alicia repeats, finally hearing Jared. "Like... poison?"

"As long as it contains at least some carbohydrates."

After speaking to Jared, Alicia flees the room, leaving Ranger to dry his hair while she finds him something to eat. She is in desperate need of some hot coffee!

When Jared finally arrives, he is surprised to find his friend propped up in Alicia's bed, supported by all the pillows and cushions she possesses. Seeing Jared entering the bedroom, Ranger grins, pausing the fork loaded with scrambled egg and toast on the way to his lips.

Frowning, Jared glances from Ranger, comfortably at home in the girly bed, to Alicia, standing awkwardly a few steps away. She looks pretty in a long, flowy, flower-printed button-down dress with bell sleeves and a square neckline. Her hair is smooth and glossy, sparkling in the dappled sunlight filtering into the room. She is the picture of feminine respectability despite the fact that there is a boy in her bed. In contrast to her sweet appearance, she has her arms crossed and does not look friendly at all.

Taking care of Ranger must've been hell.

Jared is not blind to how awful his buddy has been treating her from the moment she moved in. Scolding him has had, as expected, no effect at all. He is still trying to understand exactly why Ranger's bastard level rises around the girl. It makes no sense to him. Alicia is a little stiff and reserved in her manner, but she's not bossy and shrewish like his cousin, and Ranger treats Kelly just fine. As far as Jared can tell, Alicia is quite likeable, kind... and rather amusing.

"Reflex again?" he asks, grinning when her cheeks flush a cheerful pink. "Come on, Range, I'll move you to your own bed."

"No, I like it here," the pest argues. "It's warm, smells nice and it has room service."

He pops the last load of toast and egg into his mouth, smiling happily, causing Jared to chuckle and shake his head. He doesn't know anybody else who can be pale, weak, bruised and cocky as hell simultaneously.

"Kinda looks like Tinkerbell had a brawl in here, though," Ranger says, handing Jared his empty plate when he stops next to the bed and reaches out to take it. "Frills and shit everywhere... Maybe I should get Snubs to decorate my room too. It's... cosy... like a granny's room."

Alicia is glowering at him, but she's actually relieved that he is back to being an annoying ass. Jared is relieved too, because if Ranger can tease Alicia, he's probably on the road to being all right. He is hopeful, especially since his friend's appetite seems to be just fine.

"Seriously! You're such a jerk," he laughs.

"Right?" Ranger agrees as if it surprises him too. He always agrees with accurate assessments of his warped personality.

"Why are you in here?" A male voice speaks behind Alicia, almost causing her to jump out of her skin with fright.

§§§