Work Text:
A noise from down the hall is what pulls Luke out of his slumber that morning. He’s confused and still a bit groggy from sleep but he automatically reaches his arm out to the other side of the bed to check on Julie but he finds the space where she should be empty. He sits up and checks the time on his phone finding it's still early but neither he nor Julie had to be up this morning so he's even more confused as to why Julie's side of the bed is empty.
Yawning, Luke stretches out his body before going in search of Julie but before he leaves their room he hears the noise again. Standing in the hall he has a better chance of determining where the noise is coming from and he decides that his best bet of finding Julie is to find the source of the noise, which he thinks is coming from the bathroom.
He calls her name, knocking gently on the door. He doesn’t get a reply instead he hears a shuffling noise on the other side of the door before it opens revealing Julie who gives him a small smile before wrapping her arms around him and pressing the side of her face into his chest. Luke doesn’t say a word as he holds her while they stand there until he lifts a hand up to soothingly brush her hair out of her face and he feels the burning heat of her skin.
“Julie are you-” he starts to ask her if she’s okay but she pulls away from him and drops to her knees in front of the toilet, which Luke assumes is where she was before he found her. He follows her in and kneels next to her reaching to pull her hair back out of her face which he takes in one hand and uses the other to rub gently up and down on her back as her body shakes beneath his hand.
When she’s done she sits back, leaning against Luke’s side completely drained of what little energy she had. “I’m sorry” she mumbles and Luke shakes his head even though she can’t see it, only Julie would apologise for being sick he thinks.
“Hey it’s okay, how are you feeling?” he asks, voice gentle.
She hums leaning further into his side “Tired but I don’t feel like I’m going to be sick no more” she admits reaching for his hand “I’m sorry I woke you” she apologises again.
“Julie it’s okay” Luke sighs “now how about we go back to bed and you can try and get some more sleep” he suggests.
“But I thought you had work?” Julie questions as she lets Luke help her up off the floor.
“Not until this afternoon but I’ll call and tell them I can’t come in” He shrugs, knowing that someone will cover his shift at the small coffee shop or hopes they will because lord knows he's covered enough last minute shifts in the time that he's worked there. He looks down at Julie and he can tell that she's going to protest the idea so he shakes his head at her a smile on his face "you come first Julie, always have always will now let me take care of you"
She gives in and lets him lead her back to the bedroom. He makes sure she's settled before he goes to the kitchen to get her some water and to make the call to work to tell them he's not going to be in and he makes his way back to her.
He chuckles when he gets back to the bedroom and sees that Julie's wrapped herself up like a burrito in the blankets. She pouts at him as he hands her the glass but it soon disappears when he climbs back onto the bed and pulls her in for cuddles. It's not long before her breath evens out and Luke realises she's fallen asleep, he lifts a hand up to brush her curls out of her face and he notes how she still feels warm although this time, he guesses it's because she's bundled up in the blankets and not because she is going to be sick. Luke holds her while she sleeps but soon finds himself drifting off to sleep as well.
When he wakes again, he finds Julie is already awake. “How are you feeling?” he mumbles sleepily, reaching up to brush his hand against her cheek and then through her hair. She leans into his touch.
“Better now, thank you Luke for taking care of me” she smiles
“Anytime Jules”