̀ूFluff  ̀ू 

You rubbed your eyes lightly while your mouth stretched open due to a massive yawn as you woke up this morning. It had been quite chilly in the passing days which resulted in frigid mornings. You cursed the weather as you tried to conserve what little body heat you could with your blanket.

As you walked towards school, you buried your nose into the thick woolen scarf you had wrapped around your neck.

“Hey,” you called out to your boyfriend who was waiting for the sidewalk light. He was wearing a face mask again.

He turned to face you, a cute twinkle in his eye. “Hey.”

By the time you caught up to him and tucked your mitten-ed hand into his, the light had turned green, allowing the two of you to continue to walk to school hand-in-hand. As the two of you stumbled into the foyer of the school, you quickly undid your scarf as you felt the hot air blasting on top of you.

You glanced confusedly at Vernon before asking, “How come you aren’t taking the mask off?”

“Hm?” An overly nonchalant expression appeared as he shrugged. “I have a cold, I don’t want to be spreading it around.”

“Fair,” you agreed. After giving him a quick hug you dashed up the stairs to your third-floor chemistry class.

+*+.*+**+*+.*++*+*.+

“Ugh,” you grumbled as you unwrapped a sandwich that you had brought for lunch. “I both want to praise but torture the man who created these things.”

Vernon let out a little chuckle, but seemed very much subdued compared to usual. Normally he would play off your banter and engage the both of you into some pointless but fun conversation.

As you watched him, you couldn’t help but to find it weird. “Vernon, why are you eating like that?”

He had undone only one half of the mask and was awkwardly shovelling some rice into his mouth. Funnily enough, the mask was undone only on the side that was not visible to you.

He swallowed after chewing for a while before replying, “Uh, I dunno.”

You furrowed your eyebrows lightly at his response. “Really now.”

“Just let it go alright?” Vernon huffed as he readjusted the mask and put it on properly.

You became even more concerned, “I’m not letting it go, you’re being really weird and as your girlfriend I’d like to know why. Mainly because I’d like to help.”

He grunted non-committedly.

You were just about to speak when the warning bell rang. Although you were slightly frustrated with Vernon you still quickly hugged him before rushing off to a class you had in a portable. The lucky boy never got any classes the required him to rush off anywhere.

+*+.*+**+*+.*++*+*.+

The two of you were walking home when you halted; you were holding hands so when you stopped, Vernon had to do so as well.

“Can you tell me why you’re wearing the mask?” You asked quietly. “You’ve been sick before but you never had to do this all day, even when you’re eating. Is something really wrong?”

When Vernon saw your dejected face, he couldn’t help but to feel like a little bit of a jerk when he realized that he caused that.

He reached a hand to his ear as he began to remove his mask. “I was exaggerating a little when I said I was sick. The truth is well…you’ll see.” He turned to face you with the mask gone.

You could see it. It wasn’t even anything big.

“I just didn’t want you to see me like this, y’know. I want to look nice in front of you,” he confessed, a shy note to his voice.

A smile curled the ends of your mouth.

“You’re an idiot.” You giggled lightly, “But you’re my handsome, lovely idiot who still looks very nice even with a cold sore.”

You quickly pecked a kiss onto his cold cheek and watched as a redness that had nothing to do with the cold appear on his face.