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Knox was used to headaches. He got them fairly often and they never ruined his day, so when his head started to hurt at breakfast he thought nothing of it. Halfway through his first period, though, he realized he couldn’t focus on chemistry at all. There was a sensation not too unlike someone shoving a chisel into his skull in an attempt to split it apart. It wasn’t going away either. His head was throbbing and he had to grip his desk a little to steady himself. He looked around the room for a moment, realizing his position. When he caught a worried glance from Neil he straightened his posture and clamped his hands on his thighs. He kept his eyes down for the rest of class.
In between periods he tried to get himself some water to ease his head. He was lucky to make it to the water fountain without having shed a tear. Neil called after him as he was making his way to his next class. Knox felt his head throb in response.
“Hey, you alright? You looked a little green around the gills in chem.” His voice was damp with concern but he still managed to hold that trademarked Neil-Friendly-Tone. Neil was a protector by nature. It was harder for him to keep his nose out of everyone's business.
Knox waved him off. He always appreciated Neil's concern but he couldn’t afford to miss class. Especially with midterms right around the corner. “Yeah, I’m alright, just a bit of a headache is all. I’ve had worse.” That was a lie. This was so bad it almost made it hard to walk. But Neil didn’t need to know that.
“Alright well talk to one of us if you need help. I’m sure Meeks has some aspirin he could give you.” Neil seemed a smidge less concerned but the lines of worry were still apparent in his face. He backed off though, giving Knox a wave as he turned into his next class.
Surviving the next three periods proved to be quite the challenge. The water helped, barely. But whatever effects it had were immediately taken away by having to listen to Latin words chanted over and over again. Regular English made his temples feel like they were swelling, but Latin was physically splitting his brain in two. He tried to write down as much as his brain would allow. (which wasn’t much) After that, he just ended up spacing out and asking Sticks for a copy of his notes at the end of class.
At that point showing up to class was pointless, and in some way, Knox knew that. But if Knox was anything: he was stubborn. He’d rather suffer through this for 7 more hours than laze about in the nurse’s office. He wouldn’t help himself, much less accept help from anyone else. Besides Knox was not the sit still and do nothing type. If he was supposed to be doing something he would do it. He found it tough to just sit there and not do anything. It made him feel useless. So he suffered through his next two periods in a similar manner. And when Pitts slipped him a note in their 4th period asking if he was alright, he gave a similar answer in an attempt to brush aside his worries. It was about as successful as his interaction with Neil but it helped a little he supposed. Enough to get Pitts to go back to work. It was fairly hard to brush people off when your head was aching and reducing your world to a blur of colors and whispers.
Lunch was a blessing and a curse. It was freedom from the horrific coursework he had been subjected to all morning but it was also 30 minutes of loud and stupid chatter from his peers. And honestly, there was nothing he wanted to experience less at that moment. So he decided to spend his lunch in the library. There was nothing he had to do anyways, and attempting to eat sounded like a pain in the ass.
He was able to find a suitable enough corner by some outdated math textbooks. It was dark and of course, there was no noise to worry about. For the first time in hours, he let himself rest. He laid on the floor with his forearm flopped over his forehead to block any of the dim light from entering his eyes. He felt some of the ache subside but just as he thought he had made it out of the thick of it. He heard a familiar voice call his name.
“Knoxious, you in here?”
Knox slowly lifted his arm, his eyes adjusting to the dimness of the library. It was Charlie, he had a slightly amused expression on his face.
“Hey,” Knox replied, his voice strained but attempting to sound casual. “Yeah, I’m here. Just taking a break from the noise.”
“I can see that,” He made his way over to Knox, analyzing him as he got closer. “Mind if I sit?” Knox thought about it but he knew there was no denying Charlie. “Sure, go ahead.” Knox managed to muster a smile as Charlie settled down beside him. He was sure Charlie would annoy the socks off of him but he didn’t care. He was familiar with Charlie. He almost didn’t mind anymore.
Charlie looked down at Knox with mild concern etched on his face. “Jesus dude, you look like you’ve been through a war. Are you okay?”
Knox sighed, it was hard to hide the extent of his discomfort with him this close. “My head is killing me. This might be the worst headache I’ve had in a while, but I’m toughing it out.’
Charlie let out a sharp breath of air in response. “Barely, I saw you in the halls a few times. You were practically wobbling around.” Knox felt a groan in his soul. He already regretted letting Charlie come over here. “I mean seriously, are you hungover or something? Because you look rough.”
This time the groan came from Knox’s mouth instead. “Look, I appreciate your concern but I’m barely surviving this right now, and arguing with you will throw me over the edge. So If that’s all you’ve got to say then you can go.”
“Yeesh okay I get it, I’ll stay quiet. Don’t get your panties in a bunch.” Knox couldn’t help but scoff in response. “Sure,” he replied sarcastically. Surprisingly though, he was quiet. He stayed quiet for most of their time together. It was peaceful for a bit but Knox should’ve known that Charlie’s mouth wasn’t the only thing he had to worry about.
After a too-short amount of time, Knox felt a hand fiddle with his hair. He moved his arm off his face to give Charlie an annoyed expression. Charlie held his hands up in a “Wasn’t me” gesture despite there being no one else in the library. Knox let out a huff as he rolled his eyes and repositioned his arm. There was a small amount of time that passed before, once again, he felt a hand touch his hair. Knox sighed. “Charlie if you pull my hair I will hit you.” Charlie put a hand on his chest as he feigned an offended look. “I would never do such a thing!” Knox couldn’t help but let out a chuckle as he swiped his hand across his face. He covered his eyes with both of his hands as he settled back down.
This time when Charlie’s hand entered his hair, he didn’t protest or comment. Knox had figured that he wouldn’t be that much of an asshole as to yank his hair. So he let him do whatever he wanted to do. Just as long as he could lie down for a little longer. Though, when Charlie’s hands started caressing Knox’s hair, he was confused. It was definitely better than the anticipated pull but still weird. Knox opened his eyes and tilted his head up to look at Charlie, who was still running his fingers through his hair. “What are you doing?” He tried to sound nonchalant despite his confusion.
Charlie shrugged, a small smile playing on his lips. “Just trying to help you relax. I read somewhere that scalp massages can relieve headaches.” Knox raised an eyebrow, not entirely convinced. “And you’re an expert on headache remedies now?” Charlie gave him an unbothered smile as he rolled his eyes. “Stop making this weird and lay back down.” Knox was still suspicious, but he couldn’t deny that Charlie’s touch felt surprisingly soothing. The throbbing pain in his head seemed to dull slightly as Charlie’s fingers continued their gentle motions. Knox closed his eyes as he let himself sink further into the moment.
He didn’t realize until he was being lightly shoved awake that he had fallen asleep. “Hey, lunch is almost over. It’s time to get up.” Knox let out a begrudged groan as he stretched a bit. Charlie looked down at Knox with a hint of concern in his eyes. “Feeling any better?”
Knox rubbed his temples and took a deep breath. Surprisingly, the throbbing pain had subsided significantly. “Yeah, actually. That scalp massage thing you did… helped.” Knox sat up as he said it. Charlie grinned at him impishly. “Told you so.” Knox couldn’t help but smile back. Charlie stood up and offered a hand down to Knox. He pulled him up out of his sitting position and they stumbled close for a moment, Charlie’s hand still holding his. Knox felt a warmth in his chest that had nothing to do with his headache subsiding. He backed up from Charlie hastily as he went to fix his hair. “Well I um, thank you.” Knox looked at Charlie and could tell he was as mildly flustered as himself. Charlie shrugged, a bashful expression coming across his face. “No problem, Knoxious. Anytime.” They both stared at each other for a moment too long before Knox broke the silence. “Okay well, I’m gonna start heading to my next class. So… see ya.” He waved at Charlie as he started to walk away. Charlie waved back and once Knox was out of sight he let out a heavy sigh as he pushed his hair back with his hand.
The rest of the school day passed by in a blur, although Knox managed to get through it with less discomfort than before. The headache still lingered but it was bearable now. He was even able to take comprehensible notes. When he finally got back to his dorm, exhausted, the warm feeling in his chest came back. He thought about lunch and Charlie’s hands. Probably more than he should’ve. The memory of the headache had almost completely left his mind. The only thing on his mind as he started to study was Charlie. And it stayed like that for a while afterward too.
So if over the next few days, Knox sought out Charlie’s presence, it was only to cure his headaches. And if over the next few days, they spent their lunches together in the library, with Knox’s head in Charlie’s lap as he rubbed soothing circles into his temples: the headaches would be the only thing to blame. That is for sure.