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And Jake knew he thought he was being reasonable. He sighed, reaching out to smooth Dirk's hair a little, helping him sit up steadily to give him the pills and the water.

"We'll see," he said quietly. "I can't go with you to class, and you sure as hell can't make it there on your own right now." He rubbed his thumb against Dirk's back. "...and to be honest I don't think you'd get good tips at work as you are."

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Jake was a little bit stung by that statement. He frowned, and dropped his gaze to the floor.

"No, I don't figure I would," he offered. "But I can still try to take care of the people I care about when they don't take care of themselves."

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Jake had about had enough of this.

"Dirk, you're running a hundred-degree fever and trying to scurry off to class to take a quiz that you can easily make up, and then go overexert yourself at your job. What part of that is taking care of yourself?" He was frustrated, and worried, and frankly kind of upset. His closest-- his only, really --friend was actually pretty sick, and was pretty much insisting on staying as such.

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He reached out and took Dirk's shoulder, forcing him to be angled toward him, if not looking at him.

"What part of you is too thick to understand that I will help you, Dirk?" He supposed he hadn't considered that Dirk didn't want the help.

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He recoiled only a little when Dirk smacked him away, staring at him in a wide-eyed alarm.

"...that's not what I meant," he said, looking away. He was being overbearing, wasn't he? Trying to take care of an adult who didn't need it. Trying to do things to keep people near him, and doing the exact opposite. He stopped talking, then, because anything else he was going to add would just make it worse.

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"Whoa," Jake said softly, taking Dirk's glasses and setting them beside him on the bed, scooting sideways to support Dirk. He had hoped as much, that Dirk was just tired and overworked and cranky, but he didn't want to think too wishfully and let himself down. That Dirk handed him his glasses was a glimmer of hope.

"I won't pay you for our relationship," Jake added after a moment. "Not even if you asked. But as your friend-- at least, I hope I can call you as much without you disagreeing --I would be more than happy to help you out, if taking a few days off from work and school for your health would put you in a place to need it." He reached his hand up and rubbed gently at the back of Dirk's neck. "I know how much pride you have as an independent person, but... Well, you can't really do much work if you kill yourself from not taking care of your health."

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Jake shifted, taking hold of Dirk with one arm to remove his sweater on the other half of his person, and then the other to take it off entirely. He wrapped it around Dirk's shoulders in hopes of ceasing, or at least comforting and lessening some of his trembling.

"I won't give it to you, then," he intoned. "But I will implore you to at least take the night off. Surely you can afford just that much. You can come stay at my grandmother's house, I'll drive you." He ducked his head down and pressed his lips to Dirk's forehead, burning beneath his touch. "Let me do that much for you."

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Dirk, do you really think Jake is going to judge you for a creepy puppet. The answer is he might judge you a little bit, but he won't say it out loud. He'll just have nightmares.

He skimmed his palm along Dirk's arm in a comforting gesture, hugging him close. He sighed a little in relief when Dirk conceded, resting his head atop the other's.

"You might be a touch small for my bedclothes," he said idly. "Would you want me to take you by your place so you can get some things?" This is your chance to bring Cal on a field trip and traumatize your fuckbuddy, Dirk.

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Jake's heart sort of stopped. The volunteer girl wandered back into the room, having left early on to let the boys have their tiff, aware that she was overhearing something personal the moment they started to bicker. She paused in the doorway and Jake immediately took to her as a distraction. He smiled.

"I'll be taking him home soon, if that's all right," he said lightly, and she smiled, nodding. "He lives alone." She nodded again.

"Then you're a good friend for not letting him stay that way." Jake's face colored a touch and he chuckled, turning his head sideways and nosing Dirk's hair.

"...he means a great deal to me."

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He chatted with the volunteer for a little longer, and she suggested some things to Jake to help speed Dirk's recovery. She gave him a few more freezer packs of pills, even though she wasn't actually supposed to, and he thanked her and put them in his bag before putting it and Dirk's laptop bags over his shoulders and moving back to hoist Dirk easily into his arms. The volunteer, whose name Jake learned was Alice, made an offhanded comment about how strong and manly Jake must be. He laughed and corrected her; Dirk was just lightweight. They said their goodbyes and Jake carried Dirk back through the hallways (which were thankfully more empty this time around, being in the midst of classes) and out to his Jeep.

He called Jade.

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Tilting his head to press his phone between his ear and his shoulder, Jake reached out to claim Dirk's wallet and nod at him, squinting at the address for a moment. He reached over and smoothed his hand over Dirk's forehead, shushing him gently.

"Let me call you back, I've got his address so we can go by his place and get him some things for staying over," he said to his grandmother, who made an affirmative sound on the other line. Jake hung up and set his phone in his lap, leaning across to give Dirk a once-over, quietly. God, Dirk, you were so sick, you were worrying the fuck out of him. He ran his thumb lightly over Dirk's lower lip and leaned forward to kiss the corner of his mouth. "Rest, okay? I'll let you know when we're at your place."

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Oh my God Jake was so worried about you and your stupid fever-ridden self, Dirk. He watched him with concern for another handful of seconds before he started the car and turned on the heat to warm it, heading for Dirk's apartment. It didn't take them long to get there, under half an hour, and he reached over to gently shake Dirk's shoulder.

"We're here," he said quietly.

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Handing them over easily, Jake opened his door and slid out of the car to circle around to Dirk's side and carefully open his door, ready to help him to his feet. He tried to not be concerned over the neighborhood. It wasn't... necessarily a terrible part of town, but... Gosh. He knew Dirk could take care of himself, and racist as it was to think, he figured Dirk's chances of being all right were probably higher because of his skin color, but he was undeniably glad that he hadn't let Dirk try to come home on his own. In the state he was, who knows what could have happened.

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