Birthday Blues and Loving Friends
Aug. 30th, 2017 04:02 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
learashi Pairing: Sakumoto
Genre: Fluff
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: I do not own any part of Arashi or its members – this is a work of fiction.
Summary: Even though Sho had warned Jun repeatedly about overworking and not looking after his health, it gave him no satisfaction to know he was right.
Notes: Let’s all celebrate Jun’s birthday. *throws confetti* Happy 2nd Arashian anniversarymatsupie Sis. Please accept this short fic as my gift.*mwah*
“No way,” Sho said, grabbing Jun and attempting to shove him back in bed. “You need to stay right where you are.”
“Absolutely not,” Jun replied, shimmying straight out the other side of the bed and grabbing his clothes on the way.
“The doctors said that you need to rest,” Sho said, catching hold of the trailing leg of Jun’s jeans and tugging them out of his hands.
“What do they know?” Jun asked, swaying slightly as he yanked them straight back again.
“Enough to see that someone is facing imminent collapse if they don’t listen to their good advice,” Sho huffed.
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Jun said as he weaved his way towards the bathroom.
Sho sighed and followed Jun to make sure that he didn’t faint in the shower and crack his head open on the tiled floor. He knew that Jun was trying to ignore his illness as usual and he had to agree that it was horrible to be sick on important occasions, but there was no possible way for Jun to be fully recovered before his birthday in a weeks' time.
++++
As usual it was almost concert season and as usual Jun had taken the bulk of the work onto his shoulders, ignoring any offers that the others made to help. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust them. It was more that he found it impossible to properly convey what needed to be done. All of the plans only existed in his head and woozy as his thinking was right now, he still believed that if left to the others the concerts would be an unmitigated disaster.
It was true that he felt awful, a lingering summer cold combined with stomach flu had left him feeling weak and dizzy. It was also true that he was running on something like only two or three hours of sleep a night which he knew was in no way enough, but he just couldn’t find a way to make his brain shut down. The fact that the heat was unrelenting and Sho’s snoring seemed even worse than ever didn’t make for an easy time either. Sho’s habit of stripping off his clothing while sleeping in hot weather almost made up for it or at least provided a nice diversion of which Jun was quick to take advantage.
++++
“Drink.” Ohno held a bottle of water in front of Jun’s nose.
“No thanks,” Jun replied, trying to brush Ohno’s hand away from where it was blocking his view of the laptop screen.
“That was an order, not a request,” Ohno replied, stubbornly holding the bottle in place.
Jun rolled his eyes and grudgingly took a sip before turning to Ohno, "Happy now?"
Ohno was far from happy, but knew better than to harp on things when Jun was involved.
"Try not to overdo things, we have VSA recordings all day tomorrow," Ohno said.
Jun glared across the room at Sho who gulped and held his newspaper up in front of his face, trying to hide from the fact that he told the others about Jun's illness. He knew that Jun would doubly kill him if he knew that he'd asked them for their help as well.
++++
"Are you sure about this?" Nino asked as he stood next to Jun in front of the cliff. "Aiba will do it if you don't feel well enough."
Aiba nodded vigorously, a worried frown creasing his forehead.
"Contrary to what my possibly soon to be ex-boyfriend has been telling you, I'm perfectly fit," said Jun, directing a glare in Sho's direction.
"Fine," Nino said. "But I'm doing two thirds since I'm going first."
Jun opened his mouth to protest but a wave of dizziness made him think better of it. No way was he going to back down and let Aiba take his place though; the sooner this filming was done the sooner he could get back to concert planning.
++++
Nino scampered up the wall in record time to the hysterical screams of the audience members, leaving Jun as much time as possible to complete his own climb.
Sho's heart was in his mouth as he saw the pallor of Jun's face as he took over and began his ascent. Even from this distance he could tell that Jun was sweating heavily.
Even though he could see that Jun was obviously unwell it was still a shock when just as he neared the top, the grip slipped from Jun's grasp a moment before he also fell away from the wall hanging limply in the harness as he plunged to the ground.
Nino screamed at the staff to free him from his harness as he tried to get to Jun, but Sho was quicker, vaulting over the railing of the support platform before it was fully lowered and running across to where Jun was lying so still on the ground.
Sho pulled Jun onto his lap as the staff released him from his harness. Ohno and Aiba joined him a moment later, Ohno comforting Nino who was telling off the crew for letting the audience see Jun in such a vulnerable state. Sho immediately scooped Jun into his arms and carried him behind the set and out of sight of the dozens of prying eyes.
Even though Sho had warned Jun repeatedly about overworking and not looking after his health, it gave him no satisfaction to know he was right.
++++
Even though Jun had managed to swim back to consciousness he kept his eyes tightly closed. He could hear the worried murmur of his friend’s voices over his head and feel Sho’s hand gripping his own hand tightly. He could feel Sho’s tension thrumming through his body and out of his fingers as the hand holding Jun’s twitched slightly.
Jun knew that he’d been stupid and deserved the lecturing that he was bound to receive from the others when they became aware that he was awake, but right at this moment, knowing just how much work he still had to do on the concerts and with his birthday coming up in three days while feeling so awful he wanted nothing more than to just stay there hiding from the world and his responsibilities.
“Jun?” Sho’s voice sounded worried. “You’re crying. Do you want me to fetch the nurse?”
Jun finally opened his eyes, blinking rapidly to try and dispel the tears that had sprung up without him even being aware of them. The uncomfortable mattress was the first clue that he was in hospital, followed by the too-bright lighting that made him squint. Not able to trust himself to speak, Jun shook his head in response to Sho’s question, allowing his boyfriend to brush away the stray tear with the ball of his thumb.
Rather than lecture him regarding his stubbornness and stupidity his bandmates were kind and gentle. Aiba helped Jun to sit up so that Ohno could help him drink from the sippy cup of water on his bedside table and Nino switched off the brightest of the lights allowing him to look at them properly. It was only then that Jun noticed the IV line snaking from the stand beside his bed to the opposite hand to the one Sho was still holding. He immediately began to panic; there were so many things he needed to do and he could get none of them done while trapped in hospital.
“On second thoughts could you call the nurse?” Jun mumbled. “I need them to unhook this thing so I can get out of here.”
“You’re going nowhere until that IV is finished,” Nino instantly replied with a glare, prompting Ohno to place a warning hand on his arm.
“And even then the only place you will be going is home with me to get some rest,” Sho added sternly.
Jun opened his mouth to protest but the combined glares from his boyfriend and bandmates made him shrivel ever so slightly inside and sink back down to his pillow with barely a murmur.
++++
Jun fretted during the entire car ride home, glancing at his watch every few seconds and running through his task list; there was still so much to be done he couldn't even decide where to begin.
The fact that he'd been forced to stay in hospital for two nights had put him seriously behind with his work and only added to his stress levels.
“Can I at least have my phone back?” Jun asked without much hope.
“Nope.” Sho’s response was exactly what Jun had expected.
“And my laptop?”
“Aiba has it.”
“He’s not watching porn on it again is he?”
“Nope.”
Jun sighed; it was going to be a very long day.
++++
Jun was woken on his birthday by the sound of rain splattering against the windows, propelled by the almost gale force winds that were making the trees across the street bend dangerously in half.
Sho would never allow him out in this weather, so there was little chance of retrieving his laptop and actually getting some work done. As much as it galled him any time when Sho was proven right, upon arriving home from the hospital the day before he’d fallen into bed and slept for a solid twelve hours. He was feeling much better now, even if slightly depressed and weak.
The other side of the bed was empty, the sheet tucked in firmly, and the bed seemed a very lonely place. Jun was about to get up when Sho burst through the door carrying a slightly lopsided cake ablaze with candles. He plopped the cake down beside Jun with a self-congratulatory smile and pressed a smacking kiss to Jun’s lips.
“Happy birthday my love,” Sho said as he handed over a small brightly wrapped package.
Jun sat up carefully so as to not dislodge the wonky cake and unwrapped his gift. The paper opened to reveal a wide platinum ring engraved with stylized cherry blossoms. The ring proved to be a perfect fit when Sho slipped it onto Jun’s finger, pressing a kiss to the back of Jun’s hand as it slid into place.
“It’s beautiful,” Jun said, smiling for the first time in a week as the metal warmed against his skin.
“And that's just the beginning,” Sho said as his own smile echoed Jun’s.
“But I really have to get some work done today and since it's raining…” Jun said with a sigh.
“Not until you look at the rest of your presents,” Sho said quite loudly.
It was obvious by the way that he looked eagerly at the door that he was speaking to attract the attention of someone outside the room.
In fact it was three people, as Aiba, Nino and Ohno came in carrying Jun’s phone and laptop as if taking part in a ceremonial procession.
“Behold our gifts to you,” Nino said loudly.
Aiba bowed deeply and presented the laptop to Jun.
“You guys are giving me my own stuff as a present. Pardon me for being underwhelmed,” Jun said with a frown.
“It’s not what we're giving you but rather what is stored on it,” Aiba said with a grin.
“Since you've been so sick, we wanted to take some of the burden off you,” Ohno said softly, squeezing Jun’s shoulder reassuringly.
“You what!?”
“We planned the concerts for you,” Nino said with a smug smile.
“What?” Jun was highly suspicious.
“It's true,” Sho confirmed. “We found all of your notes and plans and added the final touches for you. Aiba gave approval for the costumes; Nino settled the song list and Ohno worked out the lighting with the technicians.”
Jun groaned internally figuring that he would have even more work to do now just to fix their mistakes.
“And before you freak out, I want to reassure you that I checked everything and I couldn't find a single thing that needs changing,” Sho said firmly after detecting the signs on Jun’s face that he was about to panic.
Jun immediately snatched up his laptop and frantically scrolled through the concise report that Sho had prepared outlining the work done by the others over the past three days.
“You guys did all of this for me?” Jun asked in a choked voice.
“It was for our benefit too,” Nino said with an evil grin. “I need you around to distract me from the desire to smack Aiba in the head when he's being annoying.”
“Oi!” Aiba protested, earning himself an affectionate ruffle of his hair from Nino.
“Anyway, we have another gift for you, which we will just go and prepare,” Nino said. “You stay here and we’ll call you when it’s ready.”
“And Sho will stay and keep you company while we fix things,” Ohno added as he shepherded the other two out the door.
++++
“I can’t believe that you managed to get this done in just three days,” Jun said as he read through the arrangements.
“I didn’t do much since I was spending time with you at the hospital, but the others really worked hard to have it finished by today,” Sho said as he moved the cake onto the dresser and climbed on the bed next to Jun.
“I’m sorry for being such a burden,” Jun said sadly as he closed the laptop and put it to one side. “I’ll work harder in future.”
“Jun, that’s precisely what got you in this state in the first place,” Sho admonished, softening his words by stroking Jun’s hair. “We are more than happy to help if you will let us. It’s our concert too.”
“Sorry for being such a control freak,” Jun mumbled.
“Stop apologising.” Sho tugged Jun against his chest and wrapped his arms around him. “You just have to learn to trust us and not take everything onto yourself. We all worry terribly when you work yourself into the ground. Plus Nino will kill me if you ever collapse like that again and then he’ll probably kill you as well for scaring him.”
Jun managed to smile as he robbed closer to Sho, breathing in his comforting scent. Sho rubbed his back and pressed a kiss to the side of his neck.
“Anyway, let’s forget about it for now. Don’t forget it’s your birthday,” Sho said. “I thought we could have a picnic lunch together.”
Jun pulled away and turned to face Sho with a look of disbelief. “Have you looked out the window recently? Even the weather hates me.”
“Don’t worry, it’s going to be the perfect day for a perfect person,” Sho said. He leant in and captured Jun’s lips in a gentle and reassuring kiss. Jun responded tentatively at first but soon parted his lips to allow Sho to deepen the kiss.
Just as soon as they forgot that they weren’t alone, they were interrupted by a yell from the living room.
“Put Jun down and bring him out here.”
“Nino, leave them alone,” Aiba’s voice came equally loudly through the door. “They might want some privacy.”
“No privacy of that kind allowed,” Ohno said loudly. “Jun is still sick.”
With a resigned sigh, Sho unravelled his arms from around Jun and helped him climb off the bed, handing him his dressing gown and finding his slippers.
“We’d better get out there before there’s a riot,” Sho said as he steered Jun towards the living room.
++++
The furniture in the living room had been pushed to one side and a colourful checked picnic rug lay in the middle of the floor. A small indoor grill sat on the coffee table with an array of food on small dishes beside it. Ohno and Nino were hanging a sheet over the window covering the grey sky with a sunny landscape which had been painted on the linen.
Aiba bustled in from the kitchen carrying the last of the food which he somehow managed to squish onto the very edge of the low table. “I think that’s everything,” he said as he stood back and admired the array of dishes.
“And your perfect view is in place,” Ohno said, helping Nino down from the chair he’d been standing on to reach the top of the window.
“We’ve left you some extra gifts to open later,” Aiba said with a wide smile, pointing to where two beautifully decorated gift boxes sat to one side.
“Oh,” Jun exclaimed as he went to examine them. “Thank you so much, but after all you’ve done for me you don’t need to give me anything else.”
Jun couldn’t restrain a giggle when he read the gift tags. One read ‘To Jun from Satoshi’ in bold script with a tiny ‘and Nino’ scribbled in below. The other tag was similar with ‘Happy Birthday Jun’ written in Aiba’s exuberant handwriting with a hastily written ‘and Nino’ added to it as well below Aiba's signature. He looked at Nino quizzically receiving a self-satisfied smirk in return. Jun didn’t mind that Nino hadn’t bought him a gift because although he hated spending money on presents he was always ready to help out when Jun needed moral support and friendship.
“It’s your birthday, of course we bought you gifts,” Ohno said happily before adding with a pointed look at NIno, “At least some of us did.”
“Anyway,” Nino exclaimed, hastily changing the subject. “It’s about time we were going and left the two schmoopy lovebirds to their romantic picnic.”
"Have fun you two." Aiba chirped.
"Make sure Jun eats enough," Ohno said with a concerned glance in Jun's direction.
"And stay out of his pants," Nino added under his breath to Sho with a glare.
As they moved to put their shoes on Ohno cast a longing look towards the table with the grill and said, "I guess we should go and grab some lunch."
"Great idea, I am starving after preparing all that food," Aiba agreed.
Sho and Jun shared a look and a smile, nodding slightly to each other before Jun spoke. "Why don't you guys stay and share lunch with us?"
"We couldn't possibly. I'm sure that you and Sho want to be alone...it's your birthday," Ohno said, looking embarrassed.
"And how better to celebrate it than to eat with friends?" Jun asked with a shy smile.
"There's beer," Sho said encouragingly, earning a raised eyebrow from Ohno. "And sparkling grape juice for Jun of course," he hastily added.
"It will give me the chance to thank you for your help and there's even cake," Jun said.
"Yes to staying but no to cake," Nino said as he slid his feet back into his slippers and headed back to the living room. "I highly suspect by its wonky shape that Sho had something to do with its construction."
++++
“This cake is actually not bad,” Aiba said, taking a huge bite out of his slice.
“Mmm, chocolate cake is the best,” Ohno agreed as he took another piece, smears of chocolate frosting stuck around his lips.
“It’s perfect,” Jun said as he took a small bite. He was sitting propped up on a pile of cushions as the others hadn’t wanted him to sit on the hard floor. Happiness had even given his cheeks a tiny bit of colour.
The grilling had been completed successfully and Aiba had even had to duck out for some extra shellfish after Sho had swept through their supply like a human typhoon.
Nino refused to touch the cake, seemingly satisfied with the small portion of meat and grilled vegetables that he’d nibbled on and now sat looking jealously at the others as they stuffed their faces. Neither he nor Sho missed the unmistakeable signs of exhaustion on Jun’s face as he struggled to stay awake, almost dropping his plate of cake onto his lap.
“Right, that’s it. We’re out of here,” Nino declared, “Just as soon as Aiba has done the washing up and Ohno has put the furniture back.”
“And what are you planning on doing?” Ohno growled.
“Somebody has to supervise and I believe that I am the best man for the job,” Nino said, puffing out his chest. “And while we do that Sho can take Jun back to bed for a nap before he falls asleep on the floor.”
“I’m fine,” Jun protested sleepily, his words slurring with tiredness.
“No, you’re not,” Sho said sternly. “You remember our earlier conversation about not overdoing things don’t you?”
“Sorry,” Jun mumbled. “I guess I am pretty wiped out,” he added, finally admitting his weakness.
“See, now that wasn’t so hard was it?” Sho asked as he assisted Jun to stand.
“Thanks for everything, you guys,” Jun said, suddenly feeling quite teary as his three friends hugged him and wished him a happy birthday once again.
++++
With the bedroom door shut it almost blocked out the sounds of bickering coming from the living room and kitchen. To Jun the sounds were not annoying anyway, instead they reassured him that everything was operating as normal in the Arashi world.
Sho plumped up Jun’s pillows and straightened out the bed linens before helping Jun to climb into bed. He removed Jun’s slippers and tucked him in under the covers, ignoring Jun’s protests that it was too hot for him to be tucked in.
“I don’t care. I want to make sure that you don’t get sick again,” Sho argued.
“Thanks for taking care of me,” Jun said, looking up at him with huge eyes, ringed with dark circles.
“I love you and taking care of those you love comes as part of the deal,” Sho said firmly. “Now scoot over and let me hold you until you fall asleep.”
Jun eagerly shifted to allow Sho to slide into bed beside him. Sho took Jun into his arms and pressed a kiss to his forehead.
“Go to sleep,” Sho ordered.
“But I’ll miss the rest of my birthday,” Jun said in a tiny voice.
“Just have a little nap and see if you feel like getting up later,” Sho reasoned. “And then you can finish your slice of cake.”
“Did you really make it yourself?” Jun asked sleepily. “Because it was quite delicious.”
“Of course not,” Sho laughed. “Do you think I would risk that on your birthday? It kind of slid around on the backseat of my car on the way here from the bakery and got a little smooshed, but I straightened it back up again, mostly.”
“So Nino boycotted it for nothing?”
“Well, yes,” Sho admitted. “But I think that should remain our little secret, don’t you?”
“He does kind of deserve it doesn’t he?” Jun said with a tired smile. “Even though he’s my best friend he can be a little, well, bossy sometimes, but don’t tell him I said that!”
“My lips are sealed, or at least they would be if someone pressed something against them,” Sho said teasingly, puckering his lips at Jun.
Jun laughed and kissed Sho, hugging him tightly. His grip loosened as sleep overcame him, lying comfortably with his head resting on Sho’s chest, lulled by the steady beating of his heart.
“Happy birthday, baby,” Sho whispered running the tip of his finger over Jun’s cheek. “I love you.”
The only response Jun made was to snuggle closer into Sho’s chest, burying his nose in the front of his shirt with a contented sigh but Sho couldn’t have been happier.
Genre: Fluff
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: I do not own any part of Arashi or its members – this is a work of fiction.
Summary: Even though Sho had warned Jun repeatedly about overworking and not looking after his health, it gave him no satisfaction to know he was right.
Notes: Let’s all celebrate Jun’s birthday. *throws confetti* Happy 2nd Arashian anniversary
matsupie Sis. Please accept this short fic as my gift.*mwah*“No way,” Sho said, grabbing Jun and attempting to shove him back in bed. “You need to stay right where you are.”
“Absolutely not,” Jun replied, shimmying straight out the other side of the bed and grabbing his clothes on the way.
“The doctors said that you need to rest,” Sho said, catching hold of the trailing leg of Jun’s jeans and tugging them out of his hands.
“What do they know?” Jun asked, swaying slightly as he yanked them straight back again.
“Enough to see that someone is facing imminent collapse if they don’t listen to their good advice,” Sho huffed.
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Jun said as he weaved his way towards the bathroom.
Sho sighed and followed Jun to make sure that he didn’t faint in the shower and crack his head open on the tiled floor. He knew that Jun was trying to ignore his illness as usual and he had to agree that it was horrible to be sick on important occasions, but there was no possible way for Jun to be fully recovered before his birthday in a weeks' time.
++++
As usual it was almost concert season and as usual Jun had taken the bulk of the work onto his shoulders, ignoring any offers that the others made to help. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust them. It was more that he found it impossible to properly convey what needed to be done. All of the plans only existed in his head and woozy as his thinking was right now, he still believed that if left to the others the concerts would be an unmitigated disaster.
It was true that he felt awful, a lingering summer cold combined with stomach flu had left him feeling weak and dizzy. It was also true that he was running on something like only two or three hours of sleep a night which he knew was in no way enough, but he just couldn’t find a way to make his brain shut down. The fact that the heat was unrelenting and Sho’s snoring seemed even worse than ever didn’t make for an easy time either. Sho’s habit of stripping off his clothing while sleeping in hot weather almost made up for it or at least provided a nice diversion of which Jun was quick to take advantage.
++++
“Drink.” Ohno held a bottle of water in front of Jun’s nose.
“No thanks,” Jun replied, trying to brush Ohno’s hand away from where it was blocking his view of the laptop screen.
“That was an order, not a request,” Ohno replied, stubbornly holding the bottle in place.
Jun rolled his eyes and grudgingly took a sip before turning to Ohno, "Happy now?"
Ohno was far from happy, but knew better than to harp on things when Jun was involved.
"Try not to overdo things, we have VSA recordings all day tomorrow," Ohno said.
Jun glared across the room at Sho who gulped and held his newspaper up in front of his face, trying to hide from the fact that he told the others about Jun's illness. He knew that Jun would doubly kill him if he knew that he'd asked them for their help as well.
++++
"Are you sure about this?" Nino asked as he stood next to Jun in front of the cliff. "Aiba will do it if you don't feel well enough."
Aiba nodded vigorously, a worried frown creasing his forehead.
"Contrary to what my possibly soon to be ex-boyfriend has been telling you, I'm perfectly fit," said Jun, directing a glare in Sho's direction.
"Fine," Nino said. "But I'm doing two thirds since I'm going first."
Jun opened his mouth to protest but a wave of dizziness made him think better of it. No way was he going to back down and let Aiba take his place though; the sooner this filming was done the sooner he could get back to concert planning.
++++
Nino scampered up the wall in record time to the hysterical screams of the audience members, leaving Jun as much time as possible to complete his own climb.
Sho's heart was in his mouth as he saw the pallor of Jun's face as he took over and began his ascent. Even from this distance he could tell that Jun was sweating heavily.
Even though he could see that Jun was obviously unwell it was still a shock when just as he neared the top, the grip slipped from Jun's grasp a moment before he also fell away from the wall hanging limply in the harness as he plunged to the ground.
Nino screamed at the staff to free him from his harness as he tried to get to Jun, but Sho was quicker, vaulting over the railing of the support platform before it was fully lowered and running across to where Jun was lying so still on the ground.
Sho pulled Jun onto his lap as the staff released him from his harness. Ohno and Aiba joined him a moment later, Ohno comforting Nino who was telling off the crew for letting the audience see Jun in such a vulnerable state. Sho immediately scooped Jun into his arms and carried him behind the set and out of sight of the dozens of prying eyes.
Even though Sho had warned Jun repeatedly about overworking and not looking after his health, it gave him no satisfaction to know he was right.
++++
Even though Jun had managed to swim back to consciousness he kept his eyes tightly closed. He could hear the worried murmur of his friend’s voices over his head and feel Sho’s hand gripping his own hand tightly. He could feel Sho’s tension thrumming through his body and out of his fingers as the hand holding Jun’s twitched slightly.
Jun knew that he’d been stupid and deserved the lecturing that he was bound to receive from the others when they became aware that he was awake, but right at this moment, knowing just how much work he still had to do on the concerts and with his birthday coming up in three days while feeling so awful he wanted nothing more than to just stay there hiding from the world and his responsibilities.
“Jun?” Sho’s voice sounded worried. “You’re crying. Do you want me to fetch the nurse?”
Jun finally opened his eyes, blinking rapidly to try and dispel the tears that had sprung up without him even being aware of them. The uncomfortable mattress was the first clue that he was in hospital, followed by the too-bright lighting that made him squint. Not able to trust himself to speak, Jun shook his head in response to Sho’s question, allowing his boyfriend to brush away the stray tear with the ball of his thumb.
Rather than lecture him regarding his stubbornness and stupidity his bandmates were kind and gentle. Aiba helped Jun to sit up so that Ohno could help him drink from the sippy cup of water on his bedside table and Nino switched off the brightest of the lights allowing him to look at them properly. It was only then that Jun noticed the IV line snaking from the stand beside his bed to the opposite hand to the one Sho was still holding. He immediately began to panic; there were so many things he needed to do and he could get none of them done while trapped in hospital.
“On second thoughts could you call the nurse?” Jun mumbled. “I need them to unhook this thing so I can get out of here.”
“You’re going nowhere until that IV is finished,” Nino instantly replied with a glare, prompting Ohno to place a warning hand on his arm.
“And even then the only place you will be going is home with me to get some rest,” Sho added sternly.
Jun opened his mouth to protest but the combined glares from his boyfriend and bandmates made him shrivel ever so slightly inside and sink back down to his pillow with barely a murmur.
++++
Jun fretted during the entire car ride home, glancing at his watch every few seconds and running through his task list; there was still so much to be done he couldn't even decide where to begin.
The fact that he'd been forced to stay in hospital for two nights had put him seriously behind with his work and only added to his stress levels.
“Can I at least have my phone back?” Jun asked without much hope.
“Nope.” Sho’s response was exactly what Jun had expected.
“And my laptop?”
“Aiba has it.”
“He’s not watching porn on it again is he?”
“Nope.”
Jun sighed; it was going to be a very long day.
++++
Jun was woken on his birthday by the sound of rain splattering against the windows, propelled by the almost gale force winds that were making the trees across the street bend dangerously in half.
Sho would never allow him out in this weather, so there was little chance of retrieving his laptop and actually getting some work done. As much as it galled him any time when Sho was proven right, upon arriving home from the hospital the day before he’d fallen into bed and slept for a solid twelve hours. He was feeling much better now, even if slightly depressed and weak.
The other side of the bed was empty, the sheet tucked in firmly, and the bed seemed a very lonely place. Jun was about to get up when Sho burst through the door carrying a slightly lopsided cake ablaze with candles. He plopped the cake down beside Jun with a self-congratulatory smile and pressed a smacking kiss to Jun’s lips.
“Happy birthday my love,” Sho said as he handed over a small brightly wrapped package.
Jun sat up carefully so as to not dislodge the wonky cake and unwrapped his gift. The paper opened to reveal a wide platinum ring engraved with stylized cherry blossoms. The ring proved to be a perfect fit when Sho slipped it onto Jun’s finger, pressing a kiss to the back of Jun’s hand as it slid into place.
“It’s beautiful,” Jun said, smiling for the first time in a week as the metal warmed against his skin.
“And that's just the beginning,” Sho said as his own smile echoed Jun’s.
“But I really have to get some work done today and since it's raining…” Jun said with a sigh.
“Not until you look at the rest of your presents,” Sho said quite loudly.
It was obvious by the way that he looked eagerly at the door that he was speaking to attract the attention of someone outside the room.
In fact it was three people, as Aiba, Nino and Ohno came in carrying Jun’s phone and laptop as if taking part in a ceremonial procession.
“Behold our gifts to you,” Nino said loudly.
Aiba bowed deeply and presented the laptop to Jun.
“You guys are giving me my own stuff as a present. Pardon me for being underwhelmed,” Jun said with a frown.
“It’s not what we're giving you but rather what is stored on it,” Aiba said with a grin.
“Since you've been so sick, we wanted to take some of the burden off you,” Ohno said softly, squeezing Jun’s shoulder reassuringly.
“You what!?”
“We planned the concerts for you,” Nino said with a smug smile.
“What?” Jun was highly suspicious.
“It's true,” Sho confirmed. “We found all of your notes and plans and added the final touches for you. Aiba gave approval for the costumes; Nino settled the song list and Ohno worked out the lighting with the technicians.”
Jun groaned internally figuring that he would have even more work to do now just to fix their mistakes.
“And before you freak out, I want to reassure you that I checked everything and I couldn't find a single thing that needs changing,” Sho said firmly after detecting the signs on Jun’s face that he was about to panic.
Jun immediately snatched up his laptop and frantically scrolled through the concise report that Sho had prepared outlining the work done by the others over the past three days.
“You guys did all of this for me?” Jun asked in a choked voice.
“It was for our benefit too,” Nino said with an evil grin. “I need you around to distract me from the desire to smack Aiba in the head when he's being annoying.”
“Oi!” Aiba protested, earning himself an affectionate ruffle of his hair from Nino.
“Anyway, we have another gift for you, which we will just go and prepare,” Nino said. “You stay here and we’ll call you when it’s ready.”
“And Sho will stay and keep you company while we fix things,” Ohno added as he shepherded the other two out the door.
++++
“I can’t believe that you managed to get this done in just three days,” Jun said as he read through the arrangements.
“I didn’t do much since I was spending time with you at the hospital, but the others really worked hard to have it finished by today,” Sho said as he moved the cake onto the dresser and climbed on the bed next to Jun.
“I’m sorry for being such a burden,” Jun said sadly as he closed the laptop and put it to one side. “I’ll work harder in future.”
“Jun, that’s precisely what got you in this state in the first place,” Sho admonished, softening his words by stroking Jun’s hair. “We are more than happy to help if you will let us. It’s our concert too.”
“Sorry for being such a control freak,” Jun mumbled.
“Stop apologising.” Sho tugged Jun against his chest and wrapped his arms around him. “You just have to learn to trust us and not take everything onto yourself. We all worry terribly when you work yourself into the ground. Plus Nino will kill me if you ever collapse like that again and then he’ll probably kill you as well for scaring him.”
Jun managed to smile as he robbed closer to Sho, breathing in his comforting scent. Sho rubbed his back and pressed a kiss to the side of his neck.
“Anyway, let’s forget about it for now. Don’t forget it’s your birthday,” Sho said. “I thought we could have a picnic lunch together.”
Jun pulled away and turned to face Sho with a look of disbelief. “Have you looked out the window recently? Even the weather hates me.”
“Don’t worry, it’s going to be the perfect day for a perfect person,” Sho said. He leant in and captured Jun’s lips in a gentle and reassuring kiss. Jun responded tentatively at first but soon parted his lips to allow Sho to deepen the kiss.
Just as soon as they forgot that they weren’t alone, they were interrupted by a yell from the living room.
“Put Jun down and bring him out here.”
“Nino, leave them alone,” Aiba’s voice came equally loudly through the door. “They might want some privacy.”
“No privacy of that kind allowed,” Ohno said loudly. “Jun is still sick.”
With a resigned sigh, Sho unravelled his arms from around Jun and helped him climb off the bed, handing him his dressing gown and finding his slippers.
“We’d better get out there before there’s a riot,” Sho said as he steered Jun towards the living room.
++++
The furniture in the living room had been pushed to one side and a colourful checked picnic rug lay in the middle of the floor. A small indoor grill sat on the coffee table with an array of food on small dishes beside it. Ohno and Nino were hanging a sheet over the window covering the grey sky with a sunny landscape which had been painted on the linen.
Aiba bustled in from the kitchen carrying the last of the food which he somehow managed to squish onto the very edge of the low table. “I think that’s everything,” he said as he stood back and admired the array of dishes.
“And your perfect view is in place,” Ohno said, helping Nino down from the chair he’d been standing on to reach the top of the window.
“We’ve left you some extra gifts to open later,” Aiba said with a wide smile, pointing to where two beautifully decorated gift boxes sat to one side.
“Oh,” Jun exclaimed as he went to examine them. “Thank you so much, but after all you’ve done for me you don’t need to give me anything else.”
Jun couldn’t restrain a giggle when he read the gift tags. One read ‘To Jun from Satoshi’ in bold script with a tiny ‘and Nino’ scribbled in below. The other tag was similar with ‘Happy Birthday Jun’ written in Aiba’s exuberant handwriting with a hastily written ‘and Nino’ added to it as well below Aiba's signature. He looked at Nino quizzically receiving a self-satisfied smirk in return. Jun didn’t mind that Nino hadn’t bought him a gift because although he hated spending money on presents he was always ready to help out when Jun needed moral support and friendship.
“It’s your birthday, of course we bought you gifts,” Ohno said happily before adding with a pointed look at NIno, “At least some of us did.”
“Anyway,” Nino exclaimed, hastily changing the subject. “It’s about time we were going and left the two schmoopy lovebirds to their romantic picnic.”
"Have fun you two." Aiba chirped.
"Make sure Jun eats enough," Ohno said with a concerned glance in Jun's direction.
"And stay out of his pants," Nino added under his breath to Sho with a glare.
As they moved to put their shoes on Ohno cast a longing look towards the table with the grill and said, "I guess we should go and grab some lunch."
"Great idea, I am starving after preparing all that food," Aiba agreed.
Sho and Jun shared a look and a smile, nodding slightly to each other before Jun spoke. "Why don't you guys stay and share lunch with us?"
"We couldn't possibly. I'm sure that you and Sho want to be alone...it's your birthday," Ohno said, looking embarrassed.
"And how better to celebrate it than to eat with friends?" Jun asked with a shy smile.
"There's beer," Sho said encouragingly, earning a raised eyebrow from Ohno. "And sparkling grape juice for Jun of course," he hastily added.
"It will give me the chance to thank you for your help and there's even cake," Jun said.
"Yes to staying but no to cake," Nino said as he slid his feet back into his slippers and headed back to the living room. "I highly suspect by its wonky shape that Sho had something to do with its construction."
++++
“This cake is actually not bad,” Aiba said, taking a huge bite out of his slice.
“Mmm, chocolate cake is the best,” Ohno agreed as he took another piece, smears of chocolate frosting stuck around his lips.
“It’s perfect,” Jun said as he took a small bite. He was sitting propped up on a pile of cushions as the others hadn’t wanted him to sit on the hard floor. Happiness had even given his cheeks a tiny bit of colour.
The grilling had been completed successfully and Aiba had even had to duck out for some extra shellfish after Sho had swept through their supply like a human typhoon.
Nino refused to touch the cake, seemingly satisfied with the small portion of meat and grilled vegetables that he’d nibbled on and now sat looking jealously at the others as they stuffed their faces. Neither he nor Sho missed the unmistakeable signs of exhaustion on Jun’s face as he struggled to stay awake, almost dropping his plate of cake onto his lap.
“Right, that’s it. We’re out of here,” Nino declared, “Just as soon as Aiba has done the washing up and Ohno has put the furniture back.”
“And what are you planning on doing?” Ohno growled.
“Somebody has to supervise and I believe that I am the best man for the job,” Nino said, puffing out his chest. “And while we do that Sho can take Jun back to bed for a nap before he falls asleep on the floor.”
“I’m fine,” Jun protested sleepily, his words slurring with tiredness.
“No, you’re not,” Sho said sternly. “You remember our earlier conversation about not overdoing things don’t you?”
“Sorry,” Jun mumbled. “I guess I am pretty wiped out,” he added, finally admitting his weakness.
“See, now that wasn’t so hard was it?” Sho asked as he assisted Jun to stand.
“Thanks for everything, you guys,” Jun said, suddenly feeling quite teary as his three friends hugged him and wished him a happy birthday once again.
++++
With the bedroom door shut it almost blocked out the sounds of bickering coming from the living room and kitchen. To Jun the sounds were not annoying anyway, instead they reassured him that everything was operating as normal in the Arashi world.
Sho plumped up Jun’s pillows and straightened out the bed linens before helping Jun to climb into bed. He removed Jun’s slippers and tucked him in under the covers, ignoring Jun’s protests that it was too hot for him to be tucked in.
“I don’t care. I want to make sure that you don’t get sick again,” Sho argued.
“Thanks for taking care of me,” Jun said, looking up at him with huge eyes, ringed with dark circles.
“I love you and taking care of those you love comes as part of the deal,” Sho said firmly. “Now scoot over and let me hold you until you fall asleep.”
Jun eagerly shifted to allow Sho to slide into bed beside him. Sho took Jun into his arms and pressed a kiss to his forehead.
“Go to sleep,” Sho ordered.
“But I’ll miss the rest of my birthday,” Jun said in a tiny voice.
“Just have a little nap and see if you feel like getting up later,” Sho reasoned. “And then you can finish your slice of cake.”
“Did you really make it yourself?” Jun asked sleepily. “Because it was quite delicious.”
“Of course not,” Sho laughed. “Do you think I would risk that on your birthday? It kind of slid around on the backseat of my car on the way here from the bakery and got a little smooshed, but I straightened it back up again, mostly.”
“So Nino boycotted it for nothing?”
“Well, yes,” Sho admitted. “But I think that should remain our little secret, don’t you?”
“He does kind of deserve it doesn’t he?” Jun said with a tired smile. “Even though he’s my best friend he can be a little, well, bossy sometimes, but don’t tell him I said that!”
“My lips are sealed, or at least they would be if someone pressed something against them,” Sho said teasingly, puckering his lips at Jun.
Jun laughed and kissed Sho, hugging him tightly. His grip loosened as sleep overcame him, lying comfortably with his head resting on Sho’s chest, lulled by the steady beating of his heart.
“Happy birthday, baby,” Sho whispered running the tip of his finger over Jun’s cheek. “I love you.”
The only response Jun made was to snuggle closer into Sho’s chest, burying his nose in the front of his shirt with a contented sigh but Sho couldn’t have been happier.
