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Blue would have said that the day had started out just fine and then taken a turn for the worst, but since meeting her new gang of friends, the courses her days took were no longer black and white in that respect.Rather, she would say that the day had been pretty uneventful up until that moment.School had been...school; long and rambling, the ever growing ache settling in her chest as she waited for classes to end, as she waited to be able to leave and meet up with the others.Gansey had picked her up as soon as her last class ended. She still wasn’t particularly happy with it, with the glances from her classmates, silently screaming that she was a hypocrite. But she’d also stopped caring quite so much.It was the rare kind of afternoon where neither her nor Adam had work and the long evening they had planned stretched ahead of them, warm and shining with prospects.After weeks and weeks of searching, of pouring over texts in foreign languages, of tirelessly traipsing around Cabeswater and the area surrounding it, it was finally time for a good, wholesome, chilled the fuck out kinda end to the day.Ronan's BMW was already there by the time the Pig rolled up outside the building and Blue knew Adam and his Hondayota would not be far behind.Ronan split his time at the Barns and Monmouth, Adam split his time between St Agnes and Monmouth and Blue split her time between Fox Way and Monmouth. Somehow, through they'd not voiced their ideas or plans, Monmouth had become the place they all piled into when they needed time to hang out away from everything else.It was nice. It was so nice.The place was huge and Ronan had been just a little busy dreaming up slightly fantastical but practical items for their group nights. Their seating arrangements were hybrids; half sofa, half bed, all comfort. Sure they probably existed in the real world but who cared. There was a popcorn maker the size of a matchbox that somehow, depending on which button was pressed, spurted out cups and cups of different flavoured popcorn in mere seconds. There was a massive TV that fit along nearly an entire wall, that listened when spoken too, not necessarily something so out of the realm of possibility, but still useful nonetheless. There would be no arguing over where the hell the remote had gotten too, again. There were feather light blankets that, once they were settled over a person, became heavy and moulded to their bodies, also they smelled like whatever the individual wanted them to which was pretty cool.The boys would pile the dream and normal blankets and cushions and sleeping bags, if it was chilly enough, onto the BedSofa. There would be enough room for all persons to completely spread out and not touch another soul. Although, recently, they hadn't needed the space. They would often sit close, legs and arms draped over one another; a mess of body parts without a discernible beginning or end.Ronan usually took one side, with Adam next to him, Blue beside him and Gansey on the other end. When Noah joined them, when he was more...there at least, he would usually sit at Blue's feet, chilly fingers wrapped around her ankle.Blue didn't say it out loud, that she was looking forward to their evening or that she badly needed it, but her boys knew her well and they could distinguish just by her expression or the way her eyes and mouth crinkled, what she was feeling but was loath to say.By the time Blue and Gansey entered, the TV screen was already set up, steaming bowls of popcorn sat at the foot of where each person went, and a streaming rainbow light flitted around the room."Maggot," Ronan said in way of greeting. Blue was past caring about the name and had actually grown rather fond of it, like she had eventually come around to Jane."I don't get a hello?" Gansey feigned aggravation as he shrugged off his jacket.Ronan raised an eyebrow, "hi, jackass. Better?"The corners of Gansey's lips pulled into a smile as Ronan smirked. "I'm not going to dignify that with a proper response.""You just did, Gansey-boy," Ronan punched the other boys shoulder as the three of them headed over to the BedSofa, shedding shoes and ties and hair clips, in Blue's case.They sank down, Blue letting out a breath she didn't realize she'd been holding.Gansey's fingers gently combed through the now free straggling strands of hair, nails lightly scratching her scalp in a way that made her tingle, and no Ronan shut up, I am not acting like freaking cat. You can't talk, don't think I haven't seen you doing the exact same to Adam, loverboy.They were all laughing at Blue's scorn when Adam himself came skittering in, dropping his bag and immediately coming over to flop over all three pairs of legs."We thought you'd be here when we got back," Blue mentioned, her fingers splayed across his knee, squeezing lightly.Adam lifted his head from Ronan's lap, gesturing at his discarded backpack. "Went to the store, I felt like candy." He shrugged, swinging his legs off of the other two, planting his feet on the floor.That was a pretty big step forward for Adam; he hated charity, hated being given... well, anything. He'd been learning, away from his parents poison, that gifts weren't always charity. They could be just thoughtful little ideas, a goofy card here, a dream flower there, a surprise visit at his work.Thoughtful gifts did not mean charity.So he'd taken care to become more thoughtful in his own ways, this was just the beginning; a couple of his only spare dollars spent on candy for the evening.Blue grinned as she leapt up to grab the backpack, just reaching down to pick it up when she felt that chill in the air. If it was even possible at that moment, her smile grew. Her fingers closed around the strap of the backpack and she turned with it, "hey, Noah."The boy stood, watery in the light, only half a boy. He didn't speak so Blue offered her free hand out to him. "C'mon, let's go sit down."The air around them cooled and the girl shivered as Noah leeched off her energy. By the time they got back to the BedSofa, Noah was certainly still more dead than alive, but he was less...diluted, more solid. He still hadn't spoken, which was bordering on worrisome. The Noah they knew loved to talk, liked to ramble. Maybe it made him feel more alive, maybe he just wanted to be known, the reasoning’s weren't exactly important.The point was he wasn't talking and that was weird, as more weird as things could possibly get.The boys greeted Noah as the pair walked over. Blue moved to tug the boy over to their usual seats, but Noah held her back."Hey, what's wrong?" Blue asked, brows furrowing.The boy didn't answer, just pulled at her hand until they were moving away from the others."Noah?" Gansey asked, having stood up and walked over, standing behind Blue's shoulder.Noah always had the tendency to be...eerie and unearthly but something about him seemed different.Blue was colder now, the hand Noah held growing numb.Something was wrong.Blue tried to shrug the boys hand off but his grip only tightened. Noah could usually touch but grabbing things was usually off the table, but here he was, using her own energy in order to clutch onto her own hand."Let go," Blue said firmly, shaking their joined hands in an attempt to get him off.Noah just tightened his grip, his grubby nails digging into the soft flesh of his wrist."Ow! Jesus, Noah-" Blue cursed, taking a step back, hitting into Gansey as she tried to get the boy off her.Gansey stepped in, brows knitted with concern. His long fingers wrapped around both Blue's wrist and Noah's, and he tried to pry their grips apart.This seemed to make whatever it was worse.The air around then grew frigid, the lights and the TV flickered on and off, on and off, on and off. Blue's arm burned with the cold, pins and needles spreading up her shoulder, neck, across her collarbone.Her heart pounded in her chest and Blue wasn't sure if it was anxiety at the knowledge something was wrong with Noah or the fact that she was starting to feel unwell.She threw up her barriers, tried to envision the bright light of the bubble shrouding her from the dead boy. It didn't work.The other boys had joined them now and hands were everywhere, trying to pry Noah off Blue.Adam was trying to talk him down, Ronan was bodily trying pulling Noah away, Gansey was holding onto Blue's shoulders as she shuddered. Blue herself was stuck where she was, trembling and dizzy and freezing cold.Papers and cans and the discarded popcorn flew through the air, an unseen wind tearing through Monmouth.In the heart of it; Noah, solid but more skull than boy, the holes where his eyes had once been staring at Blue, that one single hand leeching every bit of energy from her.Blue found her voice, small and tinny in the sudden windstorm, her barriers failing. "Noah, please-" she choked out.Her face drained of colour, bruises growing under her eyes, her heart hammering frantically in her chest. She felt sick. She was either going to throw up then and there or she was going to pass out. And with the way the corners of her vision blurred, she was pretty aware of which direction she was headed.She tried to suck in a frantic breath, unable to get enough air into her lungs before the constriction in her chest forced them out. She gasped around the boy’s name, only half of it coming out.She couldn’t breathe.There were more hands on her shoulders now, one hand on her cheek, one at the back of her neck. There were words being spoken but all Blue could hear was the whistling of the wind and the voices coming through as if rising from underwater.It hurt, she realized dimly, her energy being ripped from her. Her body burned with the piercing cold settling into her very being, her skin agony as those hands skirted over her, her chest ached.All she could see now was Noah, pale and complicated, a storm behind him and emptiness in his face.She couldn’t feel her legs.Her breaths caught in her throat as her vision tunnelled, frantic hands clawed at her as she pitched forward, happy for the darkness when it came to claim her....Blue came around to soft voices, slowly flooding into her consciousness."Should we take her to the hospital?""And say what when they ask us what the fuck happened?""I don't know, we could think of something."Something warm touched her forehead and one of the voices seemed closer."Christ, she's freezing, hand me that other blanket."Then another voice further away from the others, "Maura? It's Gansey."Blue drifted.The next time she came around, she was far more with it, which didn't seem like such a great thing as her stomach roiled and her head pounded in time with her pulse.She didn't dare open her eyes, just whimpered softly, her hands lifting to squeeze around her middle."Blue?" Light fingers pulled hair behind her ear, scratched at her scalp.Moaning softly, the girl shoved her face into whatever was underneath her head, tightening her grip on her stomach."Take it easy, Maggot, you're alright." The hand rested on her head and she couldn't help but turn into the touch.She was hoping she could rest more when the inevitable happened. Tangled up in blankets and various body parts, Blue tried to pull her head away from where it lay, eyes still closed and face twisted."Ah shit, Parrish?""Got it," a new hand touched the back of her neck and guided her face somewhere, "easy, Blue, you're okay, you can be sick."Blue didn't need to be told twice for her body to rebel against itself. She retched miserably, ears ringing as she threw up the days food contents.That hand kept steady at her neck, another rubbing up and down her back. A third tucked a blanket up around her shoulders."That's it, love, don't hold it in. Deep breaths." A voice murmured at her ear before a kiss pressed against her temple.She couldn't hold it in even if she wanted to, her body was clearly very angry at this point and it just kept coming, long after she'd ran out of actual things to throw up."Just breathe through it, Sargent."After a while of just laying there, panting and shivering, someone lifted a cool glass to her lips. "Here, rinse your mouth out, the bucket is right under your head."Blue did as suggested, feeling utterly miserable as she spat out mouthfuls of water."Then sip," the voice insisted, glass back at her lips.When she'd had a little to drink, something was placed on her tongue. She chewed cautiously, sighing softly at the familiar taste of one of Gansey's mint leaves.It took even longer than it had taken for her to stop throwing up, for her to open her eyes. The lids felt heavy and the little bit of light she could see with them closed, did not seem like it would help with the pounding of her head.But she couldn't just lay there with her eyes closed for the rest of the evening.So despite her best instincts, she forced them open, blinking in the light that flooded her gaze.Blue moaned again, inching and turning her head, hand coming up to shield her eyes.Footsteps sounded, moving away from her. When she cautiously lifted her hands, she saw that it was only Adam closing the curtains and shutting out the late afternoon light. They hadn’t had curtains until recently, when Blue insisted on getting them, telling the boys that anybody walking by could stare in on them and it was beyond creepy.It was getting dark already. How long had she been out?Blinking around the room, she realized she was sprawled across the BedSofa, her arm dangling off the side of it.Gansey was sitting on the floor very close, his fingers resting on her head, thumb brushing over her temple.When she twisted, she found that the thing her head had been resting on was actually Ronan's lap, his fingers splayed across the space between her shoulder blades.Adam returned from the windows, sitting at the bottom of the BedSofa, pulling Blue's feet up onto his lap, his fingers wrapped around her ankle.The touches, she found, were very grounding, and she felt more Blue than she had when she'd woken up.Still chewing on the mint leaf, she cautiously lifted her head to see if the room span as much as she thought it might. Unsurprisingly, it did."Stay still, idiot." Ronan chided.Blue would have rolled her eyes if she didn't feel so awful, but she did feel awful so she just grunted and flopped her head back down onto his thighs, probably harder than was necessary."Your mom said you're going to be feeling pretty shitty for a while," Adam murmured, trailing circles around her ankle bone."She also said it would be best if you stayed here for the night, so you don't have to walk or ride in the car when you're feeling rotten." Gansey said softly, hyperaware of keeping his voice quiet enough to not hurt.Blue had been planning on staying the night anyway, so she had no problem with that. Moving seemed like an awful lot of effort.Her voice didn't seem to want to cooperate with her brain so she just flicked her gaze over to Gansey, who always seemed to understand."She said you'll be fine," his voice was gentle and soothing, "also that school tomorrow is probably not a good idea.""School is never a good idea," Ronan chimed in, smirking, "I'll keep you company so you're not all by your lonesome." His voice suggested humour but his eyes were sincere. Blue patted his knee."Oh and Maura said you should try and eat something warm and something sugary." Adam lifted her feet off his lap and gently placed them on the BedSofa. "But unfortunately all these idiots have in the 'kitchen' is beer and mint leaves. So...takeout?"Blue hummed, eyes heavy lidded.They seemed to understand that she couldn't speak right then so they threw out options. Eventually Blue pointed at Adam as he mentioned chicken noodle soup.Ronan pulled a face at her choice, but shrugged at his boyfriend. "So soup for Sargent and pizza for the normal people."Adam headed off to find menus, stopping by the bathroom first, flicking on the tea kettle and filling a mug with mint leaves. Mint was good for upset stomachs, was warm and Blue liked the taste so they couldn't really go wrong with it.Back in the living room area, Gansey tucked the blankets around Blue's shoulders and picked up Adam's discarded bag. He pulled out the candy the boy had bought, handing over Blue's favourite chocolate to her.Blue stared at the chocolate, pulling a face, feeling vaguely sick again. She shook her head.Gansey immediately pulled his back. "No? That's okay, maybe later?"Blue nodded, relieved.Adam came back then, holding two menus triumphantly, a steaming mug in the other hand."Think you can sit up, Maggot?"Blue hummed and nodded and between the four of them, they managed to get Blue into an upright position, Ronan bracing her upper back until she was able to shuffle against the back of the BedSofa.When she was up, the boys re-piled the blankets on top of her and Adam passed over the mug of mint tea.Inhaling the liquid, Blue sent a soft smile over to the boy before she lifted it to her mouth to blow on it.After calling the takeout places, the boys all took their places on the BedSofa, all smushed together, limbs tangled, eyes half watching the TV screen and half watching Blue, constantly checking on her.She didn't know what had happened after she'd passed out, but she was sure it would all come out later. When she could speak she would ask them what was wrong with Noah, she would admit to the frightened feeling in the pit of her stomach and the boys would admit how worried they'd been (expect Ronan, but Blue knew he'd been just as scared), and what their next steps were.After she'd eaten, Blue would swallow whatever pills were handed to her. She would drink countless cups of tea and eventually be able to eat some chocolate.For now though Blue was quite happy to remain curled in between most of her raven boys, slowly warming up, slowly coming back to herself.Raven boys to the rescue, indeed.