Spring Forward, Fall Back (Alucard x Chubby! Reader)

Chapter 123 - "I Don't Feel So Good, Mr. Stark."

"Aww!" Celeste said as she grasped her brother in a hug. "You're such a softy!"

"He's avoiding them because he's afraid we're right," Lisa's voice said to me in my mind.

"Oh, I know," I said while trying to hide a grin. "I smell that money getting closer."

"Bite me, dear."

"When? Now? Are you sure you want to do that in front of the kids? I mean, you remember what happened the last time I bit you. I don't mind my clothes being ripped off, but the kids might..."

"SHUT UP, VLAD!" I snickered to myself and moved toward the kitchen. I had no idea what we're having for dinner, but standing in the kitchen trying to hide my smile was a better idea than standing there waiting for Lisa to hit me for it.

Reader P.O.V.

Adrian and I made our way up to the door of my dad's cabin, everyone excited to make the last few touches to the wedding plans over a brunch meal prepared by Ryan and Gregory. Michael had come along with the Belmonts and the other Tepes children came together in Leone's car. After all of us gathered, the books were taken out and the final choices of colors were made.

"Did you remember to get new rings?" Celeste asked of Ryan and Gregory. The pair suddenly looked as if someone threatened to cut off their testicles.

"Shit!" Ryan blurted. "I completely forgot all about that!" The pair then started scrambling for their phones and babbled back and forth over what jeweler to go to.

"You both need to calm down," Vlad said. "I've got quite a collection of rings, and I invite you to look through them to take what you want for the wedding." Ryan, who kind of reminded me of an overly-emotional version of Mike Zacharias from Attack on Titan, wept in gratitude.

"Thank you so very much, Mr. Tepes," Ryan spoke through a watery smile. "This means so much to us, you have no idea."

"Its quite alright," was the reply. "It takes quite a bit of planning for these wedding things and it wasn't your fault when you were brought into the wedding so late. Its not your fault you weren't able to get new rings, so that's why I'm happy to help out any way I can." I'm pretty sure he wasn't expecting the rather tight bear hug he was suddenly drawn into, but Vlad looked happy he could actually help.

Celeste came out of the kitchen with the first dish for brunch and set it on the table. Gregory managed to pry Ryan off Vlad and get him to go back into the kitchen to finish their prep, while the rest of us sat down at the table. I was wedged between Adrian and Hugue, much to Hugue's discomfort, and told they'd be bringing out some sandwiches that would be good to raise my energy level.

For the last month I'd been dragging ass with everything: getting out of bed, cooking, working on my designs...everything. At first we thought it might be a minor vitamin deficiency, so I'd begun taking a women's multivitamin along with some other supplements to give me a bit more energy, but the only thing that happened with that was I'd become a little more regular. I'd started drinking these smoothie things that were supposed to give me more energy and make my thinking a bit clearer, but then I found I just preferred to throw bananas, raspberries and Japanese plums into Greek yogurt for breakfast. But this energy issue was starting to feel like the world's worst case of mononucleosis.

A platter of sliced steak, egg and Swiss cheese toasted sandwiches were placed in front of me, gasps and laughter followed. Suddenly I wasn't feeling too great and I couldn't figure out what was going on. My mouth started to dry out and I felt way too hot all of a sudden. Apparently I wasn't the only one to notice when Hugue and Adrian turned to me and asked me if I was ok at the same time.

"Something wrong?" Gregory asked as he placed a fresh fruit salad on the table. He looked up to me and remarked, "Y/N, you really don't look so good. You're going kind of pale."

"I'm sorry," I said. "I don't know what's wrong." I went to stand up from the table and move to the couch, but suddenly a headache struck, felt my knees give way and tumbled to the ground. Adrian was quick to my side, Hugue placed his hand on my forehead.

"She's burning up, Mother," he said, his voice sounding a little strange.

"I'll be fine," I said as I tried to sit back up. I'd managed to sit up partially only to fall back to the floor.

"Baby, please. Don't move," Adrian said anxiously. His face started to swim and waver in my vision as tears came to my eyes through a wave of dizziness. My stomach started to do flips and a chill rolled up my spine. As much as I didn't want to and no matter how hard I tried not to, I turned my head and vomited into Hugue's lap. I cried harder out of pain and embarrassment while Lisa picked up a wet towel to wipe up my mess. Vlad and my father rushed into the living room to clear a couch and gather a bucket should I feel the need to be sick again while Ryan and Gregory went to the kitchen to grab me a cup of water and some crackers to try to settle my stomach.

"What's going on?" Celeste asked weakly. "She was just fine a moment ago."

My mind swam with unfamiliar sights and sounds, memory and imagination merging together, people's faces becoming difficult to see or morphing into someone completely different. I groaned in pain as a headache suddenly settled itself on my brain with force and made things even more difficult to differentiate between real and imaginary. Thoughts and language seemed to mix up as I struggled to explain how I felt. Turning my head I saw what looked like a man sitting next to me, his form suddenly raising up over me while I fought to stay conscious. I tried to tell them something felt wrong, something felt off, but it wouldn't come out.

"I don't feel so good, Mr. Stark," was what I thought I heard myself say right before I lost the ability to remain conscious. My mind delved deep into a sea of darkness that showed no light or escape as the sounds around me faded away to nothing.