Author's Note: So this is my first fanfiction for Katie. I got the idea for this one-shot when I heard the song, "There, There Katie" by Jack's Mannequin. So this story takes place around the time Katie was running for president. I'm making it so that Marisol did tell everyone Katie being bulimic was a lie, but Katie didn't forgive her. Also, Katie's bulimia isn't under control. Some Krew/Dratie fluff. Hope you enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own Degrassi or "There, There Katie" by Jack's Mannequin.
Katie you're a brave girl
And I know it's only just started
But I'm gonna be there at six
With some flowers on the sticks
That were clipped just to make the weak strong
When she first became bulimic, she didn't know how to feel. She wasn't particularly happy or sad, she just…was. She was fourteen and had barely made the cut for her high school's soccer team. Marisol caught her in the girl's bathroom in the afterglow of a purge, looked her up and down - a disgusted expression etched on her face - and laughed.
"Do you really think this is going to help anything, Katie?" Marisol asked her. "I mean, yeah, you'll get thin, but what guy is ever gonna want to be with a girl who has the urge to purge?"
That statement was like a knife in the gut for Katie. She and Marisol were supposed to be best friends, but when Katie was most in need, Marisol chose to poke fun at her. She didn't know why she was friends with Marisol. Katie was relatively popular on her own and had quite a lot of friends, but she didn't really want any of those people to get to know her. The real her. Not that she wanted Marisol to either, but because their parents began pushing their friendship from the time they were toddlers, it was pretty much inevitable.
When Marisol ousted the fact that she was bulimic to everyone at Degrassi, Katie had never felt so small. In her fellow students eyes she was the driven, smart, take-charge leader they wanted to run the school. But after Marisol's revelation, she was a lost little girl who couldn't keep her lunch down. Katie knew why Marisol dropped the bulimia bomb. Marisol wanted Drew, but Drew wanted Katie. Marisol was used to getting what she wanted, and when she didn't, she played dirty. Though her plan backfired, because Drew was surprisingly supportive of Katie's situation.
And Katie
Katie, I'm sorry
That in your condition
The sunshine's been missing
But Katie
Don't believe that it isn't there
Oh and Katie
Katie, be happy
This world can be ugly
But isn't it beautiful
Not really here
And really not there
We're really not there
She tried her hardest to remain her driven self, but Katie soon realized that her bulimia was taking over her life. Her grades were slowly dropping and she no longer enjoyed being editor of the Degrassi Daily or playing soccer. She distanced herself from her family; she hardly even spoke to Maya anymore. She had pushed away any possible opportunity at being friends with Clare, Fiona, or Imogen, and refused to forgive Marisol for telling her dirty little secret. She had Drew, but she kept him in the dark. She felt that if he knew the truth, he would leave her. And then she would have no one.
She had spent the past weekend in the hospital due to fainting from a particularly intense purging episode. Her organs were close to entering the failure stage, her hair was falling out, and she was getting unnaturally thin. She knew what she was doing was life-threatening. But she didn't care. Or rather, couldn't care. Because when everyone in her life was gone, the bulimia was always there. It made her feel like she at least had something stable in her life and gave her control. She needed control.
Katie, you're a brave girl
Courage is something I'll need now
Because it's been a hell of a day
I've spent fading away
But we all fade sometimes
I believe
Drew's Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder had gotten magnitudes better since he met Katie. But there were still times when he would wake up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat, screaming at someone who wasn't really there. He was scared, but Katie gave him the courage to pull through the maniac episodes he suffered from. When he was in the midst of that bone-chilling fear, he thought of how Katie pulled him out of the cage match he was fighting in. She calmed him down, and that night, he opened up to her. He felt a sense of sereneness that he hadn't experienced in a long time and knew that Katie Matlin would be the one to save him from himself.
His memories caused him to fade away from the real world, just as her bulimia caused her to do the same. They both went to a dark place, haunted by internal demons and fears. Everything they had ever been through and everything anyone had ever said to them was parallel to the ground, floating around them like clouds. It was like a dreamland, but in the worst way possible. Because it wasn't a place filled with happy dreams. It was instead filled with terrible nightmares.
And Katie
Katie, I'm sorry
That in your condition
The sunshine's been missing
But Katie
Don't believe that it isn't there
Oh and Katie
Katie, be happy
This world can be ugly
But isn't it beautiful
Not really here
And really not there
Her bulimia had been under control for years, but after Marisol let the truth slip, she sunk back into those terrible patterns. She decided to withhold that information from Drew. He didn't need to worry about her. She was Katie Matlin and she didn't need anyone's help. But Drew soon began to see through her façade.
"You're lying to me," he stated as she stepped into the hallways of Degrassi on a November morning.
"N-No. I'm not," Katie replied shakily.
"How often?" Drew asked her, a hint of nervousness in his voice.
Drew knew. Katie could tell. The way his voice was shaking and his hands were clenching told her that he knew that she had been keeping the truth from him for months.
"Just once a week!" Katie said defensively.
"Once a week? Katie! You can't keep doing this! You have to stop or you're gonna die!" Drew yelled frantically.
"Stop being dramatic! I'm fine!" Katie spat back.
"You're not fine, Katie! You're in denial! I know about your hospital stint! Maya told me yesterday! I would've been there if you told me! You can't keep things from me!" Drew bellowed.
"I can't keep dragging you through my drama! That's why you like me, remember? I'm drama-free," Katie said, her voice becoming small.
Drew began to realize that Katie wasn't purposely keeping this from him, but she didn't want him to see her as weak or dramatic. True, Drew was into girls that were drama-free. In the past, he would've left them if things got too complicated. That's why he cheated on Alli with Bianca and broke up with Bianca after all the Vince stuff went down. But with Katie, he had never felt so happy. He couldn't give up. He wouldn't give up on her and he wouldn't let her give up on him, either.
"But this doesn't make you dramatic, Katie. If anything, it shows me that you're not perfect, and I don't want perfect. I just want you," Drew said sincerely as he pulled her into a hug.
"But you've gotta stop, okay? Please, Katie. I don't know what I'd do if anything happened to you. I'm here to help you," Drew said with tears in his eyes.
"I…I'll try to beat this, okay? I-I promise. I'll try. Don't leave, please. I don't want to die," Katie said honestly, her tears making it difficult for her to speak.
"I'm not going anywhere. You saved me, Katie. And I'm determined to save you too. Whatever it takes, right?" Drew asked with a small smile.
"Whatever it takes," Katie replied with a slight nod of her head.
And they knew that whatever it took, they'd make it through.
Together.
Katie, you're a brave girl
And I know it's only just started