Written for SE Angst week so angst and doom again, thanks to Ness for betaing this thing.

January 2nd

He should have known that everything was going to go wrong that day from the moment some freshman had stepped on his new shoes, to missing about every green light possible on the way to Maka's house. It was fine now though - the day was over and he could spend the rest of the evening playing video games while his best friend would surely be doing the homework that he was bringing over like the goody two shoes she was.

It had been a surprise that she missed school. Usually she'd be shooting for highest attendance award along with some other nerdy achievements, but if she was sick, there was nothing to do about it besides to go around to all of her classes, get her dumb homework from all her advanced placement teachers, and ignore the baffled looks they gave him.

Oh, for Maka Albarn. Now it all makes sense, they said. Better not have any high expectations for the resident slacker.

He peeked in the back door and checked around for red haired psycho dad. When Spirit was no where to be found, he started to sneak over to the staircase until a pretty shocking sight stopped him in his tracks. Spirit was home, on the phone, looking more solemn than Soul ever thought was possible for the old goat. But most shocking were the quiet tears sliding down his was seriously disturbing. Maka's old man was prone to blubbering, a sort of advanced form of crocodile tears used to garner her pity, but with Maka squirrelled away in her room, there was no one for him to be showing off for. It lead Soul to almost believe something might be actually wrong.

He shook his head and climbed the stairs before he got suckered into any weird activities, especially comforting the guy. Maka's door was cracked open so he pushed it open cautiously; he only had to walk in on her changing once to know to avoid sudden movements. "Mak-" he was about to greet her until she hurriedly shushed him with a look he could only describe as an internal version of her usual roar. She gestured wildly for him to come over while writing furiously with her free hand. She had the other phone wedged between her cheek and her shoulder.

I'm listening in to my parents don't say a word!

He examined the words carefully before nodding slowly. Maka pressed the speaker button on the phone to make her mother's evenly paced words, punctuated by Spirit's quiet sobs, audible from receiver.

"I can't just drop my schedule, I'm in Cambodia for God's sake," Ex-Mrs. Albarn said resolutely.

"Have you been listening to anything I've been saying - I told you everything the doctor told me." Spirit's voice cracked sporadically. It reminded Soul of when She left; it was the only other time he had heard Maka's dad sound like that.

"You've had full custody for a while. She probably doesn't even want to see me."

"I know she does, and you would too if you actually got around to writing back to her."

"You have no idea the stress this puts on my career." A resolute sigh ends Maka's mother's half of the argument, the only thing she had left to add were personal attacks. She had always been stony and solid, a more blunt forced version of Maka's own apparently inherited stubbornness. "You're just trying to manipulative, Spirit."

"How can I be manipulative about this? You think I would lie about your daughter having leukemia?"

What the fuck. Maka smacked a hand over Soul's mouth before he could interject, but he was sure to write his sentiments down on Maka's note paper. He was reduced to acting like a middle school girl, scribbling furiously on the paper, when his best friend apparently had cancer. He could hardly imagine it, topping it off with, of course, was the absent Albarn, who would apparently not be making an appearance any time soon. No wonder Spirit was so broken up.

Maka, on the other hand, seemed too calm for anyone's good, holding steady eye contact with him while her parents argued in the background. Spirit grew increasingly shrill while Maka's mom grew increasingly distant, as if South East Asia wasn't far enough.

Just wait, she wrote, fingers tapping silently on the words. He tried to stare her down, mouthing for her to hang up the phone; this wasn't productive for anyone anymore. She just wrote without breaking her unnerving eye contact.

I can't hang up - it will hang up the call.

It only lasted another two minutes before Spirit dissolved into bawling and Maka's mom hung up the phone.

"Don't say it," Maka warned, but he couldn't help himself.

"Leukemia? Maka? How long have you known? Is this why you missed school?" It was too many words for his overgrown and underused mouth to handle, but they tumbled out anyway.

"I'm fine, it's going to be fine," Maka placated while Soul shook. "I just had an appointment today, everything is fine."

Fine. She said the word so excessively, as if it would make everything go away.

"You just found out today? Holy fucking shit."

"Don't swear like that!"

"Fucking hell." He ignored her words and continued to spout profanities under his breath until she cut him off.

"I found out a couple weeks ago," she amended with a wince.

"And you just thought to tell me now? What is wrong with you?"

"I mean, I didn't exactly tell you. I just wanted everything to be normal. No one else can know - you weren't supposed to know." The words came spilling out of her like water, but her face was as still calm and dry as the chill weather.

"You can't just keep something like that from me."

"I'm sorry, I just, wanted you to keep acting normal; everything is such a mess around here. You saw my dad, he's a wreck."

"Then I'm going to act normal, by being mad at you for keeping it a secret. How serious is it anyway?"

"It's not serious. I'm going to start chemo in a couple weeks, and it's all going to be fine. I need you to stop freaking out about it." She didn't beg, but there was still an uncomfortable desperation in her voice that made Soul flinch. She was right, with Spirit unable to remain calm about the situation, Maka was being the adult between the two of them; there was certainly no room for Soul to break down too.

He nodded. "If that's what you really need, we'll act like everything is normal."

"Everything is normal," she corrected him emphatically, denial written across her forehead between her scrunched eyebrows.

His heart was plunging into apprehension. Maka was starting her chemistry homework. Everything was normal.

He did not stay for dinner - family dinners were a strictly mandatory affair in the Evans house hold - so he left at five, walking himself out. Spirit was sitting at the kitchen table when Soul tried to sneak out the back door.

"Soul, didn't know you were here." The man's eyes were bloodshot, his voice shaky with post-storm adrenaline.

"Yeah, just dropping off Maka's homework since she wasn't at school." Soul reached for the doorknob.

"She just had a cold."

Soul knew it was a lie.

"She told me, you know." It was a bad idea to call the bluff. It triggered a new wave of blubbering from Maka's father, and within a second, Soul found himself wrapped in a bear hug by the older man with no idea how to comfort him. "It's gonna be fine, she said it was going to be fine."

"She didn't really tell you then," Spirit whispered, his words disjointed with tiny sobs.

Soul balked. "Tell me what?" he asked apprehensively.

"Two months."

Everything was not normal.