I don't own Glee.
What a Catch: Chapter 3
Dave and Azimo sat on the bleachers during lunch time, laughing to themselves about old memories. Dave was only eating some crackers-the only thing he could really keep down- and kept having to slide away from Azimo when the boy's greasy pizza started to make him sick. Azimo watched Dave rub as his shoulder slightly, staring off into space.
"Have you told anyone yet, man?" he asked, swatting Dave's hand away from where he knew the port was. Dave nodded slightly, still staring off into space.
"I told the teachers from my morning classes. They seemed real sympathetic and told me they'd write out a lesson plan so I can hopefully teach myself while I'm going through treatment." He blinked as his mother walked down the 50 yard line with Charlie on a leash. As the dog drooled, the spit came out as animated water bubbles. And he swore he heard two birds talking to each other. Like actually talking in English. He sighed, ducking his head.
"Seeing shit again?" Azimo asked quietly, looking out into the field. He could see nothing.
"I don't want to talk about it," Dave murmured, keeping his head down. "Anyway, I'm going to talk to Coach Bieste after lunch since I have a free period. Then I'll just talk to the rest of my teachers during class then coach Wells after school."
"Good luck, man," Azimo said. Dave nodded and when he finally looked up her was relieved to see his mom and Charlie were gone.
Dave hesitated outside of the Coach Bieste's office, rocking on the balls of his feet. Finally he sighed and knocked on the door frame. The football coach looked up and smiled when she saw Dave. She had been worried about him when he passed out in practice and hadn't heard much from him since.
"How you feeling, kid?" She asked, gesturing for him to sit in the chair across from her. Dave did so, his eyes scanning the room for anything funny. Letting out a sigh of relief when he found nothing, he turned back to his coach.
"N-not so good, Coach," he said, fidgeting with his shirt. "I ended up having to go to the hospital after practice 'cause I fainted again and they ran a bunch of tests. I have stage four leukemia. I have to start chemo on Monday." It was the fourth time he had said it out loud today, but he still felt miserable saying it. Cursing himself as tears welled up in his eyes, he ducked his head.
Shannon Bieste felt her heart break as she watched the young boy in front of her. She knew he was tough-he had dislocated his shoulder early in the season the previous year and hadn't even flinched when they put it back in. She had heard from Will that the boy had lost his mother when he was young and that for some reason he seemed to be struggling a lot the previous year. She pushed herself from her chair and rounded the desk, pulling Dave into a hug.
"You're going to be okay, kid. You'll see, just keep your head up, think positive. All that happy people junk. Just don't give up, 'cause I'm going to need my right tackle back next year."
"I'm sorry I let you down, ma'am," Dave said, looking at his feet.
"You did no such thing. It's not like you could do anything to prevent this. Now, you go worry about getting yourself better. You can clean out your locker later this week, okay? We'll be thinking about you." Dave smiled slightly as he stood up.
"Coach? Can you… not tell the guys yet?"
"Sure, Dave. I'll think of something to tell them."
"Thanks, ma'am."
Puck didn't normally do relationships. He'd been let down with the whole Quinn situation and definitely hadn't been happy when he caught Lauren cheating on him the previous spring. But there was something about Lizzie Karofsky that changed his mind.
The girl was younger than him, but she seemed to have this attractive maturity to her. They both know how it was to grow up with only one parent- Puck's dad taking off around the same time that Lizzie's mom had passed away. While she liked the feeling aspect, she also liked sex with Puck. She was the perfect mix of every girl Puck had ever slept with and he was happy to actually put a label to his relationship.
That particular afternoon they were at his house after football and Cheerio practices were over for the day. After a quick roll around in the sheets, the couple laid in each other's arms, deep in thought.
"You're brother wasn't at practice today," Puck said quietly, letting his index and middle fingers walk up his girlfriend's back. While he still thought Dave was an ass most of the time, he dealt with it for Lizzie's sake. When the tackle hadn't shown up at practice that afternoon, coach had simply said it had been taken care of and to not ask questions.
"Um, yeah…" Lizzie said quietly, tears filling her eyes. "Davey's…Davey's sick, Noah." She whispered.
"What do you mean he's sick? Like he has the flu or something?"
"No. Noah you can't tell anyone this, okay? Dave doesn't want anyone to know yet. Promise me you won't tell."
"Hey babe," Puck said pulling Lizzie closer to his naked chest. "I promise I won't tell. What's got you so worked up?"
"Dave has cancer, Noah." Lizzie whispered brokenly. "Leukemia like Mom died of. And it's really progressed-no one had noticed the symptoms until he passed out the other night. He starts treatment Monday. I'm scared. I don't want my brother to die." Puck kissed her forehead and rubbed gentle circles on his girlfriend's arm..
"Did they give any time frame?" He asked quietly, suddenly worried about his teammate.
"No. They have to run a few more tests and stuff when he goes in Monday, then they'll probably say." Puck nodded, placing another kiss on Lizzie's forehead.
"Hey- you gotta stay positive. I'm sure your brother is scared shitless and he's going to need you. Keep believing he's going to be fine. You're brothers a tough SOB, he's not just going to give up." Lizzie gave Puck a small smile before getting up and starting to get dressed. Puck drove her home, keeping his hand in hers and smiling at her ever so slightly. When they pulled up in front of the house he gave her a deep kiss.
"You know where to call if you need me babe," Puck said with a grin.
"Thanks, Noah."
When Lizzie made her way up to her brother's bedroom, Dave was reading. She couldn't tell what it was until she was snuggled up next to him. It was a book like "Chemo for Dumbies," outlining exactly what was going to happen. Dave gave Lizzie a kiss before grimacing.
"You smell like Puckerman and sex," he said, lifting an eyebrow at his sister.
"I wonder why," Lizzie deadpanned back before grinning at Dave.
"It still weirds me out that you two are dating. But I swear if he hurts you…" He let his threat die on his lips as Lizzie rolled her eyes.
"Yes, yes I know-you'll kick his ass. We've been over this." Lizzie snuggled down in her brother's arm, reading along with him. She breathed in deeply, taking in his smell: some cologne they sell at American Eagle, toothpaste, and sweat. It was a smell that always comforted her and it was a smell that was entirely Dave's. Ad she breathed in deep again, she noticed the smell of disinfectant and remembered the port. Reaching out a hand to Dave's shoulder, she hesitated slightly.
"Can I see it?" Dave nodded and tilted his neck back so Lizzie could pull the collar of his shirt down. The skin around the port was red, but didn't look like it was infected. Dave's skin was stretched tight around the plastic and Lizzie let her fingers hover over the device. "Does it hurt?"
"Not really. It just feels kind of weird." She nodded, ghosting her fingers over it, making Dave shiver. Her curiosity satisfied, she reached her hand up to play with Dave's curls. Her heart hurt for a moment when she remembered Dave would lose his hair soon, but she quickly shook the thought from her head.
"Noah knows…" Lizzie trailed off quietly, glancing at Dave's face. He simply shrugged.
"It's okay. I doubt he'll say anything, and besides everyone will know eventually."
The siblings sat lost in thought for a moment, Lizzie's fingers still playing with Dave's hand.
"You aren't going to give up, are you Davey?" Lizzie asked quietly, not looking at her brother's face.
"N-…I don't know. I don't plan on anytime soon, but it's too soon to know how bad it's going to be," Dave said quietly, glancing at his sister's face before gazing out the window.
"I bet they don't find anything on the scan Monday," Lizzie declared confidently and Dave sighed.
"I know without them looking that there is at least one, Lizzie Bug," Dave whispered, wincing when Charlie jumped on his bed.
"What?" Lizzie demanded, sitting up to look at her brother better.
"There's one in my brain. There has to be, or I'm actually losing my mind." He explained about all the weird things he'd been seeing, adding the fact that the cereal he ate after school had been talking to each other and that the neighbor's cat whistled at him. Lizzie's eyes filled with tears and she snuggled in closer, keeping a tight grip on her brother.
"You can't leave me, you hear me? You aren't giving up. I love you, Davey."
Dave simply nodded as his tears combined with his sister's.
AN I hope you liked it! Please review.
And to LiveLoveRead-I actually hadn't thought that far ahead so I guess we'll both have to wait and see.