Seth took Summer home. Anna had fallen asleep beside Ryan, her arms wrapped around his blankets. Kirsten covered her with a blanket and propped the door open.

Ryan started to mumble in his sleep and woke Anna. She tried to calm him but he started to thrash.

"Ryan…Ryan, wake up…" She said, trying to hold him still.

"Anna?" Sandy appeared in his robe.

"I can't wake him…" Anna said, panicked.

"I got him…" Sandy took over, holding him down. "Try to wake him."

"Ryan…Ryan, wake up…wake up…"

Ryan finally relaxed against the bed with a disgruntled sigh.

"Ryan?" Anna called.

"Sleepy…" He replied.

Sandy released him, winching at the already developing bruised on Ryan's shoulders from his hands.

"Mr. Cohen…can I stay?" Anna asked.

"Leave the door open. Kirsten already called your parents and told them you fell asleep. Call them first thing, okay?"

"Thank you," Anna said, surprised.

"You're a good friend. Kirsten and me…we trust you. And even better, Ryan trusts you." Sandy stood up. "Call us if you need us."

"I will…" She promised. Sandy left and she took one of Ryan's hands and got under the covers with him.

He mumbled but pulled her close, nuzzling his face against hers. "Anna?"

"Shh…sleep…" She smiled.

"Hmm…" He murmured. "Okay…"

"Just sleep…"

"Stay?"

"Yes…sleep now." She pulled him close. She didn't want to lose him.

When Seth got home around 2 am after leaving Summer's, he saw Ryan's door open and went inside.

"Hey," Anna said. She had her arms wrapped around Ryan but he was still shivering.

"What's up? How's Ry?"

"Restless. Your dad said I could stay…"

"It's cool," Seth said, sitting down on the edge of the bed.

"Does he always have bad dreams?"

"Only when he's really tired. How are you holding up?"

"I'm fine." She glanced at Ryan. "He's better now. I think I'll sleep."

"Why don't you change? You're wearing jeans. Ryan has tons of wife beaters and sweatpants…"

Anna gave Ryan a quick glance.

"I'll stay with him. Go," Seth smiled.

Anna got up and quickly searched through the drawers to find suitable pajamas. She went into the bathroom and changed.

Ryan was peaceful when she returned.

"Night, Anna. I'll see you in the morning," Seth said.

"'Night, Seth."

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Ryan woke up with the need to vomit. He disentangled himself from Anna's arms and stumbled to the bathroom.

He cursed himself as all the food from the night before revolted. He couldn't stop the heaves even as his stomach was empty. It was like his body was turning against him.

"Ryan?" Kirsten came to his side, worried. "Oh, honey…"

"Sick…" He managed between heaves.

"Breathe…deep breaths, come on…"

He realized that his breathing was labored so he forced himself to breathe, relaxing against Kirsten's steadying hands.

"That's it…" She encouraged.

The nausea swept over him again and he leaned forward, sick.

"Ryan…get it out…just breathe…"

"No…Chemo…Why am I sick?" He panted.

"It takes time…Can you lean back?"

He was on his knees but he slowly leaned back and rested in the crook of her arm.

"Better?"

"I'm never going to gain weight like this," Ryan sighed.

"Patience. You'll be good as new in no time."

He was sick again and she rubbed his back but he was shaking with chills now. He'd broken out in a sweat.

"Ryan…should I call the doctor?"

"Not yet…I think it'll pass…can you get me some tea or ginger ale? Maybe I need to put something on my stomach…"

"Okay, honey." She stood up.

"And…I don't want Anna to see me like this…"

"I'll take care of it."

"Thanks…" He said, leaning against the wall now.

Kirsten closed the door as she stepped out. Anna was sitting up. "Is there anything I can do?"

"Could you start the coffee? And some tea?"

"Sure." Anna held out a blanket. "He gets so cold…"

"Thank you. We'll be out in a few minutes," Kirsten said.

Anna left and Kirsten returned to the bathroom, draping the blanket around him.

"Thanks…" Ryan's body was trembling now but his eyes were clear. "It's not so bad, Kirsten…"

"Yeah?"

"Yeah…the sickness is the same but it's…its not so bad…"

"I'm glad. I hope it gets easier," Kirsten said.

"It will…" Ryan said quietly.

"Anna's making the tea."

"Thanks. I think I'm okay now…I'll come sit on the couch."

"Are you sure?" She asked.

He nodded. "Yeah…I should be social."

"Okay. Let's go…" Kirsten helped him stand but Ryan walked unaided into the bedroom. He pulled on a sweatshirt before following Kirsten into the den.

He sat down on the couch. Anna walked in with a tray of tea and crackers.

"Thanks," Ryan said.

"You okay?" She asked. Kirsten gave them privacy.

"Yeah. You stayed the night."

"Yeah," She smiled. "You're a deep sleeper."

"Did I talk?" He asked shyly.

"You tossed and turned. Not much talking…"

He took a sip of the steaming tea with a shaking hand. "You should call your parents."

"You kicking me out?" She asked.

"No…" He tried to explain himself. "I don't want you to be here for all…this. I want you fresh and upbeat and happy to see me, not worn out from watching me all night…"

"So…you are asking me to leave…" She rephrased, confused.

"Anna. Listen." He took her hand. "I love having you around. But there's some things you can't help me with. I don't want you to get sucked into taking care of me…I want you to see me when I'm…better."

"I'm…I don't think I'm getting it. I'm here to help you…"

"I want you to be here to be with me. To hang out. Not babysit," Ryan said.

She stood up, hurt flashing on her face. "Okay. I'll call you…"

Ryan sighed, cursing under his breath.

Kirsten stepped in. "Anna gone?"

"Yeah."

"Everything…okay?" She asked tentatively.

"Yeah. The tea helps," Ryan replied, dodging her intended question.

"You need anything?"

"I'm fine." He reached over and picked up his book and settled onto the couch.

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Kirsten took Ryan to school on Monday. He was quiet, but steady. Anna had called a couple of times, but he hadn't seen her in person since she left on Saturday.

"You have therapy at four," Kirsten reminded him outside Harbor. She was clearly nervous to leave him.

"Seth's taking me home around noon," Ryan said.

"Okay. Call us if you need us?"

"I will," He agreed. He got out of the car and found Seth and Summer waiting for him by the front steps.

"Welcome back," Summer grinned.

"Thanks. How behind am I?" Ryan asked.

"You want me to lie?" Seth laughed.

"No. We better go in."

"Anna's out today," Summer said quietly as they slowly made their way up the stairs.

"Is she okay?" Ryan asked, trying to hide his concern.

"She has a cold, she said. She didn't want you to catch it," Summer added.

"So…why didn't she just skip the class we have together?" Ryan questioned.

Summer hesitated.

"She doesn't want to see me," Ryan stated.

Seth was glancing between them.

"She's…confused," Summer whispered.

"It's fine," Ryan said, turning to them at the top of the stairs. "Will you give her a message for me, Summer?"

She nodded. "Sure."

"Let her know that I'm fine and that I won't bother her for a while."

"Dude…" Seth started.

"I'm fine, Seth. I feel better today than I have in weeks. Don't worry…"

"Okay. Just…just don't get too down, okay?" Seth warned.

"I'm copasetic, Seth."

Chip and Luke approached and immediately took Ryan inside, chattering animatedly. Ryan gave Seth and Summer a wave.

"This sucks," Seth said.

"Yeah. But he seems okay. We're not supposed to know about the whole dating thing anyway. He'll be okay," Summer replied, giving him a kiss. "Relax."

Ryan was sitting at his desk and the majority of the soccer team was surrounding him. The morning bell hadn't officially rang yet and they were filling him in on the reaming they took from the coach the day before at practice and the party they had afterwards.

"Man, you could always talk the coach out of extra laps, we really miss you out there," Luke said.

"Well, maybe I'll be back next year. My chemo's done so now I just have to start getting back to normal," Ryan admitted.

"That's awesome," Chip smiled, as the jocks erupted in congratulations.

"Yeah…the coach says I can start coming to practice, I can't really participate or anything, but my doctor's coming up with some easy things I can start doing to get back to 100."

"That's great, man, we'll help you, you can be our little short mascot dude," Chip teased. Ryan gave him the finger.

"What the hell is going on in here?" Mr. Anderson startled them all as the bell rang.

"Shit…later, Chino…" Luke and his friends bolted, fearing the professor's wrath.

"Ryan, you aren't supposed to be with a lot of people, the germs…"

"I think I'll be okay. I'm not in a bubble yet, Mr. Anderson," Ryan smiled.

"Well, you have to be careful. It's good to have you back," The teacher said.

"Here's what I got done from the assignments…" Ryan held out a notebook.

"Oh. Thanks. I'll take a look at it before the end of the day," He said, surprised.

The few kids in the class filtered in and Seth took his seat beside him.

Mr. Anderson started class. He gave them a pop quiz and then let them take the rest of the period to work on their project.

Ryan turned to Seth. "Project?"

Larry and I are taking care of it," Seth said.

"Larry? He's not even here."

"He's here in spirit, though, he's researching while he's on the road, he emails us everything…your mailbox is probably overflowing, dude," Seth explained.

"Oh. I should check that."

"I'm on graphics, he's on research and your job is to present," Seth explained.

"What? I hate presenting," Ryan protested.

"Ah, yes, but you don't have to do anything but memorize, it's a sweet deal, Ryan, admit it."

"Yeah…thanks," Ryan said. "Are you even getting credit for this?"

"Actually, yes. I don't have to go to my other chemistry class…this is like rapid fire chemistry," Seth replied.

The rest of the day passed quickly, Seth took him home around noon and Ryan was surprised to find the house empty except for Rosa.

He settled on the bed and worked on his homework. He finished the math first, calculus was his best subject. The essays took the most time and he fell asleep with only one chemistry question left.

Kirsten woke him at 3:30. The therapist's office was empty when they arrived. Kirsten worked on her laptop while he was in the office.

He walked out with a stricken expression on his face.

"Ryan? You okay?" She asked.

"Yeah." He gave her a weak smile. "Can we go home? I have to come back on Thursday."

"Sure…" She put an arm around him. "You sure you're okay?"

"Yeah…she's hard core, though. You'll have to meet her," Ryan said. He was quiet all the way home.

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Ryan fell asleep on the couch. He was oddly content with Sandy, Seth and Kirsten watching TV around him.

"How was school, Seth?" Sandy asked.

"Cool. Ryan seemed to have a good day. I got a 94 on my history test…"

"And you said you were going to fail, good job, Seth," Kirsten smiled.

"Thanks. How was Ryan's therapy?" Seth asked.

"He didn't want to talk about it," Kirsten replied.

"When does he have to go back?"

"Thursday," She answered.

"Maybe I should take him. He's supposed to hang out with the soccer team after school. Exercise," Seth suggested.

"Oh." Sandy said.

"The coach talked to his doctor today. And I know you have lots of work to do. It'll be good for him to have a little independence," Seth said.

"Did he ask you to talk to us?" Kirsten smiled.

"Not in so many words, but…" Seth muttered.

"Ask us tomorrow night," Sandy said.

They let Ryan sleep and when he woke up, Seth was watching TV beside him.

"Hey."

"Hey. You had a long nap," Seth said.

"What time is it?"

"About 8."

"Still early. I'm going to eat something," Ryan said.

Seth was surprised. "I could use a snack."

"Come on," Ryan said, leading the way into the kitchen.

"So…you're hungry?" Seth asked, confused.

Ryan paused. "Actually…I think so. Wow."

"That's awesome, dude," Seth smiled widely.

Ryan picked up an apple and sat down to eat it. "So. Did I miss anything?"

"Nope. I mean besides your list of messages," Seth said, pulling a crumpled not from his pocket. "2 calls from Anna, one from Trey, one from Teresa, Luke, Chip and Larry…"

"Where's Larry?"

"Houston," Seth replied.

"He leave a number?" Ryan asked.

Seth handed him the note.

"Thanks, man." Ryan read the note, amused.

Anna-Sorry--will call again.
Trey-collect--doesn't believe you're asleep.
Teresa--sounds hot.
Anna--Still sorry. Will email later.
Larry--Houston kicks ass. G-friend is a punk.
Luke & Chip--Stupidasses. On for tomorrow.

"You're like an answering machine," Ryan laughed.

"It was either me or mom."

"Thanks."

Seth watched him. "So…you feel good?"

"Yeah. You want to run some games?"

"Hell yes," Seth smiled. Seth was pleased that Ryan was making an effort to get back to normal. His color seemed better and despite his sleep, he seemed much more upbeat and energetic than usual.

Ryan and Seth were still playing video games when Sandy came in later.

"Hey guys," Sandy greeted them.

"Hey, Sandy," Ryan nodded, focused on the game.

"It's getting kind of late," Sandy said.

"Shit, it's after 12…" Seth realized.

"Sorry. We'll go to bed," Ryan yawned.

"You both have school tomorrow…" Sandy agreed.

They both left to go to their rooms, Sandy followed Ryan.

"Did you take your meds?"

"Yep. I have a schedule," Ryan said.

"Do you need anything?"

Ryan smiled. "No. I'm good. Thanks."

"Okay. We're right down the hall."

"I know," Ryan said, sitting down.

Sandy turned to leave.

"Thanks, Sandy. Today was a good day. I'll see you tomorrow."

Sandy was pleased and gave Ryan a smile as he left.

Ryan was asleep within minutes.