Thanksgiving; Despair & Delight

Thanksgiving dawned on the West Village therefore to find Mr and Mrs Harper asleep in the spare room of their son's home. They had arrived just before midnight; Mrs Harper had hugged her son long and hard the moment that she saw him, and had then gone on to do the same to her new son-in-law. Dante had already retired to bed, exhausted by a day which had been so tumultuous, both physically and mentally. He had ended it with the symbolic unpacking of his bag he had taken to school with him, under the watchful eye of his new parents. Mrs Rosenfeld had seen no reason not to give it back to him now that he had no reason to flee. She, like his two fathers, had every expectation that Dante would be her son-in-law one day, and had smiled as indulgently at them as he and Lachlan had said goodbye the previous day…

Elliott was the first up and about, heading downstairs quietly to start making his own breakfast; he had work that day after all, and had pointedly ignored Michelle when she had told him that he could take the day off. He had finished eating and was washing up his dishes at the sink, when he was suddenly embraced by two arms from behind, and a kiss was delivered to the back of his neck.

"Happy Thanksgiving, husband," came Beats voice in his ear, and Elliott smiled broadly.

"Right back at you, Nate… Yesterday was quite some day…"

"I know; the folks in the office will have plenty to say to me tomorrow when I get back, trust me. No regrets though. I have you, we have our boy, and we will be having a proper family Thanksgiving when you get home…"

"The first of many, I hope. I should be home for 3.40, so we could have dinner at around 4pm. I do feel a little bad about your sister though…"

"You shouldn't," said Beats sharply. "After all that I did for her, all that I gave up, she comes out with a homophobic rant on our wedding day, with a side order of racism about our boy… No, she deserves to be left high and dry. Her kids will be upset, and I do feel for them, and for mom, because it will hurt her; however, my sister will have to explain to them why their grandparents aren't about…"

Elliott nodded, and then smiled as he saw who was just walking in the doorway. "Good morning, son! Happy Thanksgiving!"

Dante came over, trying not to cry at being called son, and said, "Happy Thanksgiving guys! This year I have so much to be thankful for, and that is all down to you… I love you both so much…" Mrs Harper would arrive at the door just a few moments later, and would regret not having a camera with her to record what she saw in front of her; her son and his new family locked in a group hug…

She watched for a moment, then retreated quietly to go and wake her husband; she found him already awake and about to head downstairs himself. Elliott was just about to head out the door as they came into the hallway, and he greeted them both quickly before excusing himself to head out to work. They walked then into the kitchen, where Beats was making toast whilst Dante was setting the table. "Happy Thanksgiving!" Mrs Harper said as she walked in, hugging her son first, then moving over to Dante.

"Happy Thanksgiving, ma'am!" he replied to her, and was confused for a moment as she shook her head.

"Ma'am is so formal, and given all that took place yesterday, I think that you should start calling me grandma…"

Dante just stared at her for a moment, feeling his eyes growing dangerously moist, then looked over her shoulder at Beats; he was standing with his father, who had a big grin on his face. "Really? That would be… It's just I have never had a grandma, not one that cared. I mean, she was around, but I was always just 'him' or 'that boy' to her. They asked her if she would take me in when my mom kicked me out, but she just laughed, and said I was no relative of hers…"

"Well, as your grandpa, I want you to know that you are our family, son," said Mr Harper, walking over to join his wife. "You have proved yourself more than worthy of being a member of our family, in both deed and word. So it is either grandpa, or gramps like my other grandkids…"

Dante nodded, then uncertainly opened his arms to hug his new grandmother; her immediate reaction to open her own arms and pull him in close made him happier than all the events of the previous day had done…

In the house next door, the young men were also up and about early. Luke and Duncan had not headed home to Vermont this year, knowing that it would be the last time that they spent the holiday in the city. They had volunteered to help Cooper on his now annual trip to the homeless shelter to help with the serving of lunch, but they knew that they had to be at the Spotlight for a certain time for the big event of the day…

Colin and Edward would be joining them, as the centre also provided free health checks; Edward would thus spend his morning checking teeth, whilst his husband assisted the pharmacists with the dispensing of drugs; they too would be at the Spotlight in good time though.

As for Skylar, he had woken up in a cold sweat, his nerves getting the better of him. He secretly dreaded that Julia would say no, given that he was proposing to her very publicly. Her parents were cool, and had thankfully bonded with his own more or less at once, but that could all fall apart too in moments if someone said the wrong thing. On top of that, he was worried about all the stress that he was heaping onto Seth. He wasn't blind; he had seen that the number of pill bottles in his room had grown, and that the drugs also seemed to have changed. He had however not yielded to the temptation to invade his friend's privacy by going in to his room whilst he was out, taking a note of the names on the bottles, and asking Colin to check up on what they were all for. If Seth was really ill, he trusted that he would speak up. In any case, he seemed more excited by the proposal than he was; he was that kind of friend…

As for Seth himself, he was struggling that morning. He had only managed to get out of his bed at all with a mix of determination and sheer willpower. His left hand had begun to spasm violently almost as soon as he was on his feet, and the stairs down to the kitchen to get breakfast had seem as daunting as ascending Everest. He had to admit that all of the running around yesterday had left him exhausted, and the fact that today was going to be more of the same… He had no choice but to put on a brave face though; with the others all already headed out, he was the one that was going to have to calm Skylar's nerves; he knew his friend would be, as his normal self-confidence level seemed to plummet like a stone at moments like this.

For that reason, he had to hide just how unwell he felt; if Skylar saw even a hint of pain or weakness, he would quite probably call the whole day off, and certainly the proposal part. He was therefore glad that he was alone in the kitchen for the whole duration of his breakfast; it meant that he could use his right hand to pick up the plastic tumbler and bowl he now preferred; could pour his juice and cereal with the same hand, and then eat the latter with his left hand still spasming on his lap. He had then washed up one handed, before climbing the stairs once more to his room, there to swallow the cocktail of pills that were designed to work together to minimise the risk of him having another major attack. It was not an easy process, and he cursed his left hand as he took them all, one by one. He sighed, and wished he could just crawl back under the covers and sleep again, but that was not an option today. He had to be fine for the sake of his best friend…

As Seth had anticipated, Skylar was stressed beyond belief when he left his room, worried about his proposal speech, Julia's reaction to the fact her parents were in town, his own folks reaction to the proposal, and how on earth he would be able to concentrate enough to work his shift… Seth was glad in a way when Skylar had to leave to head to the Spotlight, and he found himself alone. He could just kick back for a while now until Julia arrived, at around 1.30pm; his mission was to have her at the diner just after 2pm, when her parents were also scheduled to arrive. He sat back in a comfortable chair, and decided to let his eyes close for 5 minutes…

He woke up and was startled to see the clock was now saying it was just after 1pm, given that it had been before 10am when he had decided to take a short nap. He jumped up, and was relived to discover that all evidence of the pain and spasms from earlier was gone. He went upstairs and changed into smarter clothes, tying his tie with no issue, thus being able to leave the pre-tied ones he kept for his bad days alone. He headed back down, and grabbed a glass of juice as he waited for Julia to arrive, mentally checking off that everything that he had been expected to do for the day had been done. Bang on 1.30pm there was a buzz at the door, and he headed to answer it, finding a smartly dressed Julia on the step.

"Happy Thanksgiving, Seth!" she said as she walked in and kissed his cheek. "I take it that they have you playing doorman?"

"Actually, there is only me here at the moment; all of the guys bar Skylar are down at the homeless shelter, helping out; and as for Skylar, well he had to go into work to cover for someone last minute…"

"Well that explains it. I did wonder why it was so quiet in here!"

"It also explains why you won't be able to smell any dinner cooking in the kitchen. It was down to Skylar to do, and as he wasn't going to be around, he spoke to Michelle, and so we will be having our Thanksgiving dinner at the Spotlight for simplicity. I know that it is not the same as homemade, but to be honest, it was that or frozen pizza…"

"The Spotlight will be fine; less chance of food poisoning there - don't tell Skylar I said that, but I was having nightmares about his first attempt at cooking a turkey. Of course, had I known, I could have come over earlier and helped you cook. So I guess there is little point in me taking my coat off… Are we ready to head over just now?" Seth nodded, and put on his own coat. Locking the door behind him, he offered his arm to Julia, which she accepted with a giggle, and they set off, Seth looking forward to his stroll in the cool November air…

As they crossed town, Julia made the small talk, tactfully avoiding any mention of his condition. For his part, Seth told her all about the last minute wedding that had taken place the day before. She was as shocked as everyone else by the speed of events, but could understand why they had done it.

"I definitely think that their lawyer knew exactly what the outcome was going to be beforehand; she didn't just have the papers ready, she had the ceremony booked! It is just as well she did it though… One of my patients was dying, and other than her two kids, the only family she had left was her brother. She had lost touch with her brother a decade or so before, and he didn't even know she had kids. When she passed, the folk from Children's services were at the door of the foster parents within an hour, taking those kids into a home, when they were still reeling from losing their mom. Fortunately, their uncle was traced, but only because the foster parents knew about the estranged brother, and had started to search for him themselves, or those kids might have just vanished into the system forever…"

Seth nodded, seeing how moved Julia was by the whole tale, then checked his watch. They were almost at the door of the Spotlight, and they were right on schedule. As they arrived, he held the door open for Julia, who bowed at him with a grin; at that moment, Seth felt a pain in his right arm, but no spasm. He kept his smile fixed, and as he walked in, looked up. He saw Skylar over by the booth in the far corner, the occupants hidden from view. He pointed him out to Julia, and they headed over, as if it was the other four housemates that would be sitting there…

The look on Julia's face when she saw who was sitting there was priceless; she squealed, then after a hug for Skylar, hugged her parents close. Somehow she managed to get her coat off. Skylar went to take it, but Seth shook his head, and grabbed it instead. He excused himself, and headed off to the staff cloakroom to hang her coat and his own up…

He headed past the counter and into the staff area unobserved by Elliott or any of the other staff, and found his way into the small cloakroom. He quickly spotted two empty hooks side by side next to the door. He carefully hung up Julia's coat, which looked quite expensive, then took his own off, and reached over to hang it next. As he hung it on the hook, stretching just a little, he suddenly felt a spasm in his right hand, the pain from which intensified quite rapidly. His coat fell to the floor as his left hand began to spasm too at the same pace, and then, to Seth's horror, he felt his feet begin to follow them. The pain spread rapidly up his arms and legs, his whole body now starting to scream at him in agony. His brain went into overdrive; he thought that his new drug cocktail had been designed specifically to prevent this… He knew what was coming next, it was an exact recreation of what had happened that evening back in the kitchen in the West Village. It couldn't be happening again, certainly not now, and definitely not in a public place. He willed his body to stop with all his might, pleading with it to stop for the sake of Skylar, but that was of course to no avail. He began to feel light headed, and he knew that he was done for. He had no choice other than to drop unceremoniously onto the floor, and as he lay there, tears springing from his eyes, Seth felt himself slip into the comforting blackness…

Such was the busy nature of the Spotlight Diner that day that no-one noticed that Seth was absent at once. Julia and Skylar were busy with their parents, and in the case of the latter, he still had a few tables to finish serving before he would officially be able to hang up his apron. The other staff were equally pre-occupied, some serving, some singing. Elliott was at the register, admittedly clock watching just a little, and as for Michelle, she was busy catching up with paperwork in her office…

It would be a good ten minutes after Seth passed out that Dani would walk into the diner, all smiles. She had spent a very enjoyable morning with her girlfriend, had eaten a nice lunch, and was still on a high over the fact that Elliott was married and had started the adoption process for Dante. She headed for the staff corridor, waving to Elliott as she walked through the door. The corridor was empty, and she made her way straight to the cloakroom door and pushed it. It only opened halfway, then stuck, which surprised her a little. She let it shut back, and then tried again, only for the same thing to occur. It was almost as if there was something behind the door. Taking off her bag and placing it on the floor, she squeezed herself through the gap; the sight that confronted her made her freeze up in horror, just for a moment…

Then she dropped to her knees, thanking God when she felt that he had a pulse, and a strong one at that. She was about to shout for help, hearing Skylar's voice near the door from the diner when Seth groaned. She turned to look at his face, and saw that he was staring at her with his eyes wide open. "Please, don't tell him… Not him…"

"Seth, you're not well. I need…"

"Someone else! Not him! Please… Elliott…"

Dani looked into Seth's eyes and realised that they were begging her to do as he asked, and were filling with tears. "Alright, I will get Elliott, but I don't know if I can stop Skylar just walking in here. I can try, but…"

"Hurry, please… I need to get back before he misses me…"

Dani nodded, then carefully squeezed her way back out, closing the door again, and walked down the corridor again, getting to the door to the customer area just as Skylar was about to enter. "Hey, Skylar, could you do me a big, big favour? I have a wedding gift for Elliott, and it is kind of personal, and so I need to give him it in private. Would you mind covering the register for a few minutes until I get out, and send Elliott to me in the cloakroom - tell him I have an emergency or something?"

Skylar, who had been about to go and change out of his uniform, his shift officially over looked at her, sighed, the said, "Okay, just this once…" with a grin.

"Thanks, you're the best!" Dani replied, and she watched as Skylar headed towards Elliott, before hurrying back to the cloakroom door.

Moments later she was joined there by Elliott. "Okay, so what is all this about a gift? There was no need…"

"Good, because I haven't got you one; we do however have a crisis that Skylar can't know about…"

Elliott looked at her, then at the way she was squeezing through the cloakroom door rather than opening it fully. He shook his head, and began to follow her, saying, "If the crisis is a stuck door to the cloakroom, then I don't see why he can't know about it. All it probably needs is a little… oh, heck!" he finished as he saw Seth lying prone on the floor. "Did you already call 911?"

"No, please don't! I am okay, I just need a hand getting up. It is like the last time, just a bit longer…" begged Seth.

"The last time?" gasped Dani. "In that case I really think…"

"NO! I will go and see Ollie, and tell him, but no ambulance, please. I can't ruin today for Skylar. He will never make his proposal if he knows this has happened. He will never marry her, never go to Ohio with her, and he will spend the rest of my life looking after me, and hurting himself in the process… Please, for him, just help me up…"

Seth began to sob, and Dani and Elliott looked at each other, torn. "Okay, a compromise," Elliott said. "We will help you up as long as you allow me to call Ollie right now and tell him. He is due to come and pick Michelle up soon enough anyway, and he can check you out in her office when he gets here. That's the deal; take it or leave it…"

"Okay, I will agree to that," said Seth quietly, "as long as we ensure Skylar doesn't find out…"

"He won't find out from either of us, will he Dani?" said Elliott, staring at his friend.

"He should, but no, he won't," she replied with a sigh. With that she and Elliott began to carefully move Seth, first into a sitting position on the floor, then up onto the bench on one side of the room.

"I am so sorry to have embroiled the two of you in this," said Seth as he sat quietly, glad the pain had all passed. "I am only doing it for Skylar's sake. He can't live his life for me. I won't let my condition ruin his life the way that it is destroying mine." He smiled, then got up on to his feet, watched anxiously by the two friends. Then he headed out for the restroom, to wash his face and check his appearance.

"I don't like this at all, Elliott," said Dani as soon as he was gone. "He is obviously a lot worse than he lets us all think health wise…"

"And he won't let anyone know how bad he really is until his best friend has a wife, and is back home in Ohio with her," said Elliott sadly in reply. "Is he doing the right thing? In some ways, yes, in others, no. How Skylar will take the deception when it all comes out we can't predict. However, it is his choice to make. I will be keeping a closer eye on him from now on though, here and back home. He is going to need a lot more help from all of us soon, whether he wants to admit that, or not…"

Seth managed to make his way to the restroom unobserved then locked the door behind him. Holding himself up on the wash basin, he looked at himself in the mirror. He looked tired, and he felt it; that and weak and frustrated… He began to cry again, this time from pure self pity. He wondered not for the first time what he had done to deserve all of this; he had lead a blameless life by and large, his one misdemeanour being the steroids, and in that he had not been given that much choice….

"It doesn't work like that you know; it has nothing to do with being good or bad, it is just the luck of the draw when the decisions are being made by those that are in charge of the whole madness that is the mortal plain…" Seth looked up again at the voice and saw Blaine standing behind him, reflected in the mirror, his own face fairly grim. "And before you say it, I know that that isn't fair, and that you don't deserve any of this; neither does Skylar for that matter. I didn't exactly deserve to die when I did either…"

"I am just so tired of the not knowing, Blaine. I am living from one day to the next, on tenterhooks, wondering if at any moment I will have an attack. I don't know how much longer I have before this condition becomes unmanageable on the drugs; I mean, the drugs I take now were supposed to prevent what happened just now from happening at all… If they can't stop it, then how long will it be until everyone knows? As it is, I have just burdened Elliott and Dani with knowledge they certainly didn't need, and I feel so guilty about that…"

"Trust me, they don't see it as a burden at all, because they care about you. Of course, Elliott will be popping in to see you a lot more frequently, and I know that you will hate that, but you have to face facts. If you want to ensure that Skylar heads off into the happily ever after with Julia, his soulmate, then you have to start putting an alternative support system in place. Elliott is a good guy…"

Seth sighed, and nodded. "I guess… I just worry what will happen if I have an attack like that in front of Skylar; how he will react to it…"

"You probably will have an attack like that one in front of him, whether you like it or not, before too long. I sincerely hope not, for both of your sakes, but this is the second one in a few months. You need to face up to the future, and start working out how you will cope. Maybe Ollie can find you someone to talk to, some support organisations in the city, people who know what it is that you are going through. Maybe Skylar should be involved in those meetings too…"

"I don't know about that Blaine…"

"At least think about it, for me. Anyway, enough of all of this. Skylar will be starting to think that you have deserted him soon; get your face washed and your hair fixed. Sit down and enjoy your dinner, and when it comes to the singing later, sit down for that too. Lie and say that you've hurt your ankle; it is that, or coming clean with the truth…"

"I've twisted my ankle," said Seth immediately. "And thanks, Blaine; I needed a pep talk. If you hadn't come along, I might just have sat in here and cried all night, and I have a job to do."

Blaine smiled, and replied, "It's no problem; I mean, I am not quite as authoritative as Wes, but I am good enough…" Seth laughed, then as the angel vanished again, he began to sort himself out…

As Blaine had surmised, Skylar was indeed starting to worry about where his best friend was by the time that Seth limped up convincingly to the table. As he had observed him approach, Skylar had asked "Where on earth have you been?" but then stopped as he saw the way his friend was dragging one foot.

Before he could put two and two together, and make an unfortunate four, Seth said, "I was reaching up to hang up my coat, and it wasn't the best angle, and my foot moved, and I think I have twisted my ankle somehow. Dani found me when she came in, and put some ice on it to reduce the swelling. She wanted to get you, but I told her not to bother you…"

"…which was why she needed Elliott. It all makes sense now," said Skylar.

"Yeah, I am afraid I can be quite the klutz at times," said Seth with a grin. "So, have all of you ordered, because I am starving!"

As those around the table laughed, Elliott walked back over to the counter. He had hidden just around the corner, out of Skylar's sight, the moment that he had seen Seth limping across the room. He had heard everything as a result, and could now whisper to Dani, "He has told them he twisted his ankle, and you put ice on it, and fetched me…"

"Thanks for that; it saves me potentially putting my foot in it," she replied. "Right, go home! Your mother-in-law is expecting you for Thanksgiving dinner for the first time, and you don't want to anger her by being late! In-laws are one of the disadvantages of the married state."

"If Mr and Mrs Harper are the disadvantage, then I can certainly live with it; besides, she loves me. I will see you tomorrow!" With that, Elliott was gone, leaving Dani to laugh as she saw him look at his watch as he stepped out, and then break into a jog rather than his usual stroll…

She would serve the table in the corner herself, bringing out the whole small turkey that was the Spotlight's trademark, much to the delight of the two sets of parents, and indeed Julia. Her father happily passed the carving duties to Mr Willetts, only to find a small ham placed in front of him by Dani, which made Julia chuckle. "I can see why this place is so popular today," Mrs Willetts remarked to Julia's mother. "It is just like being at home, but without any of the effort…"

The generous meal was enjoyed, as where the selection of desserts that followed. As they were being cleared away, Colin and Edward suddenly appeared with the most impeccable of timing, and stood behind Seth. Julia had just been remarking how Skylar had made her Thanksgiving so special this year by inviting her parents to join them in New York when they did; with no warning, they, along with Seth and Skylar himself, burst into her favourite love song. As the diner went quiet, she blushed, but smiled happily. As they finished, she was about to applaud when Skylar walked over to her, and sank down onto one knee in front of her. He said much, but all she heard and recalled were the words, "Julia, will you marry me?" Her positive reply was immediate, and before she knew what was happening, he was slipping a ring onto her finger as around them everyone was cheering and applauding…

Seth was more delighted than everyone else to see his best friend engaged, but it did not mean that he could relax about his condition. He knew that he still had to hide just how badly his condition had deteriorated, at least until his friend was married and safely back in Ohio. He would do that whatever the personal cost to himself. He was content to sit there as around him the room filled with the sound of happy voices, of congratulations from friend and stranger alike. Eventually though he saw Dani making her way towards him; she informed him that Ollie had just arrived, and as Michelle had told him all about his twisted ankle, he wanted to check it over in case it was something more serious. With a degree of reluctance Seth got up out of his seat and followed her, remembering to limp on his supposedly sore ankle as he crossed the room…

When he reached Michelle's office, she was of course absent, and instead Ollie was sitting there alone, his face marked with a degree of worry. "I have it on good authority that you had another severe attack today, in the cloakroom," he began. "From what we can work out, you were out of it for at least 10 minutes. I am also told that you had to be helped back up from the prone position in which you were found."

Seth sighed, but was glad Dani had obviously told him all she knew first. "I won't deny that, it is true. Like the last time, it began as one powerful spasm that seemed to then spread through my body until the pain made it impossible to remain upright, and indeed, to retain consciousness. Afterwards my limbs felt weak and jello like, and that is why I asked for assistance in getting up. Once I was up, I felt perfectly okay in a matter of seconds… So, to be brutally frank, the new pills are not quite the effective cure that we had both hoped…"

Ollie sighed, and nodded. "I am reluctant to alter the cocktail, or to increase the strength of the doses any further; to do so might render you even less able to undertake a 'normal' life. If I increased the dosage, then I would need to advise you to give up working altogether, and you would get tired more quickly; the stairs up to your front door from the street would leave you exhausted. Those things would be a clear indicator of your deteriorating health to everyone around you, and I know you wish to avoid that. I would suggest that you need to slow down, to take more rest. Avoid things that could cause you stress. If you do not have another of these episodes in the near future, then we carry on as we are. If you do, then we will need to review things, you will have to give up work, and I am afraid, you will need to come clean to Skylar, much as I know you wish to avoid that at all costs."

Seth nodded, and inside his head he was already planning out his new lifestyle; he could cut down the number of hours he worked for a start. He also needed to speak to Julia privately. If he told her that he thought a long engagement would be a very bad thing for him, her and Skylar, she would ask no awkward questions. She would just try and get the wedding date as soon as she could…