I'm glad I met you

CHAPTER 3

I'm sitting by the fireplace, reading, when I hear someone pounding on the front door. It's pouring outside. Why would anyone be out right now?

"I got it." I say loudly and get up.

I go answer the door. "Can I help you?"

Kal's voice greets me. "Hey Nick. Can I come in? I'm soaked and it's realllly cold."

"What? Yeah of course! Come in." I drag him inside and close the door. "What the heck are you doing out in this weather?"

"I just really wanted to see you is all.. haha." I can hear his teeth chattering and the shiver in his voice.

I go and get him a towel and hand it to him. "Liar. No one would want to see me that bad."

"You're a lot better than hearing my parents fight.." he mutters underneath his breath.

I frown. "Stay here. I'm going to get you a change of clothes."

I rush to my room and dig through my closet, finding the biggest t-shirt and pair of sweats I have. I go to my parents' room and dig through Pa's dresser until I find a pair of underwear. I go back to Kal and hand him the clothes. I hope they fit.

"Bathroom is the first door on the right down the hallway or you can change here. No one else is home but Saoirse but she doesn't leave her room and I can't see you."

"I-I'll just change here. I don't want to track water everywhere."

I nod and a moment later I hear shuffling and the sound of wet clothes dropping on the floor.

"Where do I put the wet clothes?" He sounds a bit embarrassed.

"I'll take them." I hold out my hands.

I feel the heavy wetness of the clothes and take them to the laundry room. I put them in a basket and go back to him.

"Come on." I find his hand and grab it, pulling him over to the fireplace.

I sit and hear him sit as well. "Do you want a hug?" I ask.

"A hug would be nice." His voice cracks a little.

I scoot over to him and hug him. He buries his face in the crook of my neck. I stay there until he's ready. He finally lifts his head up and I hear a sniff.

"Sorry."

I sit beside him. "You don't have to be sorry. You said something about your parents arguing?"

"Yeah... They- They haven't been getting along. I think they might get a divorce and I feel like it's my fault.." His voice breaks and I hear heavy breaths. He's crying.

"Hey no... It's not your fault. It'll be ok." I hug him again.

"It is my fault. I'm the one who's sick. I'm stressing them out. All of it is my fault."

Sick? "What do you mean by sick?"

He sniffs. "I have what the doctors call Peaceful Deficiency Cancer or PDC. It's rare but I have it. And my parents can't afford the treatment so they're arguing."

"What's PDC?"

He sighs. "It's a cancer that affects my entire body. The cancerous cells pull nutrients and other stuff from the healthy cells causing them to be deficient of those things which causes different things to start shutting down. And it's peaceful because for a majority of it you can't feel anything and by the time you do, you're dead. If you catch it early then you can get rid of it. We caught it early but we can't afford the treatments which are crazy expensive."