Denouement High: An Asoue AU

Twenty Four: Frozen Yogurt Date

Dusk's P.O.V.

I didn't think that the pressure of telling everyone my diagnosis would be suffocating, but the moment they mentioned that night at the hospital, everything inside me tensed up. "Dusk! Wait up!" A voice called out. "Go away!" I called back, thinking it was Quigley or Veronica. But when I turned around I saw that it wasn't either one of them, it was Winston. "Oh, Winston," I sighed, pressing my back against a random locker. "What happened in there?" he asked, the kind look in his eyes comforting me a little.

"I don't know, I wanted to them, I really did, but how am I supposed to tell them 'Hey guys, I have this disease that could make my kidneys fail at any moment?" I answered. I slowly slid onto the floor, and Winston took a seat next to me. "Maybe you should tell them somewhere a little more private, or maybe tell them a few at a time," He suggested. Maybe being in a cafeteria with other people made me tense up, maybe I should take his advice. "Maybe your right," I sniffled. A smile spread across his face, and he gently patted my shoulder.

"For once, I want to get my mind off of this Lupus. But I don't know what I can do," Winston continued to pat my shoulder reassuringly. "Well, there's this frozen yogurt shop in town. I go there sometimes to get my mind off things. Maybe it could help," he offered. It had been a while since I went out and had fun, so frozen yogurt sounded delicious to me. The only problem was that I didn't know how my father would take me hanging out with the new kid after school lightly. Especially considering he was still getting used to me being in a relationship with Quigley.

"Sounds delicious! I'll just have to check with my father," I answered. He nodded understandingly and gave me a small side hug. It hurt a little, but it was also comforting to know that I had another friend who could confide in. "Oh, I should probably take my meds," I said to myself, reaching into my backpack for the small bag at the front pocket. I took a pill from each bottle and swallowed them without hesitation. I never liked taking pills, but it was better than having to drink nasty cough syrup.

The bell rang, and the halls immediately became flooded with students. "I'll see you after school?" Winston called out. "Yeah, hopefully!" I called back to him before walking down the hall to next period.

*******

"I don't know, Dusk. You're already going through so much with this disease, I don't think that going out is the best idea," Father sighed, tapping his pen on the table. "Father, I know you're scared for me, and you have every reason to be, but I can handle myself, I promise," I said calmly, hoping that this would help. He looked up at me, and I smiled at him. He leaned back in his chair and began to silently ponder whether or not he should let me hang out with Winston. "I guess you can go. But, there better be no funny business between you and Winston," he sighed.

"I promise, nothing will happen. Besides, you know I'm still dating Quigley," I assured him. When the final bell rang, I walked out to the front and waited for Winston to come out. It was hard to find him in the pouring sea of students, but eventually, I found him and pulled him to the side. "Hey! So your dad's cool with you going to get frozen yogurt?" he asked. "Yeah, he was worried a little at first, but I managed to convince him," I answered, smiling.

Winston and I walked off school property, and I had no idea how we were going to get to this shop. "So, where is it exactly?" I asked. "It's a few blocks away from here, maybe three or four?" Hanging out with Winston outside of school and the hospital felt awkward, but after we sat down together inside the shop with our cups of froyo, it became less awkward. "I like some of your friends. That Veronica girl seems nice," He said before taking a bite from his cup.

"Yeah, she is nice. She's one of the best girl friends I have," I smiled at the thought of Veronica. "That Ava girl seems nice as well," Even though I had spent most of the time at the table staring at my food, trying to avoid conversation, I could see that Winston kept looking over at her, and something inside me was giving me the hunch that maybe he has a little crush on her.

"I only met Ava back in October, we don't talk to each other that much, but she did get me out of an embarrassing situation at a Halloween party," I chuckled. The door to the shop opened a couple of times and we both looked over to see some students from school were stopping by. "So, how was your first day at Denouement High?" I asked. "I liked it! I can't wait to get into the advanced medical study!" Winston grinned.

He looked up for a moment, and his face fell. "Uh oh," he whispered. "What is it?" He pointed behind me, and I turned around to see that Quigley was watching us, and from the look on his face, he was on the verge of tears. Before I could say anything to him, he ran out of the shop, and without second thoughts, I ran after him.