"Look at this," Bryce said, as he examined his chemotherapy pills.

It came with a biohazard bag.

"If the pill breaks, I have to put it in the biohazard bag and dispose of it," Bryce informed me. "I can put this in my body, but if the pill breaks it's biohazardous waste."

"That's creepy," I agreed.

Bryce measured out his dose for tonight before looking over at me.

"It's time to beat this brain alien," I said, locking eyes with him.

"What do you think poison tastes like?"

"Only one way to find out."

Bryce took a deep breath, letting out slowly before dumping the pills into his mouth.

By the look on his face, I'm guessing that chemo doesn't taste too good.

"No," Bryce said, once he'd successfully swallowed the chemo. "Poison does not taste good."

"So you wouldn't recommend it to your friends?"

He handed me a chemo pill. "Want to try one?"

I rolled my eyes as he chuckled, putting it back into the pill container.

"So that's it," I said.

"That's it," he said. "I've officially waged a war against the cancer inside of me."

"Well then you better get some rest to ensure that you win that war."

"You know what's better than rest?"

"I think I already know the answer."

"Hairspray."

I rolled my eyes, looking over at his smiling face. "Only because you just swallowed poison."

"I'll take it."

~*~

"So day two," I said, as Bryce hopped into my car, passing me a smoothie. "How're you feeling?"

"It's not technically day two," he pointed out. "I haven't taken the day two dose yet."

"Well it's day two to me. How're you feeling?"

"Like I was feeling yesterday."

"So like a million bucks?"

He chuckled as I backed out of his driveway, sipping on my smoothie.

"Pretty sure I can take this chemo."

Well the doctor had warned him that he might not start feeling the effects until day four, if at all on the first dosage.

But I didn't want to bring him down.

"And I know what the doctor said," Bryce added. "But I'm just enjoying it for what it is now."

"What's in this smoothie?" I asked, as I took my second sip.

It didn't taste very good.

He just smiled at me.

"You put blueberry in here didn't you?"

"You can't make it without blueberry!"

"I don't like blueberry," I complained. "You had one job Bryce, one job."

He just laughed, reaching over and swiping my smoothie to take a sip of his own.

I'm pretty sure he just made the smoothie to drink it himself anyways.

~*~

I woke up to the pinging of my phone.

I reached over and hit my phone, as if that was going to make it stop.

And then it went off again.

My digital clock read 1:13 AM as I powered up my phone, the light blinding me for a moment.

I let out a groan, dropping my phone on my face.

This was not going as planned.

I sat up, rubbing my eyes and turning the brightness down on my phone as I unlocked it.

I had three texts from Bryce, all in the past four minutes.

You're probably asleep, but you should come over.

Seriously, can you come over?

I need you.

I slipped out of bed, throwing my hair up into a bun as I slipped my feet into a pair of flip-flops.

I slipped out my back door, my car keys in hand.

It took me less than 10 minutes to get to Bryce's house, the streets clear.

Surprisingly there weren't any people on the roads at 1:18 AM.

I parked my car in Bryce's driveway, making my way to the backdoor and lifting up the plastic turtle's shell, helping myself to the hidden house key.

Bryce wasn't in his bedroom, but his TV was on, Leave it to Beaver playing on a low volume.

Apparently they play old-time black and white TV shows at 1:21 AM.

Dawson came into Bryce's room. He came trotting over to me, shoving his nose into the palm of my hand.

I was scratching behind his ears when Bryce came stumbling in behind him.

"You didn't answer my text," he pointed out.

"What's the matter?" I asked, as he climbed into bed.

"Day five of chemo," he informed me, lying out across his bed. "That's the one."

My poor baby.

I climbed into bed next to him, resting his head in my lap and running my fingers through his hair.

Well, half-head of hair that is.

"Where's your mom?" I asked him.

"She had a conference in Boston. She'll be home next Tuesday."

Of course she did. Her son just started chemo and she couldn't be bothered to stick around.

We laid in Bryce's bed together for the remaining episode of Leave it to Beaver, intertwined in a comfortable silence.

And then as an episode of The Beverly Hillbillies started up, Bryce bolted out of his bedroom, his hand slapping his door frame as he headed towards the bathroom.

I went out to the kitchen, finding his anti-nausea pill which I'm sure he hadn't taken yet.

I pulled an ice pack out of the freezer, letting it sit out as a sliced a lemon in half.

These were the two things my mom always did for me when I was feeling nauseous, and they always seemed to take the edge off.

I went back to Bryce's room, setting the lemon on his nightstand so that he could smell it, but it wasn't overpowering.

I set his anti-nausea pill and a glass of water next to the lemon so he could take it when he was ready, which would be when he was sure he wouldn't throw it back up.

That wouldn't be too helpful.

Bryce eventually came back into his bedroom, I'm sure after he'd emptied his stomach and brushed his teeth.

He'd only thrown up in my presence once before, and that was when he had food poisoning. And he'd been quite embarrassed after.

Over two years together and he was still embarrassed over the little things.

"Come," I said, patting the bed next to me.

He lied back down, and I applied the cold compress to the back of his neck.

"It's just one of those things we'll have to get through," I said, rubbing his back.

He didn't answer.

"But we always do," I added. "That's the good news. We always do."

~*~

"Okay, I checked with the fucking store manager," Clayton informed Bryce, walking into his bedroom. "And these are organic smoothies."

"Great," Bryce muttered.

"Another long night?" Clayton asked him, placing two smoothies down on his nightstand.

"Not really anything I want to talk about with you."

"No need to be a dick. I did just bring you two huge smoothies. And spent 15 minutes making sure they were organic. You're welcome."

Bryce rolled his eyes, but thanked him before sipping on one of the smoothies.

Clayton made his way over to Dawson, reaching in his pocket and tossing him a treat.

"You just happen to carry around dog treats?" I asked him.

"I like to snack on them when I'm hungry," he deadpanned. "Don't be stupid. I came in through the front door and the treats are on the kitchen counter."

"I really don't want to hear the two of you right now," Bryce interrupted, before I could say anything in return. "Please."

I shot Clayton a glare, but I kept my mouth shut.

"Did you take your anti-barf pill?" Clayton asked him.

I couldn't help but chuckle.

"No, I thought it would be fun to lay back and watch how many times I puked instead," Bryce deadpanned. "What do you think?"

"Someone is snappy today." Clayton stood up, dusting off his pants. "I've got to get going, game time is in an hour. Want me to bring you dinner later?"

"I can manage."

"Okay I'll bring you dinner later then." Clayton saluted him before leaving, chuckling to himself.

"He's such an asshole," Bryce muttered.

"I've been telling you," I said, shooting him a teasing smile.

Bryce just sipped on his smoothie, closing his eyes.

If this is what I had to look forward to every round of chemo, it was going to be a long few months.

So what did you guys think about Bryce's start to the chemo? And then his downfall? How do you handle being naseous? Do you think Bryce's attitude at the end was justified?

Teaser: Bryce has a conversation with Sophie that she doesn't want to hear.