Of Hair Loss & Heartthrobs

"Thank ya Treva." Cove nodded as he glanced up at his uncle, smiling softly. He was truly a changed man since getting with Leon.

Trever winked at him, though moving over to check on Leon. He had put in a nasal cannula to help him breath. The weaker he got the harder it would be so he made sure the boy would be comfortable. He had the drip machine going though now he thought it a better idea to simply go ahead and insert a Intravenous cannula. It would be easier to function with, being the IV had began to stop up, not quite pushing the medicines like it should be.
"Alright." He nodded, moving to get the Intravenous cannula. He had hoped the original one he had began with one work but the needle had been too small. Leon had very petite veins, and the blood flow was not going to well.
"Cove, warning you now." He flashed the Intravenous cannula, it was a very long, and very large needle, and it looked rather gruesome.
Leon said nothing, glancing down to his arm where Trever had already tried with a small one.
"Why is my body so dumb." He frowned, lightly poking the skin of his arm.

Cove nodded at Trever, squeezing Leon's hand.
"Ya well beh alright love... ah promise." He pecked Leon's temple as he waited.

Trever sterilized Leon's skin after removing the needle he had been using, examining the boy's arm closely.
"Uh...." He glanced back over to the table. He could try to numb this a little bit but that would mean Leon losing some precious chemo time.
"Leon, your gonna have to be strong okay?" Trever asked softly, his brows furrowed as Leon just looked away.
"Kay."
Trever found he actually disliked hurting Leon but he knew it needed to be done. He slowly began pressing the needle through Leon's skin and into his vein, trying to be swift but steady.
Leon gave a low yammer of distress, the vein's in his face visible as pain danced through him.

Cove grit his teeth, making sure to hold Leon's hand tight, leaning in to kiss his cheek.
"Love, et'll beh over soon..." He murmured softly.

Leon just shook his head, lightly yanking his arm as the acute feeling of the large needle continued.
"Sh*t." Trever growled softly the boy, one hand moving to tightly clench around Leon's upper arm. The boy squawked in pain, tears springing to his eyes as Trever held his arm, trying to get the needle in before Leon managed to make him mess it up.
Leon's large brown eyes locked on Trever's hand, the skin there already darkening angrily.
"P-Please let go." Leon's voice wavered, his chest quaking.
Trever ignore him, continuing on until the needle was securely in place before he finally released his hold.
The imprints of his fingers still adorning Leon's upper arm.
"Kid, if I were to tear into vein..."

"Treva..." Cove's voice held a warning. "Ya eva do that again and we'll have problems. Ah can have hem hold still far ya. Ya don't touch hem like that."

"Cove." Trever smiled back at him, leaning down into his face. "Dont threaten me. If I had not grabbed him I could have punctured a vein and the cancer would not matter because he would bleed out." The man stood straight again, moving back over to hook the boy back to the drip machine.
Leon sniffled softly, looking up at Trever.
"Im sorry..."

"Then ya tell meh ta grab hem. Ya don't touch hem." Cove responded, glaring at the other. "And don't ya apologize ta hem Leon." He shook his head.

"Cove," Trever took a deep breath, crossing his arms. "Dont push me when I have you fiance hooked up to machines of my disposal. It is very dangerous. And I did not have to to tell you to get him and let you fumble to do that. I needed it done then." Trever was getting irritated with his nephew, simply because he as tired. He had sat up for a long time simply trying to work out a regimen of treatment for the boy.
Leon took Cove's hand, holding it lightly.
"I am sorry though...." He leaned back, not having the strength to stay sitting up. "I shouldn't have moved...I didnt mean to..."

"Ya were hurting, yar fine Leon." Cove spoke firmly, his gaze still locked on Trever. "Ah don't fucking care, Trevar. Ya won't touch my fiance like tha' again unless ya want yar hand cut off."

"Really now?" Trever chuckled softly, leaning back against the table. "I dont think so, because then who would treat Leon? Doctors at a hospital? Ha. They would treat him for what he really is. A lost cause."
Leon's breath hitched, his eyes brows furrowing.
"Your wrong." He spoke softly, taking Cove's hand to hold it lightly. "Im not a lost cause....Cove loves me." He found a smile, because Cove loved him.
Only because Cove loved him.

"Ah can find someone ta do et who isn't a complete arse like yarself." Cove's eyes were blazing now. He was about to murder his uncle. A lost cause. Those words made his heart clench. He wanted to go running to his father like he had when he was younger, shouting that Trever had said something that hurt his feelings...

"And do you know what they would tell you Cove? They would tell you he was terminal." He did not want to scare Leon, but he might as well be upfront with Cove. Terminal.
Dead end.
Leon looked over to Cove curiously.
"What is that?" The boy was so innocent....
"I on the other hand, am still trying to make that untrue. Go ahead, find another doctor. Sign his death certificate."

"Treva, ya can beh an arse all ya want. Ya would beh pissed weth meh if ah touched Tonieh like that, so ya don't touch Leon like that. That's all ah want. Ah don't want hem anymore hurt than heh has ta beh." Cove sighed, stroking Leon's hair.

Trever sighed softly, nodding his head.
"Alright, im sorry." He then moved to sit down, watching Leon with a hum. He did worry for his nephew and how his fiance's dwindling health would effect him.
Weeks moved by, turning into a month. Leon had been on Chemo since the day he had his first treatment. He got it several times a week and it was already showing. The boy had lost weight, he did not simply eat food. He ate it and then promptly spit it back up. He slept a lot, but his body seemed to be taking to the chemo alright. Bruising was common on the boy, along with periods where he would randomly bleed from his nose or get where breathing was truly an effort.
Today, he had woken up on his and Cove's bed. He had since moved in with Cove and never left his side.
Opening his eyes, he slowly sat up, only to fall back on the bed with a groan.
And then he noticed it.
His light brown hair lay on the pillow in front of him in random strands.
"O-Oh...." he reached out, taking the hair in his hand with a wretched cry.

Cove's eyes shot open at his lover's distress. It took him a moment to really wake up and then notice what had upset Leon before his own face fell.
"Oh..." He repeated Leon's first reaction.

The boy clutched the hair to his chest, sniveling pathetically. He just shook his head, continuously as he cried to himself. It truly was heartbreaking to see.
"O-Oh no...."

"Love, oh, Leon..." Cove's heart broke to see the boy like that. He pulled Leon to him, holding him close. "Et's okay, love." He cooed softly.

The boy just curled into a fetal position, his body shuddering with the force of his anguish.
Now he would never be pretty. Not like he would have ever been pretty like Cove, but his hair and his eyes had always been the only things he liked about himself.
And now it was narrowed down to his eyes...
Cove was so pretty....So, so pretty...
And why would he stay with a balding, sickly, lost cause like Leon Johnson?
This was Leon's first taste of what it felt like to not really want to live anymore.
"O-Oh..." It was all he could say. "O-Oh no..."
No.
No.
No.

Cove felt himself nearly about to cry. His poor Leon...
"Love, shh..." He stroked Leon's back softly. "Et's going ta beh okay..."

"N-No..." Leon shook his head, his finger's entangled in his lost hair. "N-No....I-I don't want th-this....No..."
He didn't want to do this.
He did not want to feel any less suitable for Cove than he already did.
He just did not want this.
He did not want to be sick.
He did not want to be alive.

"Leon, et's jus some hair... yar beautiful, love.." Cove attempted to reassure the boy, his heart aching painfully.

"No!" Leon squealed softly, shaking his head hard enough to hurt his neck. "D-Dont you like to m-me!" He knew he was not beautiful.
He was not anything.
Just simply little Leon.
Sick.
Autistic.
Balding.
Leon.
"I-I don't wanna do this! I-I dont want ch-chemo anymore!"

"Ya are beautiful!" Cove insisted. "And love, ya can't stop tha chemo, that es helpin' ya..."