Dreaming Up A Secret

I was suddenly worried, too. I flashed the phone at Aiden just long enough that he could read it.
What?
I quickly texted back.
I don't know, man!
His replay was almost immediate.
Do you need our help?
I asked, getting impatient, though I could tell what Tom was feeling right now.
No. I don't mean something now, I mean over the long term. She won't say though.
I felt a slight sense of relief wash over me. Ok, so something wasn't wrong with Alice now; But something was wrong with Alice.
Want me to ask?
I responded.
No! You can't tell her I said this, ok?
What the...? Now Tom was just confusing me.
Ok, but why not?
Cuz I... just don't!
Uh, ok...
Then Tom said nothing. I had absolutely no idea what was happening, I was worried about Alice, Tom was freaking out on me, and I could feel Aiden stiffen with stress beside me.
"Deep breaths." I told him, hoping to be helpful.
He swallowed in some air, then coughed, choking on it.
"Jesus, I just meant breath. Its not that hard! In," I demonstrated, making hand motions to go along with what I said, "and out."
He took another breath in and brought his knees up to his chest.
"Aiden," I pulled him onto my lap in an attempt to calm him down, "its fine, don't worry."
How many times had I heard him whisper that in the last few weeks? The last few days? Hours ever?
"I'm fine," he spoke with a shudder in his words.
"Said the boy with tears in his eyes," I responded sarcastically.
"I... just worried about Alice. And," he whispered this part, making it almost impossible for me to hear, "you."
"Aiden, whatever is wrong with Alice, we'll get through it together, and baby," I wrapped my fingers tenderly around his chin so he was looking up at me, "I'm fine. Don't ever worry about it. Nothing is going to go wrong."
Ok, so maybe that wasn't exactly the truth, and I shouldn't of said it unless I knew it would be true, but I just wanted to make him feel better; Besides, its not like I knew something was, in fact, going to go wrong, so it wasn't a lie... just, well, we'll call it an incorrect guess.
He sighed and starred up at me, half of him knowing I was wrong, the other half desperately clinging to hope I was right. I wish I could have made everything right for him, make nothing go wrong; But the course was already set... and we, well, we were fucked.
~ Time Skip!!!! ~
~ Aiden's Point Of View ~
We were laying back on the sleeping bags, the three am moon shinning down on us. Ronan was pressed up against my body for warmth... or for closeness, either way, I wasn't bothered by it. His eyes were twinkling in the moon light while he pressed his face closer against mine.
"Baby, I love you. No matter what happens I always will... remember that... ok?" His voice had an edge of intensity on it.
"Ya. Ok. I do too." I was a bit caught off by this random statement, but... ok.
~Alice's Point Of View~
Sitting at home on my bed alone, laptop on lap, I pulled up the internet. When my BlackL, which was Google without all the colors, just in black so it saved energy and was, therefore, better for the environment, home page came up, I typed in the word "cancer."
Several links popped up in the result box. With a slightly shaking hand I clicked onto the first one and started reading mortality rates for cancer patients. When I first heard it, I hadn't known what to think, but after a while, you just grow to accept it. Thinking "I might die today" is usually a terrifying though, but when you have cancer, I guess, for me at least, you just kinda get used to the idea. Of course, when you have cancer, the odds are always a lot higher then a normal persons.
I hadn't told Tom, Aiden, or Ronan yet, though I was currently trying to decide in what order to tell them and how to tell them. Usually, my mind is organized and my thoughts are easy to work through, like my room, but usually I don't have cancer. I don't know if Tom exactly noticed, but everything has been more out of place; My mind is messy, my room is messy, I'm quieter.
I'm considering telling Ronan first, since he always came to me first, but I don't want to make Tom feel like shit. I'm just hopping he can keep it to himself.
I glanced at the clock in the bottom right hand corner of the glowing screen, which is illuminating my room. It informs me that it is five in the morning and I have been up all night, which is bad. The doctor who I was referred to, a cancer specialist, conveniently named Dr. Smith, so I never have trouble remembering his name, told me I need to get lots of rest and fluids, just like any other time you are sick, except now, these things won't make me better.
I gripped my cell phone to my chest and resolved to tell Ronan tomorrow morning; I would call him as soon as I was sure he was up, make him promise not to tell anyone else, especially not Tom, and then tell him.
~ Ronan’s Point Of View ~
The rain started at a slow drizzle but quickly picked up into a downpour. Forgetting the sleeping bags, I shook Aiden awake and dragged his still not fully conscious figure towards the house. I struggled with the lock for a minute before getting the door open and tripping my way smoothly over the small ledge that led from my backyard into my room, just like it always had.
Rubbing his eyes sleepily, Aiden looked up at me, “what the heck?”
“It started raining,” I explained quickly, motioning to his slightly damp clothes for evidence.
“Oh,” he muttered before stumbling across the room and collapsing back on the bed tiredly.
My cell phone, still on vibrate, thankfully, so it wouldn’t wake Aiden, went off in my pocket where it had been sitting all night. I searched for a second before finding it in my right hand pocket, taking a second to be thankful that it was still working after being in the rain, and flipped it open, placing it to my ear. I walked up the stairs so I wouldn’t wake Aiden talked.
“Hello?” I tripped on the last step and fell on my face, managing to stay silent so whoever was on the other end wouldn’t hear me.
“Ronan. Its Alice,” she spoke quietly, her voice strained.
“Alice? Are you ok? What’s wrong?” I immediately forgot about the pain in my face and rose off the ground, sitting at the kitchen table.
“Can you… can you not tell anyone?” She pleaded into the phone.
“Ya! Sure! Tell me anything,” I said with growing concern.
“Ronan…” she hesitated.
“Go on,” I prompted her.
“I have cancer.”
My eyes filled with tears which I struggled to keep out of my voice.
“When did you find out?”
“It was finalized a few days ago.” She told me, her voice calm.
“Does anyone else know?” I asked, my voice quivering.
“Just my parents and the doctor…” her voice trailed off.
“Are you going to tell them?” I wondered aloud, as though it were my business.
“Eventually… I guess.” Her answer was reluctant.
I didn’t know what to say next; Parts of me wanted to ask if they knew if she was going to live yet, but the rest of me wanted to slap the first part of me for even thinking of asking about Alice dying.