Only Time Will Tell

Laying in his bunk, not quite sure what had woken him, Matt reached for his phone to check on the time. He frowned when he realised it was only 7.30, knowing there was no way on earth he should even be awake. He rolled over, punching his pillow a little, and attempted to get some more sleep. No sooner had he shut his hazel eyes, they flew open again at the sound of someone moving around on the bus. Sighing deeply, knowing it must have been such a noise that had roused him from his slumber, he sat up, opening the curtain that closed his bunk off from prying eyes to see if he coud figure out just who was up.

Long limbs dangling infront of his face told him it wasn't Jimmy, as the drummer's legs hung over the edge of his own bed. Snoring a little further along let Matt know that Zacky was still sleeping heavily, and the nightly incoherent mumblings of Johnny made it a certainty it wasn't him up and about. That's when Matt spotted the open curtain on Brian's bunk. Grabbing the shorts he'd kicked off in the night to the end of his bunk, Matt eased his muscular frame out of bed, slipping the shorts on quickly and headed for the other end of the bus. 

Brian sat at the table where they usually ate, Zacky's laptop open in front of him as he sipped on a mug of coffee.

"You ok Gates?" Matt enquired, pouring himself some of the hot java Brian had recently made.

Brian looked up from where he sat, his face and eyes showing definite signs of fatigue.

"Have you even been to bed?" Matt asked, sitting opposite him. 

Brian shook his head, his eyes drifting back to the screen in front of him, his long fingers scrolling down on the keypad as he concentrated on something. Matt was well aware that there was something wrong with Janey, but all Brian had told them yesterday was that they would explain it once Janey joined them later today. However, Brian's silence on the matter was beginning to eat away at Matt, and he needed to know the bigger picture.

"Brian, what the fuck's going on with Janey?"

Brian set his mug down on the table, rubbing his eyes with the heels of his hands, in an attempt to void them of tiredness. 

"Matt, I said we'd tell you when she gets here," he reminded his friend.

"Gates, she's my damn cousin...and right now I'm worried as fuck about her. Is it serious?" Matt demanded.

Brian sighed, knowing that Matt wasn't going to give up til he had some answers.

"No, it's not serious, but it kinda puts a different spin on plans we had for the future," Brian began. "Janey has Premature Ovarian Failure..well, that's the diagnosis at the moment. She has to have some more tests in a month just to confirm it."

Brian saw confusion sweep across Matt's face, knowing that he had no clue what Brian was talking about. Brian sighed once more.

"Basically, her ovaries have stopped working, because of either a loss or dysfunction of the egg follicles," Brian explained. 

"What? Like an early menopause kind of thing?" Matt asked, not quite sure where Brian was going with this.

"No, apparently not. She can have months like she has been having for a while, then go back to normal...and then it can all just stop again. Well, that's the watered down version. But what it does mean is that the chances of us having a baby are greatly reduced....to virtually nothing. There's a small percentage of women who can still concieve, but our best options would be fertility treatment..with a donor egg, or adoption."

Brian pushed the laptop towards Matt, so he could read the page Brian had been looking at. Matt's eyes scaned the page, trying to take in every detail of what Brian and Janey could expect of their future. The other health complications it could bring like heart disease and osteporosis, the risk of diabetes. Matt looked back over at Brian.

"I'm so sorry dude. I know how much starting a family meant to you both. And she really had no idea? It's only just started?"

"Dr.Sommers seems to think that this could have been something that's been going on for years, and it's only Janey being on the pill that's kept it hidden. She even thinks it could be why we had a couple of scary months back when we were teenagers."

Matt shot Brian a look, bringing about a half hearted smirk from Brian.

"Dude, we were hormone enraged kids...did you honestly think we sat there and held hands every fucking night?" Brian chuckled.

Matt managed a smile, remembering that he and Val had been no better.

"So is this why you've been up all night?"

Brian nodded, getting up to pour some more coffee.

"Yeah, I just want to be fully aware of what's happening to her, and what our options are for the future. She's my wife, and I love her so fucking much...I don't want her to think she's alone in all this."

"She'd never be alone, we're all here for her, for you both," Matt told him sincerely.

"I know, but I just need her to know that this doesn't change anything between us, that I'm not going to look at her differently...that I will never love her any less."

"I think she already knows that," Matt assured him quietly. "What time does her flight get into JFK?"

"3..so I'll be running off before then to meet her, bring her straight to the venue," Brian informed him.

Matt finished his coffee and nodded.

"Why don't you try and get some sleep before then? I'll wake you later."

Brian smiled and let go of the yawn he'd been surpressing during the time they had been talking.

"Thanks dude...and Matt, thanks for listening, just..."

"I know...wait for you both to tell the others," Matt finished for him. 

Once Brian was out of view, Matt turned his attention back to the screen, clicking on the other pages Brian had opened up, realising then just how much his friend was determined not to let this come between him and the woman he loved.