If I Die Young

“Damn, we need to get some meat on your bones, too,” Matt said, shaking his head at me as I stripped down to my bikini.

“What are you talking about, Matthew?” I asked, putting my clothes in my bag to keep them clean and dry. He gave me a weird look but didn’t say anymore.

“Come on, Soph, let’s go play some Frisbee,” Jimmy said, grabbing it and heading a few feet away.

“I’ll sit here with you if you don’t’ want to,” Brian said, giving me a look that I couldn’t exactly read.

“Why wouldn’t she?” Val asked, confused.

“I think Bri’s still recovering from his hangover,” I said, finally catching onto what he was thinking. “Over here, Jimmy!” I yelled to him, holding my hands up in the air.

After just a half hour, I was trying to catch my breath. “Here, drink this and sit for a minute,” Brian said softly, handing me a bottle of water.

“Thanks, Bri.” I knew he was just trying to help, but I could already see where this was heading. He would think that he was just helping, but it would soon become just hovering and annoying.

“Everything okay, Soph?” Jimmy asked, kneeling down next to me.

“Yeah, everything’s fine,” I said, giving him a smile. “Just a bit out of shape is all.”

Brian sighed, tucking a piece of hair behind my ear. “Why don’t we just go sit for a while? You can fill me in on what I’ve missed this last year.”

“I’m fine, Bri,” I whispered low enough for only him to hear. I knew that was his way of trying to be subtle and get me to sit down.

“But-”

“Hey, Soph, why don’t we go get some ice cream?” Jimmy suggested, helping me to stand straight again.

“Sure, sounds good,” I smiled waving to Brian as we walked off.

“So, anything interesting happen while we were gone?” He asked casually.

“Not really,” I said, shrugging.

He was quiet for a minute, which was unlike him. “I know you’re keeping something from us, Soph. And now that Brian’s in on it, acting the way he is, you’ve really got me worried.”

I leaned into his side as he wrapped his arm around my shoulders.” It wasn’t something I wanted to bring up last night, because we were all having so much fun. But, I promise to tell all of you, I guess once we get back since you and Zacky are already on my case.”

He laughed softly. “Yeah, I noticed how Zack’s been watching you. You know you’re just like a little sister to all of us, so he’s just worried about you.”

“I know, that’s why I’m not annoyed by it.”

After we got ice cream, and quickly ate it so it wouldn’t melt, we headed back to where everyone was. We noticed that they had all settled down and started getting ready for the bonfire. I hadn’t noticed time had gone by so fast.

Once the sun went down, I pulled on a hoodie considering the temperature had gone down a bit. I had thought about sniggling up with Brian or one of the guys, but they all had their girls. I didn’t want to intrude and be a bother. I didn’t want to be the ‘clingy little sister’ as once of Brian’s ex’s had so nicely put one time.

At one point Jimmy had discreetly nudged me, encouraging me to start explaining myself. I sighed, looking down and playing with the bottom of my sweatshirt.

“Hey, guys,” I said quietly, trying to get their attention. “I need to tell you all something.”

Brian looked at me and knew what I was about to say. “Are you sure, Soph?” He asked softly.

I gave him a weak smile and nodded. “Right after you guys left for tour, I found some news out.” I sighed softly, finally looking at all of them. “I was diagnosed with bone cancer.”

There were several gasps and shocked or worried faces around the circle. “Oh, Soph…” Matt muttered, shaking his head.

“But before you all go freaking out on me, everything’s okay now. I went through chemo and I’m no in remission. They caught it early on, so it wasn’t too hard of a fight. I go in for a regular check up to make sure everything’s going okay and that it hasn’t come back. I just figured I should explain things to you guys in case anything was said about it.”

Before anyone could say anything, I was being tackled backwards into the sand. “Why didn’t you tells us?! Woman, I swear! You can’t keep things like that from us, damnit! What if something happened to you?!” Jimmy kept babbling on, until Zacky was able to pry him off of me.

“You better not keep anything from us again,” Zacky said, pulling me into his arms. I got pretty much the same reaction from everyone else.

“You guys, I’m fine. I just wanted to let you know what was going on so there wasn’t any confusion or surprises.”

“So that’s the reason behind your spontaneous, new hair style,” Johnny said, running his fingers through my short hair.

I laughed softly. “Yes.” My long hair had never been cut short once in my life, so it really was a big shock for myself and everyone else at it’s new length. Brian’s nickname for me had always been Rapunzle because of it’s length, and it just caught no with the guys.

Telling everyone had lifted a great weight off my shoulders. Now I didn’t have to worry about walking on egg shells and hide this from them. But with telling them, there was no way to know if they were going to start acting like I was helpless or something.

Who knows? Maybe everything would be normal after all, like before they left. One could only hope…