Mature

Angela walked throughout the seemingly small stadium in search for Hillari. She could only comfort her the best she could and pray she wouldn't be angry with her. Angela knew how Hillari could possibly feel at a time like this. Her mother was a local singer in her hometown. When she was diagnosed with lung cancer, she refused to give in.

It was not taking her medication that killed her faster. Angela knew for a fact that Jimmy was slowly following in her mother's footsteps, so she could only help out the best she could. She walked up to the back stage doors when she noticed one cracked open and stepped out. Hillari was sitting on the concrete, leaning up against the wall with a cigarette in hand.

Her face was slightly pink from the few tears she happened to let fall and she seemed very angry. Angela stepped out slowly, catching her attention. Hillari only gave her a small smile before taking a pull on her half smoked cigarette. Angela stepped up and asked, "Mind if I sit?"

"I'm sure you will anyway."Her voice held no emotion, but Angela couldn't blame her.

She sat down beside Hillari, who pushed her pack in her direction.

"Want a smoke?"She asked.

"I'm good. I don't smoke."She smiled.

They sat there in silence, unsure of what to say. Angela wanted to tell her Jimmy would be fine, but she couldn't promise anything. She was no doctor, but she knew when a disease was taking over someone's life. Angela wiped a heavy hand down her face before saying, "How you feeling?"

"Pissed. A little upset."She shrugged."I don't know why he couldn't tell me."

"You're his daughter."Angela smiled softly."He doesn't want to scare you."

"It wont scare me. It'll make me a little nervous, yeah, but I want to know. Maybe I could do something to help him. Sometimes I think he doesn't want the time of day with me."Hillari frowned.

"Well, I don't know if this makes you feel any better, but I know how you feel."Hillari instantly gave a sarcastic laugh before turning in her direction.

"You know how I feel?"She scoffed."Right. I'm not meaning to be a bitch, but you understand."

"Trust me sweetheart,"Angela sighed."I do know. My mom had cancer. Her world was singing. She didn't do like she was supposed to and she suffered the consiquences for it."

Hillari's shoulders slumped before she flicked her cigarette away. Her eyes slightly welled in tears before she began wiping at her eyes. Angela didn't know how to comfort a girl she barely knew. If this was one of her close friends, she would have no problem wrapping an arm around her and letting her cry her eyes out. She simply put a hand on her back and rubbed it.

"It's okay, Hillari. I can tell he loves you."She said sweetly."He just doesn't want to give up his habit."

"I don't want him to get really sick, Angela."Hillari sniffled."I don't want anything bad happening to him. He's my father. I call him Jimmy, but that doesn't make a difference to me. He's my biological father and he scares me sometimes. I think he's hiding more than he's telling."

"And that could very well be true. You have to understand, Hillari; he's making sure you don't get scared. He doesn't want to see you get hurt."Angela frowned."My mom did the same thing to me. I found out the hard way. It sucked, but I dealt with it. I don't think Jimmy will let you find out like I did. He knows what it did to me. He's apprehensive, that's all."

Hillari let out a quiet sigh before shaking her head. She wiped away her tears and chuckled lightly. She turned toward Angela and gave her a warm smile.

"Thanks, Angela."She said quietly."I'm kind of happy I wasn't talking to one of the guys this time. Makes things easier when you have another woman with you."

"Yeah, these guys are really dumb sometimes. You can't blame them though. It's genetics."She laughed.

"Yeah, that's true."Hillari giggled.

Angela smiled warmly as Hillari started to come back from her depressed mood. She was happy to know she was able to help, rather than make her angry for trying. Angela didn't know much about Hillari, but she knew enough to know how it felt to have things hidden from you. As shy as she could be, she was willing to give the shirt off her back to someone in need.

She gasped suddenly when Hillari pulled her into a hug. She sat frozen, but after a few moments, she hugged her back. She rubbed her hand between her shoulder blades and said, "Don't worry about it honey. We'll take care of him."

Hillari pulled away and gave her another smile.

"I'm trusting you not to say anything,"She began suddenly.

"And I wont."She replied.

"I'm going to stop school until next semester. I want to make sure Jimmy will be okay. I'm going to tell Matt, because he's the one who can actually keep a secret and ask his permission to stay on tour longer. Hell, I'll bunk on the couch if we run out of room."Hillari chuckled.

"I'm sure he wont mind, Hillari."Angela stood from her seat and bent backwards, cracking her back.

"You know,"Angela stuck out her hand and helped Hillari to her feet."I wasn't sure about you when we first met."

Angela chuckled and stated, "I understand. New chick. I've gone through that when we were in High School. Trust me when I say the guys learned their lesson when they didn't listen to my advice on relationships. They picked the sluttiest girls."

And it was true. Johnny must have been heart broken half a dozen times. Zacky was right behind him. Brian never cared for long relationships, so he wasn't worth saving. It was Matt who was wrapped around one person's finger; Angela's. She blushed slightly when she thought back on their old relationship. She was pulled from her thoughts when Hillari continued.

"Shadow's drools over you."She chuckled."I thought you were going to stop him from taking care of Jimmy."

"I'm not stopping anyone, sweetheart. If anything I'll kick them back into their habit."She smiled."Let's go back to the bus, alright? Cool off some steam. Jimmy will be okay. He's just worried is all."

They started toward the door and made the short walk back to the bus. Angela watched as Hillari went toward the steps, but stopped for a moment. Hillari turned back to Angela and gave her a small smile.

"Thankyou, Angela."She said sweetly.

"Anytime, honey."She waved her off and let a large smile crawl across her lips.

She had gotten into Hillari so easily. She wasn't sure if it was the woman in her or what, but she had a feeling Hillari would be leaning on her a lot through the tour. Angela was worried for Jimmy's sake as well, but she wasn't going to worry Hillari further by telling her that. She was as scared as she was. What if his disease takes a sudden turn? She could only hope it doesn't.