My Only One

Vic's POV

"Gone as in?" Jaime said skeptically, a hint of panic in his words. Soon, though, his expression went to a bit more relieved one. "I'm so sorry. But, why are you telling me this?" He stopped again, listening with a slightly irritated look.

"What's he saying?" I practically growled, but only earning a glare from Jaime.

"I-Tony," He half-groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose. "I don't know what to tell you...I-I don't know."

I caught the word 'please' coming from the other line as Jaime's face shifted into something. Oh fuck me. Compassion.

"Jaime, what's he asking? Listen, don't give in to-"

"Okay, okay, fine. I'll be over soon, I guess."

I struggled not to bang my head against the wall.

With a small goodbye, Jaime sighed and ended the call, grabbing his jacket. "Duty calls."

"Jaime, what the fuck?" I asked, my question sounding more like a statement as he wrapped himself in the leather material, zipping it up.

"David ran away from home."

"The faggot he cheated on you w-"

"Vic," he warned, rolling his eyes. "He went to live with his dad and his dad's girlfriend about five or six hours away."

"So?" Raising an eyebrow, I tried to stifle the irritation bubbling inside of me, but to no avail.

"So," he mimicked, "Tony wants my help in trying to get him back home. Apparently a lot of people at school have been rude to him for what happened with the cheating-"

"He deserves it!"

"No!" Jaime fought back, crossing his arms. "No one deserves to feel unwanted, Vic."

The way he whispered the last part made me cringe as hurt filled his eyes. "I-"

"N-no. I'm sorry." He flashed a sad smile, shaking his head and sniffing awkwardly. "Anyway, all of Tony's friends have abandoned him and- don't you dare fucking interrupt me again- and well, he needs my help. He knows Dave is miserable, and he won't let Tony help, mostly because Tony was an ass to him as well. He pretty much feels like all of this is his fault, and now Tony sees that, and needless to say he's guilty..."

With that, Jaime trailed off, exhaling deeply from his long explanation. I only faked a small smile.

"Okay." I groaned, rubbing my temples half-heartedly. "Well, don't be gone too long. I have a surprise for you for when you come back so..." I bit my lip and scratched the back of my neck awkwardly, avoiding his gaze. "Be back soon."

"Will do." Jaime agreed, throwing his arms around me. "I'm excited to find out what your surprise is, by the way." He mumbled into my neck, his eyelashes brushing my cheek.

I ignored the stupid butterflies and chuckled, albeit rather pathetically. "Don't get too excited. It's not a strip tease or anything."

"Aw." He pulled away with a pout. "Now I'm not excited."

"That isn't good. Maybe after the surprise I'll do a strip tease, okay?"

"Deal." He replied jokingly, sticking out his tongue before prancing down the steps. It wasn't until I realized where he was actually headed did I start worrying, sending Jaime a small frown that he couldn't see.

"Be careful, yeah?"

He looked over his shoulder, raising a brow suspiciously. "Sure?"

"Good. I'll see you later then."

"Yeah." He answered, his tone confused as he made his way out the door, not turning back this time.

-

Kellin's POV

"Kellin!" Justin exclaimed as well as he could, his voice hoarse with excitement. I grinned back, trying to ignore how pale and sickly he looked, and ignoring his broken leg, stitched up forehead and arms. "I thought you weren't going to come back."

I frowned at his unusual sheepish attitude, taking a seat beside him in the nearest cold, stiff plastic chair. It was regrettably only one thing I hated about hospitals.

The biggest was the memories that came with being here.

I shuddered at the thought, shaking my head. "I slept in."

"I actually figured you would." He admitted with a shrug, flinching slightly from the pain.

"I'm sorry." I whispered, dragging a finger across the bedsheets. "I should've been here."

"Kell, I'm not dying. I'm okay. Everything is a-okay. There's no need to apologize. I'm just glad you're here now." He stopped, his words bizarre as if he was trying to convince himself more than me, smiling a bit sadly at me. "Did you ever get in touch with Vic?"

"I-I did."

"Where was he last night?"

I was a bit off-put by Justin's small talk, knowing he was avoiding talking about the shape he was in and what was up, but I answered regardless.

"Out. He left his phone at home."

"Oh." Justin offered, picking at the sheets a bit. "So, how'd you sleep?"

"Justin, just tell me what's going on. Tell me what they said and why you're being so secretive." I demanded, crossing my dainty arms and rolling my eyes, unsure of whether or not I wanted to know, but the waiting was making me uneasy.

He nibbled at his lip, looking at the door as if planning an escape and avoiding my eyes. "They found an epidural hematoma, Kellin. It's like a blood clot in the brain. I mean, I'll be fine but it has to be treated, fast."

"W-what? Treated how?"

"They don't know how big it is, so it's hard to say. They said its tiny, they know that much. It's just, I don't know how tiny. I don't know what it'll affect yet, or if it'll affect anything. If its really small, they'll prescribe me medication and it'll go away on its own. But if it's bigger, I'll have to get surgery because I don't want a brain tumor..."

I couldn't comprehend what I was hearing. This couldn't happen to Justin. He didn't deserve this.

"A blood clot in your fucking brain?" I repeated dumbly, looking at him with disbelieving eyes.

"Yep."

I gave him an incredulous stare for a moment, anger rising inside of me. "How...How are you so fucking calm?" I yelled, pulling at my hair in frustration as a familiar stinging rose to my eyes.

"Kellin, please-"

"Justin, this is... Justin! What the fuck? No! I-"

"Kellin, I'm scared, okay?" He screamed back at me, and that was enough to get me to stop.

Never once in the several years I'd known him did he ever say he was scared. Nothing scared Justin Hills. Nothing at all.

He was my solid rock that I went to when I was scared, never the other way around. Never did it have to be, for Justin was tougher than I was. Braver. Stronger.

But as he laid in front of me on that hospital bed, his eyes watering as he clutched the sheets for dear life, I saw it in his eyes, and it was sickeningly familiar.

That small flicker of fear, that just let you know a portion of how they felt. I knew it all too well, that look.

He was scared to death.

"Oh, Jay..." I whispered, my voice cracking, rushing over and embracing him in my arms as he let out a sob.

"Fuck, Kell," He mumbled into my shoulder. "I'm so scared. So, so scared. I don't want to have strokes, or memory loss, or another surgery. I don't want to take tons of m-medication and have this insane headache. I don't w-want to. And I'm scared to death; I really am."

"Hey," Giving him a small squeeze, I pulled back enough to look him in the eyes. "We'll get through this together, okay? I'll be here with you, every step of the way. I promise."

He smiled a bit, wiping at his eyes with a nod, putting back on his tough facade. "T-thank you."

"Don't thank me. I'm not doing anything heroic. It's quite the opposite; you're the one who's being strong."

Justin seemed to think that over for a bit, cracking a grin. "You're such a faggot, Bostwick."

Just like Justin to kill a sweet moment.

But regardless of the stress, anxiety, and fear radiating through the room, I had to laugh, and he had to laugh too. Because no matter what, that twinkle in his eyes when he smiled told me we'd make it through this.

And I knew he needed me, and the truth was, I needed him too.