Status: rewriting and will start posting again soon!
If I Die Young
three
The week passed quite smoothly for me. The only bad things I had to deal with were some symptoms; shortness of breath, wheezing, coughing and frequent pain in my chest.
I woke up on Wednesday afternoon to someone shaking my shoulder. Groaning, shutting my eyes tighter because whoever was trying to wake me up turned on the light, I pulled the covers over my head and said "five more minutes."
"Are you sure about that?"
My icy blue eyes widened. I knew that voice.
It was my dad, whom I hadn't seen since he left to go to California for three weeks for a business trip. He had no way of getting out of it when my mum and I called to give him the news of the cancer returning, and he wanted so badly to fly back home to spend time with his only daughter in this time, but couldn't.
"Dad?!" I shot up from underneath the covers, causing him to laugh. I sat against the headboard. "What are you doing here? I thought you weren't supposed to be here until Friday!"
"I booked the earliest flight home," he explained simply with a shrug of his shoulders. "Now, it's almost noon and your mum said you've slept all morning and haven't taken your pills yet."
I sighed and ran a hand through my hair. "I don't see why I have to take them," I grabbed the glass of orange juice I saw sitting on the bedside table and took the pill from his hand. "I'm not going to get better anyway."
"Fallon…"
"I'm just telling the truth, dad."
He sighed. "You need to get dressed. I'm taking you to Jay's house so you can pick up Louis with her. And then when you get back from the airport we're having them over along with your Aunt Lauren who's decided to grace us with her presence this evening." With the look on my dad's face, I knew we were both thinking the same thing: oh joy, spending time with Aunt Lauren. This should be fun. My aunt was… a special woman, to say the least. She was my mum's older sister and it took a while (read: long time) for people to get used to her wild personality and comments.
"Alright," I took one last sip to finish off the orange juice and handed it to my dad. "I'm going to take a shower because I feel all dirty. I'll be down in an hour."
I chose a simple outfit for the simple summer day I had ahead of me; a white tank top, teal shorts and brown flat sandals. I went downstairs after my shower and met with my dad who was sipping on a cup of tea.
"Ready?" He asked. I nodded.
On the ride to Jay's house, the both of us did what we usually did; listen to the radio at a high volume and sing alone, not caring if we didn't know the words or how bad our voices were. All we cared about was how much fun we were having together since spending one-on-one time didn't happen very often due to his job making him travel constantly.
When the car pulled into the driveway, Jay was already waiting with open arms at the front door. I ran into them, the woman was basically a second mother to me with how much time I spent at the Tomlinson household throughout my life.
"Oh, Fallon," Jay sighed, lightly squeezing me. I knew what was coming with the somber tone of Jay's voice. "Lou told me everything. I'm absolutely gutted."
"It's fine, Jay," I replied, pulling away with a small smile. "I'll be fine. So, should we go, yeah?" I changed the subject quickly, not really wanting another day of talking about cancer. Especially today of all days; when my best friend was coming back and I didn't want cancer talk to put a damper on my good mood.
&&
The airport wasn't like the other experiences I've had alongside the boys, and I've had plenty of them to know how hectic they were; the screams, the massive amounts of fans wanting to meet the boys after waiting for God knows how long, and the cameras and flashing lights. Louis' return home for however long he was staying—no one was sure, he never stated an exact amount of time—wasn't announced and was a secret so no large crowds of fans were around patiently expecting his arrival. And for that, Jay and I were beyond thankful.
We were able to leave the airport after getting his bags in a matter of 20 minutes and were back on the road, making their way to my house for the lunch my parents were probably currently preparing at this very moment. On the drive, we sat in the back seat, talking about the tour—leaving the elephant in the room, my cancer returning, out of conversation.
"What was your favorite state?" I asked.
"I quite enjoyed New York. You'll have to come see it for yourself someday," Louis replied, and something clicked that he may have been hinting at something, but I pushed that feeling aside.
"Maybe one day. Anyway, tell me more! What stuff did you and the lads do? I wanna know everything."
As he continued telling me about the adventures he and the boys were able to do, I couldn't help my smile from faltering. It struck me during him talking, that at my young age of twenty, I haven't been able to do anything like he has and never would because the cancer would take my life away in only God knows how long.
And that was a scary thought.
"Fal, you alright?"
I nodded, plastering on a fake smile. "I'm great."
"Enough talk about me, though. Let's just enjoy each other's company until we get to your house, yeah?"
&&
As soon as I stepped foot into my house, arms were thrown around my body as I was engulfed in such a tight hug that it could only have been from my aunt. I returned the hug, thought not as forcefully, and pulled away, sending Louis a 'help me please' that he chuckled at. I knew he knew of my aunt because of the many times I'd go on long rants about her and how she drove me bloody insane to him, so I had a feeling he didn't want anything to do with the mad woman who was my aunt, unfortunately.
Having a light bulb go off in my head, I pulled away and smirked. "Aunt Lauren, have you met my mate Louis?"
He glared at me but I just smirked. I was loving this already.
"Lovely to meet you, Louis! Oh, wait a minute! Are you in that boyband, One Way or something? And you have that song that goes 'You don't know, oh oh. You don't know you're beautiful!'"
I laughed loudly. A hearty laugh that had me clutching my stomach and left me coughing to catch my breath. "One Direction, Aunt Lauren, but yeah."
"My bad," she apologized before leaving to go see her sister who was still in the kitchen.
Louis walked over to me and crossed his arms over his chest. I was still trying to recover from laughing. "That was not funny, Fal."
"Yeah right! It was hilarious, actually." After regaining normal breathing and grabbing Louis' hand to drag him into the kitchen, she saw her mum stirring something in a pot. "Mum! Lou and Jay are here!"
"Hello, sweetheart. Glad to have you back home. Fallon's been talking about how excited she is to have you back for a bit." I blushed, wishing my mum hadn't just said that. "You two can go upstairs. I got a late start on cooking so we have a little to wait."
"Anything to escape Aunt Lauren," I mumbled as Louis and I went up the stairs and into my bedroom. I instantly mentally cursed herself for not cleaning it like I wanted to. It was a mess; dirty clothes strewn all over the floor, my bed was unmade, water bottles were everywhere, empty and not, etc. "Sorry for the mess."
"It's fine," Louis replied, sitting down my her bed. "Is what your mum said true? That you were excited to have me back?"
"Of course, you nutter! I missed you, Lou."
"Aw, I missed you as well, Fal." He replied, wrapping me in a side hug.
"Hey, I have an idea. You know about those vlog things I do? You wanna be in one?" Lou nodded and I laughed. "Come on then."
I turned on the webcam and waited for the little square blue light before speaking. "This is my best friend in the entire world, Louis William Tomlinson," I said, wrapping an arm around him. "I figured I should finally document this fine gentleman before he's back off to tour the world and leaving me behind once again since I'm basically forbidden to leave the country now that we've got a clear diagnosis, the rules from my lovely mum."
"She said that?" Louis chimed in, facing me. I sheepishly nodded, a little ashamed that I was 20 and had to abide by my parents rules because of this disease. "Well that screws up things."
My eyebrows furrowed, a V shape forming between my brows. "What are you on about, Lou?"
"The lads and I were going to surprise you and fly you out to New York to watch us perform at Madison Square Garden next month, but with this new rule… we can't exactly do it now."
"You were really going to do that?" Tears brimmed my eyes and I felt a little silly, but when I saw Louis' genuine smile I didn't feel so silly anymore. "That's sweet, Lou!"
"Thanks. It was all my idea, even if the lads say differently. And that's why I've just decided we're bringing you anyway. Even if your overprotective mum says no. You're going to love it."
I didn't even think before the words, "Yeah, if I'm still alive then," passed my lips.
I woke up on Wednesday afternoon to someone shaking my shoulder. Groaning, shutting my eyes tighter because whoever was trying to wake me up turned on the light, I pulled the covers over my head and said "five more minutes."
"Are you sure about that?"
My icy blue eyes widened. I knew that voice.
It was my dad, whom I hadn't seen since he left to go to California for three weeks for a business trip. He had no way of getting out of it when my mum and I called to give him the news of the cancer returning, and he wanted so badly to fly back home to spend time with his only daughter in this time, but couldn't.
"Dad?!" I shot up from underneath the covers, causing him to laugh. I sat against the headboard. "What are you doing here? I thought you weren't supposed to be here until Friday!"
"I booked the earliest flight home," he explained simply with a shrug of his shoulders. "Now, it's almost noon and your mum said you've slept all morning and haven't taken your pills yet."
I sighed and ran a hand through my hair. "I don't see why I have to take them," I grabbed the glass of orange juice I saw sitting on the bedside table and took the pill from his hand. "I'm not going to get better anyway."
"Fallon…"
"I'm just telling the truth, dad."
He sighed. "You need to get dressed. I'm taking you to Jay's house so you can pick up Louis with her. And then when you get back from the airport we're having them over along with your Aunt Lauren who's decided to grace us with her presence this evening." With the look on my dad's face, I knew we were both thinking the same thing: oh joy, spending time with Aunt Lauren. This should be fun. My aunt was… a special woman, to say the least. She was my mum's older sister and it took a while (read: long time) for people to get used to her wild personality and comments.
"Alright," I took one last sip to finish off the orange juice and handed it to my dad. "I'm going to take a shower because I feel all dirty. I'll be down in an hour."
I chose a simple outfit for the simple summer day I had ahead of me; a white tank top, teal shorts and brown flat sandals. I went downstairs after my shower and met with my dad who was sipping on a cup of tea.
"Ready?" He asked. I nodded.
On the ride to Jay's house, the both of us did what we usually did; listen to the radio at a high volume and sing alone, not caring if we didn't know the words or how bad our voices were. All we cared about was how much fun we were having together since spending one-on-one time didn't happen very often due to his job making him travel constantly.
When the car pulled into the driveway, Jay was already waiting with open arms at the front door. I ran into them, the woman was basically a second mother to me with how much time I spent at the Tomlinson household throughout my life.
"Oh, Fallon," Jay sighed, lightly squeezing me. I knew what was coming with the somber tone of Jay's voice. "Lou told me everything. I'm absolutely gutted."
"It's fine, Jay," I replied, pulling away with a small smile. "I'll be fine. So, should we go, yeah?" I changed the subject quickly, not really wanting another day of talking about cancer. Especially today of all days; when my best friend was coming back and I didn't want cancer talk to put a damper on my good mood.
&&
The airport wasn't like the other experiences I've had alongside the boys, and I've had plenty of them to know how hectic they were; the screams, the massive amounts of fans wanting to meet the boys after waiting for God knows how long, and the cameras and flashing lights. Louis' return home for however long he was staying—no one was sure, he never stated an exact amount of time—wasn't announced and was a secret so no large crowds of fans were around patiently expecting his arrival. And for that, Jay and I were beyond thankful.
We were able to leave the airport after getting his bags in a matter of 20 minutes and were back on the road, making their way to my house for the lunch my parents were probably currently preparing at this very moment. On the drive, we sat in the back seat, talking about the tour—leaving the elephant in the room, my cancer returning, out of conversation.
"What was your favorite state?" I asked.
"I quite enjoyed New York. You'll have to come see it for yourself someday," Louis replied, and something clicked that he may have been hinting at something, but I pushed that feeling aside.
"Maybe one day. Anyway, tell me more! What stuff did you and the lads do? I wanna know everything."
As he continued telling me about the adventures he and the boys were able to do, I couldn't help my smile from faltering. It struck me during him talking, that at my young age of twenty, I haven't been able to do anything like he has and never would because the cancer would take my life away in only God knows how long.
And that was a scary thought.
"Fal, you alright?"
I nodded, plastering on a fake smile. "I'm great."
"Enough talk about me, though. Let's just enjoy each other's company until we get to your house, yeah?"
&&
As soon as I stepped foot into my house, arms were thrown around my body as I was engulfed in such a tight hug that it could only have been from my aunt. I returned the hug, thought not as forcefully, and pulled away, sending Louis a 'help me please' that he chuckled at. I knew he knew of my aunt because of the many times I'd go on long rants about her and how she drove me bloody insane to him, so I had a feeling he didn't want anything to do with the mad woman who was my aunt, unfortunately.
Having a light bulb go off in my head, I pulled away and smirked. "Aunt Lauren, have you met my mate Louis?"
He glared at me but I just smirked. I was loving this already.
"Lovely to meet you, Louis! Oh, wait a minute! Are you in that boyband, One Way or something? And you have that song that goes 'You don't know, oh oh. You don't know you're beautiful!'"
I laughed loudly. A hearty laugh that had me clutching my stomach and left me coughing to catch my breath. "One Direction, Aunt Lauren, but yeah."
"My bad," she apologized before leaving to go see her sister who was still in the kitchen.
Louis walked over to me and crossed his arms over his chest. I was still trying to recover from laughing. "That was not funny, Fal."
"Yeah right! It was hilarious, actually." After regaining normal breathing and grabbing Louis' hand to drag him into the kitchen, she saw her mum stirring something in a pot. "Mum! Lou and Jay are here!"
"Hello, sweetheart. Glad to have you back home. Fallon's been talking about how excited she is to have you back for a bit." I blushed, wishing my mum hadn't just said that. "You two can go upstairs. I got a late start on cooking so we have a little to wait."
"Anything to escape Aunt Lauren," I mumbled as Louis and I went up the stairs and into my bedroom. I instantly mentally cursed herself for not cleaning it like I wanted to. It was a mess; dirty clothes strewn all over the floor, my bed was unmade, water bottles were everywhere, empty and not, etc. "Sorry for the mess."
"It's fine," Louis replied, sitting down my her bed. "Is what your mum said true? That you were excited to have me back?"
"Of course, you nutter! I missed you, Lou."
"Aw, I missed you as well, Fal." He replied, wrapping me in a side hug.
"Hey, I have an idea. You know about those vlog things I do? You wanna be in one?" Lou nodded and I laughed. "Come on then."
I turned on the webcam and waited for the little square blue light before speaking. "This is my best friend in the entire world, Louis William Tomlinson," I said, wrapping an arm around him. "I figured I should finally document this fine gentleman before he's back off to tour the world and leaving me behind once again since I'm basically forbidden to leave the country now that we've got a clear diagnosis, the rules from my lovely mum."
"She said that?" Louis chimed in, facing me. I sheepishly nodded, a little ashamed that I was 20 and had to abide by my parents rules because of this disease. "Well that screws up things."
My eyebrows furrowed, a V shape forming between my brows. "What are you on about, Lou?"
"The lads and I were going to surprise you and fly you out to New York to watch us perform at Madison Square Garden next month, but with this new rule… we can't exactly do it now."
"You were really going to do that?" Tears brimmed my eyes and I felt a little silly, but when I saw Louis' genuine smile I didn't feel so silly anymore. "That's sweet, Lou!"
"Thanks. It was all my idea, even if the lads say differently. And that's why I've just decided we're bringing you anyway. Even if your overprotective mum says no. You're going to love it."
I didn't even think before the words, "Yeah, if I'm still alive then," passed my lips.