So Long and Good Night

FRANK'S P.O.V

My eyes flutter open to meet his sleeping face just inches from mine. I let my eyes travel down to see his arms wrapped around my stomach and our fingers intertwined. I let out a small sigh and smile. He looks so gorgeously peaceful. Like everything was fine. Everything was going to be okay. That he didn't have cancer and we were going to live happily ever after.

Oh, that's right. Happy endings never really happen. Reality sets in and crushes anything happy. And as Gerard puts it, reality eats up happy, shits it out, and spits on it twice for good measures.

I looked down one last time to see his eyes still closed. I brought my lips down to his and let them touch with the sweetness of you are going to be okay linger. And with that, his beautiful hazel eyes slowly fluttered open.

"Morning." Gerard's hoarse voice whispered as he let go of my body and rolled onto his back, giving a long stretch.

"Hey there, sunshine." I smiled, kissing him lightly on the forehead before wiggling my way out of bed. I walked out of the room and into the kitchen, starting a pot of coffee for Gee and I. i heard the water start running from the bathroom and soon he was behind me, snaking his long arms around my waist, his chin resting on my shoulder.

Once I had the pot on, I spun around, standing up on my tip-toes and planting a sweet kiss to his lips. I was about to pull away when he wrapped his arms around my shoulders, keeping me locked into the kiss. I smiled and eventually freed myself to which he pouted at.

"You're adorable. You know that right?" I chuckled.

"I suppose." Gee shrugged, going over and sitting at the table. I pours two cups of coffee and joined him, sitting in the chair across from him.

"Thanks." he whispered, taking the mug and raising it to his lips.

"Are you alright?" I asked. Gerard wasn't as talkative as he normally was in the mornings. then again, I suppose that was to be expected.

With a long sigh, he set his mug down, looking at me with tears threatening to overflow.

"What if it's terminal? What if they can't treat it?" he asked, looking at me in near horror.

"Oh, sweetheart. Everything is going to be fine--."

"Will you stop saying that!?" Gerard yelped, cutting me off. "What is everything isn't okay? What if they tell me that I'm going to die within the year? What if..." he trailed off, bringing his hand up and covering his mouth, turning his head away and fighting back the tears. A battle that he was quickly losing.

"Gerard.." I whispered, reaching out to hold his hand but he pulled it away, getting up from his chair and running off into the bathroom, locking the door before I could stop him. I walked up to the door, raising my hand to knock, but i let my arm fall back down. He needs to be alone. So, I let him.

I went back to his bedroom and got myself dressed before walking out of the apartment and to my own.

Going into the bathroom I flipped the water on and let it heat up. I stripped of my clothes and stepped in, jest letting the water run over my body. Grabbing the shampoo I thought about changing my hair. Letting iy grow out maybe. The thought was quickly pushed away as my mind wandered towards going with Gerard to tell Mikey. How would he react? What would he do? Then, I lingered towards the doctor's visit. But that was too hard to think about.

GERARD'S P.O.V

I pressed my body up against the cold wooden door, the tears flowing freely down my flushed cheeks. My mind was racing as I undressed myself and stepped into the shower. I let the cold water run down my hot body. One last sob escaped my lips before I silenced them, choking them down with hesitation.

My mind was racing. What if I'm going to die. What if they can't treat it. What will happen to Frank if I leave. He will be heart broken. I can't let that happen. He has to know I'll be okay.....but how will I do that?....Maybe I should just keep all of my emotions to myself..show him that I'm still strong.

Agreeing with myself, I finished showering and stepped out. I went back to my room and got myself dressed in skinny jeans and an Iron Maiden tee. I threw on a grey beanie and and red Converse. I walked out of my apartment and over to Frank's. I was about to knock when the door swung open, revealing a Frankie.

"Well hi there." I smiled, stepping back and letting him out the door.

"Hello." he sighed, walking out of the complex and locking his door. "We going to Mikey's?"

"Yeah." I said as I could feel the smile fading from my lips. Frank held his hand out and I instantly took it, lacing my fingers through his.

I let him lead the way downstairs and to the street.

I'm going to tell Mikes. And I'm not going to cry. No matter how hard it is, I'm not going to cry. I convinced myself as my brother's house came into full view.

I walked up the steps, Frank following behind me, and knocked on the front door. Stepping back and nervously cramming my hands down into my pockets. Less than a minute later, the door opened.

"Hey Gee." Mikey greeted, stepping aside and gesturing me in.

"Hi Mikes." I forced myself to smile and walked in, going over and sitting on the couch in the middle of the living room.

"So..what is it that you need to tell me?" Mikey asked, hesitation nearly smothering his words.

"So, yesterday evening I got a phone call from Dr. Smith, the guy who worked on me when I was in the hospital. He told me that when i went in for the full body scan, they found something in my brain that wasn't supposed to be there." I paused..I watched his expression grow heavy as my stomach sank.

"Dr. Smith told me they found a tumor. So they drew some blood and ran some tests and all the results came back fine...except for one." I paused again, I felt the burning behind my eyes.

"Mikey....I...I have cancer." I choked out, looking his dead in the eyes, hot tears flowing from my face. "when we left here, Frank and I were headed to the hospital. Dr. Smith wants to discuss this with me."

"G-Gerard." he gasped, trying to fight back the tears brimming under his eyes. We both simply stood up and wrapped our arms around the other in such a tight hug we could barely breathe.

"I'll come back after we;re done at the hospital and tell you what's going on." I whispered into his shoulder. I felt his pick his head up.

"I want to come with you>" Mikey said, his voice quivering from the sobs he was holding back.

I nodded and let him go. And we walked out the door.

***

"I'm sorry, gentlemen. But you're going to have to wait out here. I need to talk to Gerard privately about this matter." Dr. Smith said as Mikey and Frank tried to follow me into the room. I shot them a look over my shoulder and they both sat down in the chairs outside the door.

"Okay, Gerard. You have a cancerous tumor forming inside your brain. There are some treatment options, but all come with very high risks." He began explaining. I simply nodded along.

"Your first option is to have it removed. But that could cause many many complications. If something goes wrong you could end up brain dead or even dead. You're next option is an experimental drug. It is in the form of a pill and it will help control the growth of the tumor. It has a very high success rate but there is a chance it won't work. You're last option is chemo radiation therapy." He finished, looking at me with an almost apologetic look.

"Well, I really don't want to spend any more time in the hospital. So I guess I'll be a guinea pig." I smiled lightly.

"Alright. I have a prescription right here. You will need to take one pill in the morning and one at night. And when you run out, please come back to me to get it refilled. This drug is only made available to hospitals." Dr. Smith said, handing my an orange bottle filled to the top with pencil eraser-sized white tablets.

"I do have one more question for you, Doc." I said standing up from the chair. "H-how long do I have."

"Well, Mr. Way. That's hard to determine. Your tumor is very small compared to most, and that is the only form of cancer we found. As long as you take the pills, you should live a normal life."

"But what if the pills don't work." I further pushed.

"Well...if they don't work and you don't want to go into any other treatment, I'd say you have a few years at the least."

I let a breath go that I didn't even realize I was holding. I felt some of the weight leave my shoulders as I followed him from the room.

"What did he say?" Frank and Mikey asked in unison, jumping up from their seats at the same time.

"He told me that my tumor is small and it's the only cancerous spot they found. He gave me some pills that are supposed to help keep it from growing and if they work I'm supposed to live to normal life expectancy. But if they don't, he told me I have a few years at the least." I smiled. they both wrapped their arms around me. Though Mikey let go before Frank, who promptly kissed me long and hard.

"God. When's the wedding." Mikey asked in a teasing tome before I snaked my hand down and wrapped my fingers around Frank's. All three of us walked out of the hospital.

"Hey, you wanna go down to Third Street?" I nearly shouted, looking at both of them with a big smile spreading across my face.