This Cloud Just Keeps on Covering

Luckily, nothing bad happened. No pain, no passing out. Just my freakish skin tone change.

We explained to the kids about it and told them not to worry. But, Hunter did. He stared at me with worried eyes.

"I don't wanna lose another Mom," he said, his eye brimming with tears.

Frank and I hugged him tightly, telling him he wouldn't lose me. He nodded, but still seemed skeptical.

That night, Hunter went to bed early. He hugged us each goodnight and walked into his room, clicking his door shut. Jaxon had fallen asleep, also. We put him to bed and sat back down in the living room with Gerard.

Gerard stared at me, his face tear stained. I felt horrible for all of this. Why wouldn't this stupid problem go away?

From behind us, Mikey walked into the room. He was grinning widely. We smiled back, not wanting to ruin his day. My brother sat next to me, leaning his head on my shoulder.

"How was your date?" I asked him.

"Good. Alicia really likes you guys," he said, smiling warmly at the three of us.

We smiled back, nodding. "That's good."

Mikey nodded with us and looked around the room. When he noticed our silence, he looked at us strangely. I held onto his hand, running over the skin on it with my thumb. Mikey looked at me, his eyes wide.

"It happened again, didn't it?" he asked quietly.

I nodded. "Yeah."

Frank put a hand on my shoulder, staring at me with his warm eyes. Mikey wrapped his arms around me in a tight hug, burying his head into my neck. I rested my head on his shoulder, the scent of his cologne overwhelming me.

"Are you okay now?" he asked.

I nodded; I was okay.... for now.

Gerard and Mikey insisted on staying at the apartment that night. I didn't argue with them. It was nice to have my family with me.

After brushing my teeth and slipping on my pajamas, I walked out to my two brothers. They were both on the couches, watching the television. When I saw they were watching a vampire show, I smiled. I was a sucker for them.

I laughed.

Ha-ha, sucker for vampire shows. What a pun..

Mikey and Gerard turned to me, smiling.

"What's so funny?" they asked.

"I just made up a funny pun abour vampires," I said.

Gerard chuckled, shaking his head. Mikey laughed also, smiling brightly at me. I hugged them both goodnight and walked into my bedroom. Frank was listening to his iPod, humming along to it. I laid down and grabbed my own iPod when Frank stopped me.

"Listen to this," he said, passing me the iPod.

I nodded and listened closely to it. After a few seconds, I recognized it. It was a Breaking Benjamin song. I smiled to myself, remembering when I had a tiny obsession with them. Frank smiled at my expression, stroking Bella's coat. The dog sniffed at me, whining softly. I patted her head and planted a kiss on her nose.

"I still try to find my place in the diary of Jane," I sang.

Frank rested his head on my shoulder, listening to the iPod also. I kissed his forehead, smiling sleepily. After a while, I did end up falling asleep.

But I woke up as fast as I had fallen asleep.

Frank shook me, his eyes wide. I mumbled at him to go away, but he didn't. He pulled me up, repeatedly telling me to hurry. I walked with him to the mirror to see my skin was going pale again. I moaned to myself, wishing it would stop. There was a thin coat of sweat on my forehead and my arms were shaking.

"Tess, you need to go to the hospital," he said.

"No I don't, Frank!" I complained, never wanting to go back there.

"Tessa, you could die!" he yelled.

I shook my head. "No. I wouldn't die from shaking and getting pale. I only need to go if I pass out."

Frank stared at me, his eyes narrowed. For a few minutes, he stayed like that. I stared back, feeling the disagreement in his stare. But, he finally exhaled. Frank sat on the bed, resting his head in his hands.

"Fine. But if something happens..." he sighed, shaking his head.

"Then you can pour tar and feathers on me and stick me in front of the whole town," I said.

Frank looked to me. "Not funny."

I sighed and laid my head on his shoulder. I looked over at the clock shakily, seeing it was only around three in the morning.Groaning, I laid back on the bed, desperate for sleep. Frank stayed sitting up, though, probably still deep in thought. I gave him a worried glance which he caught in the mirror.

"Get some sleep," he said.

I nodded and laid my head on the pillow. But, I couldn't help but think about a certain song. It was the song I would now call my 'Sickness Song'. The song was actually a Three Day's Grace song, but I was just gonna give it that nickname song.

I hate everything about you.