"Adopted By" Oneshots!

Don't Let Me Go...I Need You

TW: mentions of cancer

Year: 2022
Books: Adopted by Falsettos and Adopted by Beetlejuice
Penney and Josie's Age: 16

Penney's POV

"Two years in remission." Josie said softly to me, giving me a big hug. "I'm so proud of you, you fought so hard and you made it."

I smiled back at her, fiddling with the colorful bracelet on my wrist, spinning each of the beads around and remembering what each of them meant. Josie looked at my bracelet for a bit too, before I took it off my wrist and handed it to her.

"I remember your smile when you got the first bead on this thing. It was so cute...and I honestly think that was the moment I first fell in love with you." Josie said softly, kissing my cheek.

And that was my secret. Josie and I have been dating for the past two months. Josie's questioning if she's polyamorous, and I've known I was polyamorous for years. But all that mattered is that I loved her, Josie was beautiful and smart and amazing...everything I've ever wanted.

I smiled and turned to Josie, brushing her bleach blonde hair out of her face. "I'm just glad it's all over, babe. I'm glad I'm here and I'm alive. I'm glad I fought hard enough...because now I'm with you and I don't regret any of it."

Josie looked at me and took my hand. "You don't regret the pain? You don't regret the fear, the trauma?"

I took Josie's hand and kissed her knuckles, looking into her beautiful blue eyes with a smile. "I would go through it all over again, JosieBean, if it meant you were there at the end of it all. And that's a promise, baby."

Josie sniffled a little and nodded, leaning on my shoulder. It was only then I realized how hard it must've been for her to see me go through all that pain. Josie and I met in the middle of it all, and she was there for me for four out of the seven months of my cancer treatment. And in those four months...she fell in love with me. 

"Penney?" Josie said softly from next to me. I kissed Josie's nose and looked down at her, staring into her beautiful sea blue eyes that never failed to captivate me. Josie took a deep breath and then said, "Babe? Am I gonna lose you?"

In that moment, my heart shattered into a million pieces.

My heart shattered because I knew exactly what Josie meant when she asked that. She wasn't talking about us breaking up or anything in that sense...she was worried about me relapsing and dying. 

A potential relapse was something I've been afraid of. For the two years I've been in remission, every scan has filled me with dread. It's filled my mom with dread, it's filled Josie and Lacey and Asia with dread. It's something I try not to think about, much less talk about. 

But as soon as I heard Josie start sobbing from my arms, that's when I knew I had to bite the bullet and talk about my worst fear. I couldn't let Josie sit there silently suffering...

"Babe." I said softly, wrapping Josie up in my arms and cradling her like she was a little kid. Josie kept crying into my shoulder and I rubbed her back to soothe her. 

"Babe. Listen to me. I can't promise that the cancer won't ever come back. I can't promise that it won't relapse to a different part of my body one day. But what I can promise is that you're never going to lose me. No matter what happens, JosieBean, I'll always be with you, okay?" 

Josie sniffled a little and I kissed her head. "I can't lose you, PenPen...I've lost so much...and I've gotten close to losing a lot too...I lost my bio sister, I almost lost Mama and Daddy, I almost lost Harper...hell, I've almost lost my own life once or twice." Josie curled up into a little ball in my arms and I started to massage her back, which was something that always calmed her. 

"Babe? Can you stay for a while...?" Josie asked, breaking the short silence that hung over us.

I pulled Josie closer to me and kissed her nose, letting her lean on my chest and listen to my heart beat.

"Of course I can, JosieBean. I'd stay here forever for you."