REVISED:The Boy With A Touch Of Cancer (BxB)

28. Old Biddies

"OW," I yelped as pain shot through my skull.

Concern and apology filled Leo's eyes. "Ethan, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you."

"It's okay. It's just...sore," I assured quickly, hoping to ease his guilt.

It felt like a knife was slicing through my skull, but I didn't want to worry him. So I plastered a grin on my face to hide the pain.

"I'm sorry." Leo bit his lip and nervously tapped his fingernails on the console.

"It's okay. Really. It's just sore when you touch it." I placed my hand over his, silencing the tapping.

He asked after a moment, "Is that where you hit your head?"

"Yeah," I murmured.

He laced his fingers through mine. "What happened? You know, when you passed out?"

"I got out of the shower and got really dizzy, then I passed out," I muttered.

"I know that. I want the reason why you passed out." He could tell I wasn't telling him the whole truth.

Just tell him, Eath. He already knows you're really sick. Just fucking tell him.

I took a deep breath, hating how my lip started trembling just thinking about the news Dr. K gave me. "I didn't have enough oxygen flowing to my brain."

"Eathy, I know the physical reason why you passed out. I need to know what caused it," he said barely above a whisper, like he already knew what I was gonna say.

"It spread to my spinal fluid, and I barely had any healthy blood cells left," I whispered.

"I don't follow," he said after a moment.

I stared out the windshield. "As of the last six months, the leukemia was just in my blood, but now it spread to my spinal fluid...and that's really fucking bad."

"Shit, Ethan, why didn't you tell me?" I could hear the hurt in his voice, and it physically pained me.

"I didn't wanna upset you..." I dug my fingernails into my palm, trying to use the physical pain to distract me from the pain spreading through my heart.

"Oh, Eathy..." Leo murmured.

I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye. He sagged against the seat and stared at me sadly. 

"What?" I asked after Leo had been silently staring at me for a solid minute.

He smiled a sad smile that didn't reach his eyes. "You don't have to worry about upsetting me. Yeah, I'm pretty fucking upset right now, but I'm just glad I know what's going on with you."

I attempted a smirk. "So, you want me to tell you every shitty detail about my cancer?"

He snorted, then reached over and cupped my jaw. "Yes. I wanna know every goddamn, tear-worthy detail."

I felt a smile tugging at my lips as Leo ran his thumb over my bottom lip. I leaned over and placed my mouth over his, simply because I couldn't help myself.

I love him...

I yanked my mouth away from his, startling Leo, again. He stared at me wide-eyed as he probably thought he hurt me again, but it was in fact, just the opposite.

'I'm in love with Leo...' that thought echoed through my brain the second our lips touched. I felt my heart start pounding a fluttery beat in my chest as I realized that I did love Leo.

How in the hell had I fallen in love with him in less than a month? I couldn't tell you, but I now realized just how true that was. Leo made me laugh even when I felt like complete shit. I can't stop thinking about him, and Leo made me forget I was even sick(most of the time). When I'm with him all the pain and exhaustion just fades into the background, and all I can focus on is how happy Leo makes me.