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when tyler regained complete consciousness he was able to detect the feeling of strong arms wrapping around his waist, his own body pressed against another. he was getting rocked back and forth as a hand ran through his damp hair and the person holding him whispered encouraging words into his brown locks.
he peeled his eyes open and looked at the source of the comfort, gaze meeting with josh's as he noticed brendon worriedly pacing back and forth behind them. tyler lazily smiled at josh, the yellow haired boy lighting up as he reached back and smacked brendon to get his attention.
"tyler, thank god you're awake!" brendon exclaimed, kneeling down so he was face to face with tyler.
"thank you," tyler said, noticing that his tubes were once again in his nose. he propped himself up and crawled off of josh's lap, seeing that they were back at brendon's car, sitting on the hood of the jeep.
"you fuckin' scared us," josh chuckled. "don't ever do that again. we didn't know how to help you."
"josh, don't be so harsh," brendon snapped, soothing a hand down tyler's back. "we were just worried. always tell us if you're not comfortable with doing something."
tyler solemnly nodded, feeling guilty at the distress he caused his friends. he felt pathetic, knowing that he did this to himself and that it could've easily been avoided.
"i want to understand what cystic fibrosis is. we want to help you tyler, please let us do that. you can't avoid the fact that you have it, so let us help you accept it," josh pleaded and tyler couldn't help the fluttering in his heart at the words.
"okay, get comfy."
tyler and josh sat on the hood of the car, brendon sitting on the roof as he looked down at his friends.
"i've always had cystic fibrosis, i was diagnosed with it when i was nine months old. my lungs clog up with mucus which leads to lung infections and eventually respiratory failure. my pancreas gets clogged up as well and it makes it more difficult for my body to process food and stuff, which is why i'm so tiny for my age.
"the way each person's body handles having cystic fibrosis differs from person to person and for some people it effects their lives more than others. the average lifespan for someone who has C.F. is around fourty now, which is great. i'm not so lucky, though."
tyler gulped and bit back tears as he spoke his next words. "the doctors gave me eight more years. i'm not supposed to live past twenty six."
the silence that surrounded the three boys was unbearable, unspoken words floating through the thick air around them.
"don't feel bad for me, the doctors told me when i was thirteen and i've been trying to live my life to its fullest since then. i just want to be a normal teenager and sometimes my desire to be normal becomes too much and i end up making stupid decisions, as you guys witnessed. i know my own limits and i shouldn't have done that, it was selfish of me, but i didn't want you guys to see me any differently."
