Chapter 1

Cancer. That's what the doctor said. That single word turned Adam's world upside down. Six letters and his life will never be the same. After he left his doctor's office he had wondered aimlessly around the hospital complex before doing what any normal, rational person would do when they just found out they have spinal cancer. He went to a bar and got hammered.

That's how he found himself, and unknown amount of hours and whiskey later, walking a zigzag down the dark damp sidewalk. Of course it had rained. He wasn't sure what time it was but it had to be early. Or late. Whatever.

It appeared that the buses had stopped running for the night, but it didn't matter. Adam didn't want to go home anyways. Last thing he wanted to do was to explain to Rachel that: not only did he have cancer, but he, who never drank, was currently shit faced.

Adam continued down the road. It felt like he hadn't been walking long but he soon found himself in a not so familiar part of town. Not to far up the street was a bright shining light that ended up being a all night diner that apparently specialized in steak and eggs. With a shrug Adam pulled open the door and immediately stumbled over the jam.

His face burned with alcohol and embarrassment and he straightened himself up and slid quickly in the closest booth to the door. Moments later the sweet middle aged waitress brought him a cup of coffee. He shook his head when she asked if he wanted anything to eat. He must look horrible to cause the look of pity in the woman's eyes.

Adam sits for a while, just watching the street lights reflect on the empty streets, sipping on his overly strong and bitter coffee. After a while he noticed a lone form walking up the street, his shoulders hunched and the hood of the gray hoodie pulled up over his head, the thick fabric pulled tight across his broad shoulders.

"He looks like a thug." Adam thought absently as he watched him approach the diner.

The stranger pulled open the door and for a moment their eyes met. The hardness and anger in those gray eyes shocked Adam and he quickly looked away, finding his coffee suddenly extremely interesting. The man took a seat at the bar right in Adam's eye line. Adam was almost afraid to look at him again but he quickly found himself running his eyes over that strong back.

What was he thinking? He really needs to stop looking at this guy. Why is he looking anyways? Adam shook his head and and took another long pull of his coffee.

The stranger sipped at his own cup of coffee, the entire diner was quite other than the bustle of the late night employees. Before too long he felt eyes on him and when he found their source, those hard gray eyes were staring at him. The man looked like thunder, as he twirled a tooth pick between his surprisingly thick lips. Adam looked away first turning his body purposely towards the window letting his hazy mind wonder to things that didn't scare him like caner, or large men who will probably beat him up.

A while later Adam was pulled from his thoughts by nature screaming at him. He pulled his heavy limbs from the booth and did his best to walk as steady as possible as he made his way to the restrooms.

Rage simmered in Tommy's chest as he stooped over the diner counter. His body was sore from the beating he took in the match earlier that evening (That he won.) but that he barely noticed over the heaviness in his chest. He found his father in their hotel room drunk again. He had been sober 6 months before this as far as Tommy knew.

Tommy had noticed his absence from the locker room shortly after the fight. He had looked all over, for some unknown reason he wanted to share the excitement of a win with his old man. When he had finally given up and returned to the hotel, he had found his father polishing off his second bottle of whiskey.

Without a word Tommy had gathered his things and threw them in a duffel bag and left. He hailed a taxi and found himself at another hotel in the middle of a unfamiliar town. He had thrown his bags on the bed and stormed out into the night, too fired up to be cooped up in the small room without breaking something. He didn't know how long he had walked but his legs felt heavy, so it must have been for a while before he stopped at a bar. He had settled onto a bar stool and after a few drinks the liquor tasted vile so he had settled his tab and stormed back out on the streets.

His anger had ebbed a bit when he found his way into a dingy all night diner. Now he was annoyed at the squirrelly little jack off in the booth behind him. The little bitch had been staring at him since he walked in the door. He could feel the skinny bastard watching him now in his stupid sweater. He was obviously drunk with the way he swayed in his seat. Tommy kept glancing at him through the mirror behind the bar as he nursed his black coffee.

When the little fuck walked past him towards the restrooms, Tommy stood to follow him. Maybe teaching him a little lesson was just what Tommy needed. He rolled his shoulders and popped his knuckles before pushing the restroom door open.

Adam sighed as he washed his hands. He debated on crawling back home, knowing that he couldn't sit in the coffee shop all night. He startled a bit when he heard the door slam open and when he turned he saw the big thug walking in.

Adam cleared his throat and tried to walk passed the man and out the door but was stopped with a hand on his chest. Seconds later the hand closed into a fist and he was shoved against the wall. Sparks of white lightening shot from the back of Adam's head down his back and he was suddenly reminded that he was in constant pain. He squeezed his eyes closed and huffed out a short pained breath before trying to pull the hand away from his chest. Big surprised he fail miserably.

"What you staring at boy?" The man asked. His voice was low an thick with a Pittsburgh accent.

"N-Nothing. I wasn't staring I swear. I've just had a few too many and I was-" Adam stuttered out before we was pulled away and slammed back into the wall. The stormy eye man was bearing down on him, resting is other arm against the wall above him. Adam prayed that he'd walk away from this.

"Bull shit. What? Got something to say to me?" The man turned and spat his tooth pick on the floor. "I could wipe the floor with you."

"I- I have no doubt.. look," Adam cleared his throat and raised his hands in what he hoped was a sign of submission. His fingers trembled but he tried to ignore it. "I've had a really bad day and I'm drunk. Let me go and I'll call a cab and leave you alone."

The man laughed. Actually laughed. "What do you know about bad days hmm?" His fist twisted tighter in Adam's shirt. His eyes level with Adam's. He could feel his heart slamming against his chest.

"Look. I found out today.. that I have cancer. So please. Can you just let me go and let me go back to contemplating how I have a 50/50 chance of dying?" Adam closed his eyes again, the throb in his lower back reminding him all to well of the parasite inside his body.

"You lie." The man spat.

"I'm not." Adam could feel the tears welling up in his eyes. "I'm 27 and I may be dead by this time next year. Do you think you could just let me the fuck go?" It was Adam's turn to spit out the words. Surging with anger Adam began to struggle uselessly, kicking at the legs that had pressed up against his and scratching desperately at the hand at his chest.

Adam pounded his fists against the arm restraining him but soon he was tired and the tear threatening his eyes finally spilled over. "Please." He whispered sagging back against the wall.

After a few silent moments Adam realized the hand in his shirt had loosened. When he dared, he raised his eyes too meet the stranger's and he froze again. Those eyes were intense but not with the need for violence. Something else was swimming in those depths and it made for a strange feeling in Adam's chest.

"What's your name?" That deep thick voice whispered.

"A-Adam." He could barley hear himself speak but he had no doubt that the man had heard him considering he was pressed against him from shoulder to thigh. The feeling of that hard, muscled body against his gave Adam a clear view of the power in it. His cheeks grew red when he felt his body start to respond to the closeness. "Oh god. Please no." he thought as he tried to pull his lower body away from the strangers hoping he wouldn't notice but found himself just pressed tighter against the wall.

"Well Adam. I'm Tommy." The man- Tommy's eyes flickered down for a second and Adam swore he died a little right then. Tommy's lips quirked into a almost grin. "I'll tell you right now. My mother died of cancer. If your lying I will turn you into a pretzel."

Adam could be embarrassed about the sound he made later. "If you don't believe me I have a copy of my MRI in my bag back at the table."

Tommy released his shirt and gave him a not so gentle shove in the direction of the door. Adam stumbled into the door and his face burned red when he realized he needed to pull not push.

The two of them returned to booth and Adam tried not to meet Tommy's eye as he dug in his bag for the glossy paper showing the tumor eating away at his spine. He flattens the slightly wrinkled paper on the table and turned it towards Tommy.

"There." he pointed to the white area near his hip. "Apparently the tumor is eating away at my spine and hip...a few months ago I started having lower back pain and after a battery of test..I find out today I have a massive tumor."

"Do you know what type it is?" Tommy asked running the tip of his fingers over the paper's surface.

"Schwannoma neurofibrosarcoma." Adam grinned to himself proud that he didn't slur that too badly.

Tommy raised a brow and let out a whistle. "That sure is a mouthful."

"Yeah. I just.. I don't want to think about it right now. I'm not ready to go home and face reality, to look my girl in the face and tell her that my survival rate is only 50/50..god.. I don't even drink.." Adam knew he was rambling now but talking kept his mind off the thread of fear snaking around his chest.

"Well if you don't want to go home; I have a room not too far from here with a mini bar. I leave to go back to Pittsburgh tomorrow."

"What are you doing in Seattle anyways?" Adam asked avoiding the obvious invitation.

"I had a fight. I'm a MMA fighter." Tommy said leaning back in the booth.

"Really?" Adam couldn't hide the smile that spread across his face. "My friend Kyle watches that all the time. Did you win?"

"Of course."

Adam chuckled to himself. "Did you say you had a mini bar?"