I decided to write a fic about how even geniuses can get their hearts broken. I own nothing, enjoy.
"I broke my heart,
whilst breaking you."
Friday.
by Everyone's a Mortal.
(She came in every Friday.)
He never talked to her, never waved. All he did was notice that she came in every Friday. She had long brown hair, that was naturally curly. Her skin was tanned from the time she spent in the sun. The glasses that rested on her nose were square, and she always sat by the window. She was always alone. When she left, she held the door open for people coming and going out. She gave a hug to aunt Cass, every time, before she left. Even the last hug.
Hiro never talked to her, not even while Tadashi was alive, though his brother had often conversed for ours with the gir. She'd gone to his funeral. She'd cried, left early, and Hiro had never found out why.
Today she wore denim shorts with a long sleeved, white t-shirt. The girl was very, very skinny, skinnier than he was. She was writing furiously in a notebook, the hot chocolate in front of her quickly losing its heat. He watched as his aunt walked over to her. The girl looked up, smiling. Her nose crinkled slightly. Hiro stood, mustering up the courage to walk over there.
"Hey, aunt Cass." He smiled. The girl tilted her head, looking confused.
"Jo," said his aunt, "this is my nephew, Hiro."
The girl, Jo, smiled at him. "Hello." She said, extended her hand. Hiro shook it.
"Nice to meet you."
Aunt Cass nodded, winking at Hiro. "I'll leave you to get better acquainted." She said, before walking away. When she was gone, Jo, gestured for Hiro to sit down. He did.
"Hiro." Jo said, "You're T's little brother...," she bit her lip when she realized that no, he isn't Tadashi's little brother.
He used to be Tadashi's little brother. But Hiro doesn't correct her, no, because the words roll off her tongue with such affection for his brother that he thinks he's invading something private for a moment but then it's gone, and the sadness fades, but Hiro can still see a hint of it, because that hint is always there, really. And he has some of that sorrow, too.
"Yeah, that's me. Hiro Hamada." He said, scratching his neck as aunt Cass dropped off some hot chocolate for him before scurrying away again.
"The genius!" Jo exclaimed, her hands flying. The hot chocolate cups rattled and she quickly studied hers while Hiro madly scrambled for his. "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry... I'm so clumsy...," She said. She was cleaning off the stained pages in her book.
Hiro decided to ask her how she knew he was a genius later. "What are you writing?" He asked.
The girl looked up, "Nothing, nothing at all." She said, before shutting the book. "How old are you, Hiro?"
"Fifteen."
Her mouth spread into a smile so bold, Hiro started to smile too. "So am I!" She giggled. "Are you staying for the poetry tonight? There are some really good slam poets around here." Jo coughed, suddenly, and clutched her chest before looking up. "Sorry about that, I've got asthma."
"You write poetry?" Hiro said, nodding.
Jo looked shy all of a sudden. "Just a little bit. I never perform, though. I'm not that good."
"Aw, I bet you are. You should try it sometime. Can I see it?"
Jo's face clouded over. "No!" Jo exclaimed. "No, but thanks." She finally took a sip of hot chocolate, "I always forget what a great cook your aunt is. This stuff is really good."
Hiro bit his lip to keep from laughing.
The hot chocolate was store bought.
(The weeks passed.)
Hiro saw Jo almost every Friday, when he wasn't working late at the university. But when he came back, she was always there, always by the window, even after it was closed, waiting for him to walk her home, as was the tradition that had become their's over the past few months. Her curly hair was flying violently in the wind, today, as the two waltzed into the neighborhood next to his. The night was wilder than usual, and Hiro sensed rain.
And it indeed started to rain.
They ran, ran to the nearest building that Hiro knew would be open, which was the university. They tumbled inside, laughing until they collapsed on Fred's old chair. Honey Lemon walked over, then, chuckling when she saw the tangle of fifteen-year-olds. "Hiro!" She said, rolling the 'r' as always. The two young teens got up and Jo looked towards the floor as Honey Lemon's eyes widened. "Jo?" She asked, and then, when Jo looked up quietly, Honey Lemon hugged the girl tight. "Oh, Jo, Jo, Jo! GoGo, Wasabi, Fred, get over here!" She said, her heeled feet dancing against the tile as she yelled.
The three college students ran over, GoGo popping gum when she saw Jo. "Naw," she said, "I can't believe it."
Wasabi's gaze softened: "Hey, stranger."
"Long time no see, hermana." Fred said, and Jo muttered something back in Spanish that Hiro couldn't quite catch.
"Wait, wait, wait." Hiro said. His hands formed a time out sign. "You know each other?"
Everyone grew quiet until Jo stepped forward. "Tadashi brought me here." She said quietly. Her eyes were darting around wildly, taking in the new projects. "A long, long time ago." She stepped backwards, and lost her balance all of a sudden.
She tripped, and fell, crying out in pain. Blood oozed out of her arm, as she'd scraped it on a knife Fred had laying around on her way down. Hiro helped her up. When he saw the blood, his eyes widened dramatically. "You're hurt." He said, in a worried tone. "C'mon, let me help you."
"I'm fine, Hiro." Jo said, and she was, really. She was quite used to scrapes by now. Hiro, however, firmly shook his head and led her out of the room. "Bye everyone!" She yelled. The older teens waved in return, and Honey Lemon shook her head affectionetely.
Hiro dragged Jo into an office, and sat her down in a chair. "Baymax?" He called. A sudden chirping filled the room as what looked like a giant white marshmallow stood from a small red box.
Jo almost fell out of her chair. "Baymax...," she got up carefully, and walked over to the robot. "Is it really you?" Her eyes studied the robotic nurse, until tears gently threatened to fall and she finally sat back down.
"Hello," the robot said. "I am Baymax-"
"Baymax, she's hurt. She'd bleeding."
"I will proceed to get you a band aid and supplies to clean the blood." Baymax said. He turned to a nearby drawer, pulling everything out that was necessary. The robot kneeled, and Jo extended her arm.
"You know him?" Hiro asked, while Baymax tended the girl's wound.
Jo nodded. "When... when he was still alive, he brought me to the university. He showed me Baymax, and introduced me to his -your- friends." the two were quiet for a while, the whirring of Baymax the only sound in the room.
"Why did he bring you here?"
It took her a while to answer. Baymax was finished by the time she did. "Are you satisfied with your care?" The robot asked.
Jo turned to Hiro, "He wanted to show me the world wasn't all that bad."
Hiro didn't ask why she'd needed to know that.
(GoGo drove Hiro and Jo home.)
Hiro was dropped off first, and he waved brightly through the window once he entered. When his house was out of sight, GoGo spoke.
"Have you told him, yet?"
Jo shook her head.
"You're going to break his heart, kid." GoGo said, "you need to tell him."
Jo nodded quietly, the tears in her eyes threatening to spill as she moved suddenly and her knee hit the glove compartment. "I-I will."
GoGo nodded, popping her gum. "You better."
The rest of the ride went on in silence.
Jo didn't know GoGo was crying, too.
("Padre?")
She asked when she reached her house. Immediately she realized that was a mistake. The man stumbled through a doorway, his belt in his hand.
"Where have you been, Josefina?" He asked, his words slurred. "You missed all my friends! Now you must be punished for being home so late."
"I'm sorry, papi. Please forgive me." Jo said. She felt for the bat that rested by the door.
It wasn't there.
Her father must have moved it, she thought with panic. Jo did her best to stumble into the kitchen. Her hand flew to her neck, which was covered by hair, where it was swollen but painless. She rubbed while she thought, desperate to find some means of defending herself. Her father ran into the room, the belt replaced with a bat. "Punish!" He shouted, and swore in Spanish. Closing her eyes, Jo grabbed the nearest thing in the kitchen and slammed it onto her father's head. It was a plate. The plate shattered, bits and pieces embedded into his flesh as he collapsed, crying.
Jo flew outside, onto the streets. She didn't know where to go, so she ran to the first place she thought of.
When aunt Cass opened the door, Jo began to cry.
("He found out where I leave the bat,")
Jo said to the older lady. "I should have... I should have found a better place for it, but when I come home he's always drunk and I needed, I needed..."
"Shh, it's okay Jo, it's okay, sweetheart." Aunt Cass said. She carried the girl upstairs (she was very light), into Hiro's room. The boy had been on the computer. When he saw Jo, his eyes widened in alarm. Aunt Cass made a hushing noise as she gently tucked Jo into Tadashi's old bed. Aunt Cass gave Hiro strict instructions on not to bother the girl, and then left.
Baymax, who had been standing next to Hiro, said: "The girl is sick."
Hiro jumped up, "what?"
"The girl is sick."
"She has a cold?"
Baymax tilted his head, "no. I scanned the girl. Her T cell levels are abnormal. The girl is sick. Lym-" Baymax was cut off by a small cry of pain.
Hiro ran over to Jo. "Are you okay?" He asked. "Baymax!"
"No, no, it's okay Baymax, I'm fine."
"I heard a cry of pain. On a scale of one to ten, how do you feel?" Baymax asked.
Jo waved the robot away, "I'm fine, Baymax, thanks for asking." She said. She was clutching her stomach, biting her lip so hard that blood was starting to show.
Hiro shook his head, his arms resting on Jo's. "You don't seem fine to me. Baymax, get her some painkillers please."
Baymax nodded, and went off in search for painkillers. When the robot was gone, Hiro sat on Tadashi's bed. It felt foreign. He hadn't sat on his brother's bed since the death, about a year ago, now. The sight of Jo sitting there now made him miss his brother. "Is this..." Jo said, and Hiro nodded.
"Why are you here, Jo?" The boy asked.
Jo sighed. "My father." She said, hoping Hiro was smart enough to figure out the rest.
He was.
"Oh." Hiro deadpanned. He layed down next to the girl, hoping that she wouldn't move away, and she didn't. Her whole body was sweating, and even though he didn't mind, he still wondered why. His hand was a few inches away from hers, and they listened to Baymax wander around downstairs.
Jo was still clutching her abdomen.
"Is it... um... lady stuff?" Hiro asked, embarrassed.
Jo let out a tired laugh, "Nah. I wish it was." She said. Their hands inched closed, and it almost broke her heart when Hiro laced his live, warm hands through her dead, sweaty ones.
Come to think of it, it did break her heart.
Baymax had found the painkiller by now, and he had made it upstairs with water and ibuprofen in hand. "Drink this," he commanded. With Hiro's help (she was feeling very weak), Jo sat up and dutifully drank the water. "You will feel better soon." Baymax said, "are you satisfied with your care?"
Jo shook her head, like, no, she wasn't, but she said, "For now I am, yes. Thank you, Baymax."
The robot went to recharge his batteries and Jo fell asleep with Hiro clutching her hand.
(She didn't go home the next day.)
Aunt Cass wouldn't let her. Her father didn't come looking (she knew he wouldn't). They kept the whole business quiet, Jo living with them. Jo tried to argue but if the Hamadas were one thing, it was stubborn. So she stayed, and the days passed and she grew to love the boy known as Hiro, and she thought that maybe, just maybe, he loved her (but just a little bit).
She didn't want him to love her (what would Tadashi say?).
But the months turned to Fall, and Fall turned into Winter and still she was there, living with them, growing weaker and oh-so tired but trying so hard to hide it.
Baymax knew.
He'd diagnosed her, one evening, late at night when Hiro had kissed her goodnight (by now they were dating, and aunt Cass didn't allow them to sleep in the same room, nope, Hiro slept on the couch, and she got the beds) and she was lying awake, covered in sweat and so much pain.
"Lymphoma," he'd said, and Jo had stared at him. "Cancer." He said.
"Yes, yes, I know, Baymax," she said quietly. "I know."
"Treatment must be started immediately."
"We can't afford it, Bamax." Jo said, "please don't tell anyone."
"But-"
"Baymax."
The robot was quiet. "Would it boost your emotional state?"
"Yes."
"Okay. Are you satisfied with your care?"
She almost lied again, almost said yes. Her hair was tousled and her forehead was sweaty and she was in so much pain. She didn't want to lie again. "No." She murmured.
Baymax stood by her all night.
(GoGo was angry at her.)
"You still haven't told them?"
"I'll die soon, anyway." Jo hissed.
GoGo shook her head, "This isn't right, Jo. You have to tell them. You can't just leave me to break the news. It isn't fair. What would Tadashi say?"
"Don't bring Tadashi into this." Jo hissed, sitting down on a chair. She felt weak, again.
"You know I have to. He wanted you to know the world isn't such a bad place, but he also wanted to teach you how important it was to be honest with yourself and others. Isn't that why you started writing poetry?"
"I haven't written in months."
GoGo looked towards the cieling. Behind them, Wasabi was talking to Hiro about building a new machine, something about lasers. "Well," the dark-haired girl said, "you better start now before you can't, anymore."
She walked away.
(Aunt Cass was crying.)
Baymax was comforting her. And that wasn't even the worst part.
Hiro.
Oh, Hiro. Hiro "The Love Of Her Life" Hamada. He just stood there, his hands by his sides, shoulders hunched together as Jo stood (she could barely stand by now, but hey, she'd become good at pretending to be okay). His tousled hair was sprayed all over his face, and his lips were quivering. He didn't say anything, not for a long while.
And then, "why didn't you tell me?"
"I didn't want to hurt your feelings." Jo said. She was inching towards the door, prepared for the goodbye that was about to come. On Christmas eve, too.
Hiro covered his face with his hands. "You didn't -Jo, oh my God, Jo, did it ever occur to you that you already had my feelings? Every last one of them? It's too late, Jo, my feelings are hurt, Jo, Jo, Jo...," he kept saying that, her name, and he rushed towards her, hugging her, his hands running through her hair and she cried. Oh, she cried. "Don't you leave me, not you too."
Aunt Cass and Baymax joined the hug, too. "We'll get treatment." Aunt Cass said, firmly. "We'll get you back on your feet. I'll take your dad to court, get permission for you to live with me, but I won't adopt you." She said, and everyone had to laugh at that.
"I don't have to go?" Jo asked, and the three others stared.
"Are you satisfied with your treatment?" Baymax asked.
And God, no, she wasn't.
(Hiro raced her through the streets, Jo laughing as he pushed her.)
The wheelchair had been made by GoGo, so it was wicked fast. Hiro stood on a little strip behind the wheelchair, steering them through the market, the two of them laughing. "When we saved San Fransoskyo," Hiro began, but Jo silenced him with a loud laugh.
It sounded like the one she had made when they'd first met, and Hiro smiled brightly. "Don't start that, again." Jo said. "When I saved San Fransoskyo this, when Baymax and I did that," she mimicked.
"I don't sound like that!" Hiro interjected.
Jo leaned her head back and kissed him on the cheek. His hair got into her face and she reminisced on how his hair was longer than hers, now. She'd cut it short, her curly hair gone. Hiro had been angry when she'd first done it, but he'd gotten used to it. That swollen neck of hers stood proudly, no blanket. "We better hurry." Jo said, laughing at her boyfriend's surprised expression.
Boyfriend.
How foreign it sounded on a dead girl's lips.
Hiro nodded, and they raced on towards the Doctor's office.
The ride home was much quieter.
(She only had three months to live.)
("Hiro!" She shouted.)
Papers flew everywhere, some poetry (she'd started writing again), some blueprints. The boy was making a mess and she watched, helpless in her wheelchair, too weak to move. "Hiro, stop!" She said. Over the past year, she'd become stronger, and she kept her voice strong. She had to, now. For him. Hiro "The Love Of Her Life" Hamda.
He spun around, now, kicking things and yelling out curse words she'd never heard him yell. "YOU'RE GOING TO DIE, JO." He said. "YOU'RE GOING TO LEAVE ME, TOO. What is this?" He asked, shouting at the air. "Am, am I cursed? Is this what I get for being smart? I lose everyone?" His voice sounded raw.
"I lost Mom, and Dad, and Tadashi, my only brother, and the first Baymax. I... I can't... I can't lose her, not her..." he kneeled. "Please, not her."
He seemed to have forgotten there were others in the room. Arms shaking, Jo fell off her chair and crawled towards him. She held him in her arms, a tangle of weak, skinny limbs and stronger, scrawny feet and they both cried (because what else was there to do?).
"I don't want to host another funeral." He murmured.
Jo opened her mouth to say something, but she closed it again. After a long while, she spoke. "My full name is Josefina Maria Candida Montez. I have Lymphoma. My father is a drunk and my mother is dead. I have no future, but I have one boy that I love very much. In my heart, in my mind, I call him Hiro 'The Love of My Life' Hamada. He doesn't know how much I love him. He doesn't know that I cry at night because I don't want to leave him. He doesn't know that I broke my heart while breaking him and I didn't want to hurt him -how could I?- but somehow we ended up dating and living together and I hurt him.
"I knew his older brother. He saved my life. He knew me when you couldn't tell I had cancer. He taught me that the world is sometimes sad, but always beautiful. He taught me honesty and the beauty of words. I wrote poems about him, Tadashi 'Saved My Life' Hamada. Now Tadashi is gone. I'll be joining him soon, I'll be leaving Hiro behind. I don't want Hiro to be sad. I want him to work hard to save other people around the world. I love Hiro Hamada very, very much, and maybe, just maybe, he loves me too."
Jo held him, then, and he cried for a while before speaking. "I love Josefina Maria Candida Montez. I call her Jo. I love her with short hair or long hair, in a dress or in old clothes. I love the way she hides her poetry from me and is so full of life even when she's dying. I'm going to miss her, but she won't die. I won't let her. Please don't leave me. Everyone else left me."
Jo gulped back tears. "I won't leave you."
Both of them knew she was lying.
(By the third month, aunt Cass had bought a plot.)
They'd picked out a funeral dress (it was white, because black seemed to cliche and polka dots seemed too uplifting). By then, Jo was so skinny that eating hurt, and she had to use a robot Hiro had made to write poems. They spend a lot of time together, Hiro and Jo, watching movies and being happy, being happy while they could. Her father was long gone, she was living with them permanently until she died. GoGo, Wasabi, Honey Lemon and Fred came by often, to check on her and talk to her while she was still around.
It was on the evening of April the twentieth, almost a year after she'd gotten to meet Hiro "The Love of Her Life" Hamada, that she collapsed. By then they had medicines hooked up to her, and she'd been taking special foods to try and lengthen her life span but she'd spilled the beans to the Hamadas too late. She couldn't be saved.
Jo collapsed halfway to Hiro and Tadashi's old room, her legs giving out. Hiro and Aunt Cass heard her, running quickly to her aid. Her heart was giving out, and they carried her upstairs to Tadashi's bed. Baymax woke up, then, and helped as best as he could to keep her going. But her body was too skinny, her stomach was in so much pain, and she couldn't stop coughing. It was no use.
"Don't leave me." Hiro pleaded, as aunt Cass held him. He got loose, though, and stumbled forward, holding Jo in his arms. "Don't leave, Jo 'The Girl Who Was Made For Me' Montez. Please." And he kissed her, smack on the lips, a goodbye kiss, their only real kiss.
"Love you." She said.
Her eyes closed.
Hiro cried.
(At the funeral, everyone wore black.)
Except Baymax, Hiro and the guest of honor herself. Hiro's friends were quiet, keeping their sorrow to themselves. Just as Jo had asked him, he stood up to read his eulogy to her. He didn't say too much, couldn't say too much, and was thankful when Wasabi stood up to take over.
He peeked into her coffin.
Her eyes were closed. Her hair was curled at the end. Her poetry book was tucked in her hand and he was about to walk away when something caught his eye.
His name. Quickly, he unhooked Jo's limp arms and grabbed her poetry book. He flipped through it until coming to the newest inscription, where sure enough, his name was written.
"How dare you break a genius' heart, Jo?" Hiro asked. He meant it was a joke, but it came out cruelly and he hated himself for that.
He told his aunt he was going home with Baymax, and he did. Upstairs, he sat in Tadashi's old bed, the sight of his brother's things mixed with Jo's almost making him cry.
The room smelled like her.
He unfolded the note and found a poem inside.
"Hiro. If you're reading this, I'm probably gone by now. I'm so sorry, Hiro. I didn't deserve you. I hope you can forgive me. When we first met, you asked me if you could see some of my poems. I said no. Well, now you can. There's a video on your computer. Check it out if you have time. I love you, Hiro. Hiro 'The Love Of My Life' Hamada. You're allowed to keep this book, by the way.
I'll be seeing you."
Hiro held back his tears, and walked towards the computer. He pressed on a file he hadn't seen before, and covered his face with his hands when he saw her.
Her hair was still long, brown and curly, and her skin was darker. She was skinny, but not super skinny. Her glasses didn't look too big for her face, yet. She waved towards the camera.
"Hey, Hiro. This is something I wrote for you, which I'm never gonna let you see. But. Anyway, here's... this.
I've learned over time that you
couldn't care less about your smile
or those two front teeth spread
a little too far apart.
and I like that.
I've learned over time that you
love when I tell jokes
even if they're cheesy
and you love when i compliment your
genius ideas.
so i'll keep complimenting.
I've learned over time that you
watch me when i'm watching you
even though you pretend not to
but that's okay, because I do, too.
I've learned over time what love is
it's your gap tooth smile
your warm hands and ready inventions
it's how you laugh when i try to cook
because we both know I'm bad but you
never make fun of me
and i love you for that, my Hiro Hamada.
you'll never know how much I love you
for that. Right now you don't know, what
i'm hiding from you, my Hiro Hamada.
My hero. It's you.
The end."
Her voice disappeared for a bit, before the video changed and it was her, it was still her, but she was skinny and her glasses didn't quite fit and her clothes hung off her skin like garbage bags but her smile. Her smile was still the same.
Hiro cried, now.
"Okay. By now you know. I've got three months. I've been pulled out of school and crap. Right now you're at the university. You didn't want to go, bless you, you wanted to stay here. You'll never know how much that means to me. How much you mean to me. This isn't a poem, this is just me apologizing to my Hiro Hamada.
"When I met your brother, Tadashi, he couldn't shut up about you. Now I know why. Hiro, you're a genius. I'm not. All I'm good at is breaking a genius' heart. I know, I know, how dare I, right? Who do I think I am? I wish I knew. But I know who you think I am. You think -no, you know- that I am intelligent in my words. That I am happy and want so much to please you. You know I don't want to die. You know my favorite color is blue because there are so many shades of it. You know my father is a drunk and that I defend myself from him. You know that when I sleep I snore, even though I'll deny it, you know I'm arrogant and ignorant and naive and yet, Hiro Hamada, you love me anyway. I am so grateful for that.
I'm gone. Please don't destroy things like with Tadashi. Please don't get mad. You can't take it out on my doctor, or my father, or GoGo or aunt Cass. If you're going to get mad, get mad at me.
Goodbye, Hiro." He saw her blink. "Hiro 'The Love Of My Life' Hamada."
The screen went dark.
Behind Hiro, Baymax hugged him. Hiro let him, his body shaking heavily.
(She was buried next to Tadashi.)
(When she was alive, she came in every Friday.)
He never talked to her, never waved. All he did was notice that she came in every Friday. She had long brown hair, that was naturally curly. Her skin was tanned from the time she spent in the sun. The glasses that rested on her nose were square, and she always sat by the window. She was always alone. When she left, she held the door open for people coming and going out. She gave a hug to aunt Cass, every time, before she left. Even the last hug.
(She didn't come in on Friday, anymore.)