A/n : Here's another angst-y story about one of my otps, JeanMarco. This pairing physically hurts me, ok, so I'm gonna put some effort into this. So yeah, here you go. Please enjoy. I'll try to angst this thing.

"Hey, Jean."

"What's up, Marco?"

"Uh... If... If I ever get into a fatal car accident and have to be hospitalized for a long time... Can you do me a favour?"

Jean just stared at him with a look saying, What are you saying all of a sudden?

Having read his expression, Marco said, "Can you?"

Jean replied, "Of course."

"Can you lie my mother that the university suddenly sent me overseas for a course... And I won't be coming back for quite some time?" Marco rubbed his elbow, a little guilty.

"Eh? But wouldn't that be... Bad?" Jean tried to find the right word to use.

"It's fine. The last thing I want her to do is worry about me."

"Well... If you say so, then okay."

"Excuse me? What did you just say?" Jean was on the verge of smashing his phone against a wall.

"I'm sorry, but please come to the hospital immediately."

Jean hung up and sprinted out of the house without hesitation.

Damn, Marco... Who do you think you are?! Some kind of fortune-telling guy? Jean ranted as he ran to the nearby hospital where Marco was being hospitalized.

Upon reaching the hospital, he found the ward and was greeted by a stern-looking doctor.

"I shall assume you must be Marco Bodt's friend?"

"Eh? But shouldn't the rela-" Jean paused.

Oh yeah, he can't tell his mother about this.

"Ah... Y-Yeah, I am."

"Please enter."

Jean entered and met a Marco who was deep in slumber.

He took a step closer when the doctor's voice halted him, "Unfortunately, the car accident was way too fatal. The right side of the patient's body is completely paralyzed..."

Jean whipped around to look at him, wanting to say - yell or shout - something, anything, "Wh-"

The doctor continued, "However... There's worse."

Jean went silent, he could hear his heartbeat ringing in his ears, beckoning him not to hear any more. There was nothing going through his mind now, it was blank, empty, just nothingness.

"A part of his brain was damaged and... His cells are regenerating at a much slower pace than it should be..."

Jean was taking a medical course in university, and he anticipated what was to come from that. His heart seemed to have stopped beating, as he could not hear it echo in his ears anymore. He did not want to hear it.

"His days are numbered."

The doctor's words did not hit him as hard as he expected it to, and he was somewhat... Relieved.

Well... I already knew this was coming...

There's nothing surprising about this... Right?

Trying - and failing - to assure himself, Jean staggered back.

"Before the patient fell asleep, he told me to not call his mother and instead call you, so you don't need to worry," having said that, the doctor walked out of the room to leave him and Marco alone.

Muttering a soft "Thanks", he sat down beside Marco.

Jean stared at Marco's face and Marco suddenly opened his eyes.

"Eh? Marco?" Jean was shocked.

He was not ready to talk to him yet.

Marco looked over to him, and forced a smile, "Good morning, Jean."

"Eh? A-Ah, good morning... Marco," Marco's name felt funny on his tongue.

"You heard what the doctor said, right?" Still smiling, Marco looked back at the ceiling. Jean looked down, "Mm..."

Marco chuckled softly and teased, "What kind of face is that? Cheer up, Jean."

"How am I supp-" Jean snapped.

"It's going to be fine," Marco interrupted.

"But..." Jean's voice softened. "But, Marco... You're going to..."

"I know."

"Then how can you..." Jean hesitated. "Smile... like that?"

"Because, I get to spend my last moments with you."

Upon hearing that, Jean could feel tears welling up in his eyes but he did not wipe them off. As tears started to stream down his face, Marco said, "Please don't cry for me, Jean. Don't. My right side is paralyzed and I won't be able to reach your face with my left from here."

More tears could only flow as Jean clutched at his face, trying to deny it, "I'm not crying, stupid..."

"Jean..." Marco's smile started to disappear as he watched his friend struggle to keep his tears at bay.

"Shut up..." Jean sniffed.

Marco smiled and looked away.

After Jean calmed down, he held onto Marco's right hand, despite knowing that Marco would not be able to feel anything, and squeezed it hard, feeling his warmth.

He then took it up to his lips where he kissed it ever so gently as if it will break upon the slightest touch, closing his eyes and cherishing his best friend's warmth.

Marco did not look over after a long time, and Jean freaked out, putting Marco's hand down and standing up.

The first thing that came to Jean's mind was: Was Marco dead?

He rushed over to the other side of the bed, nearly stumbling over, and realized that Marco was just sound asleep.

He must be tired… Jean thought.

He then also realized that he was such a fool. As long as the machine that was connected to him was not beeping continuously, everything should be fine.

He heaved a sigh of relief and sat back down.

Marco was asleep and Jean was quite clueless about what to do next.

He definitely did not want to disturb him, and the hospital does not allow visitors to stay too late.

In the end, he left a short note with a handful of scribbled words, "I'll be going home first. See you tmr."

Marco peeled open his tired eyes and squinted almost immediately from the sunlight pouring in though the windows.

He looked at the clock on the wall opposite his bed.

It was eight in the morning.

He noticed a piece of paper on the bedside table and reached over.

Smiling, he set the note down after reading it and waited for Jean.

However, there was no need to wait.

Jean was already there, head buried in his arms and snoring away.

Marco did not notice him, since he was on his right and he felt frustrated.

Jean must have sensed Marco staring at him, as he quickly shot up from his position.

"Good morning, Jean," to Marco, it had felt like ages since he had said his friend's name when it was just yesterday when he greeted him.

"Good morning, Marco…" Jean reached down and stroked his midnight black hair, ruffling it.

Marco grinned at his touch and leaned towards his hand, burying himself in it like a little puppy getting pet.

"Oh yeah, I nearly forgot," Marco suddenly mentioned. "Can you help me with something?"

"Sure, why not?"

"Well… I just want to learn how to write with my left hand…"

"Oh, is that so, okay," Jean merely said.

"Eh? But, but are you sure about this? I mean…" Marco wanted to protest as he was taken aback by the fact that Jean just agreed so easily.

"Of course I am."

Marco did not say anything.

"I may not be a leftie, but I'll try," Jean moved his chair over to the other side of the bed.

When he was about to sit down, a nurse came in with a tray. "It's time for your breakfast, Mr Bodt," she said as she pulled the table over to nearer to Marco and help adjust his back and pillow so he was sitting upright.

When the nurse left, Jean giggled and said, "I guess this is your warmup for today!"

Marco giggled along with him.

Jean watched Marco take his spoon and start to eat, one by one, bit by bit, when Jean could not take it anymore and decided to help him instead.

Taking over, Jean could not help but laugh at Marco's predicament : Eating with only one hand.

I guess that's what best friends do, right? Laugh at their friends' misfortune before helping them.

Jean easily scooped up some rice and Marco cooperated, by going "Ahh~", and Jean slid the spoon into his mouth.

It was Jean's first time feeding someone and he had no idea as to how to position the spoon when it enters someone's mouth, and he nearly spilled rice over Marco.

"Careful!" Marco exclaimed, and Jean just laughed.

For a moment there, Marco had nearly forgotten that he was in a hospital bed and that he was paralyzed with his days nothing but numbered.

After Marco finally finished breakfast, Jean went to clear the rubbish.

"Eh... Jean, have you eaten breakfast?" Marco asked when he came back.

"No, I didn't," Jean replied with an innocent face.

"Ehh?! B-But you need to eat! You, you should have told me earlier and I could have left some for you, you idiot!" Marco blurted everything out frantically at the speed of a bullet train and Jean nearly missed it.

Jean laughed Marco's words off and said, "It's fine, Marco, I'm not hungry."

"Bu-"

Grooowl.

Jean blushed and scratched the back of his head, smiling sheepishly.

"You better eat now, Jean!"

"Haha, no way, really, I'm fine!"

Marco frowned and Jean went closer, and started to push his eyebrows apart. "H-Hey! What are you doing?" Marco shut his eyes as Jean massaged his eyebrows gently.

Jean chuckled, "Don't frown too much, if not you'll become like Professor Levi."

Marco burst out laughing heartily at his joke, and Jean smiled upon seeing his smiling face, looking at it lovingly.

"Anyway, let's fulfill your wish…" Jean sat down and pulled out a notepad from his back pocket which he carried around with him all the time. "It's time to start practicing!"

Jean casually took the pen from the bedside table and thus began the lesson.

Jean held Marco's hand as he was trembling so much when he was trying to grip it. Slowly, the pen moved across the paper, and alphabets, then words were soon formed.

"Eh? I unconsciously wrote your name…" Jean let go and leaned back a little, observing the paper.

Marco also realized, "Ah… That's right…"

On the paper was a pretty scrawly handwritten 'Marco', with its 'o' all jelly-like.

Jean reluctantly blushed and decided to move on.

"Hm… What do you want to write next?"

"Well, it's better to try as many letters as possible first, won't it?"

"If you say so."

They tried many letters after that, from a to h, until Jean skipped to m for no particular reason.

Soon, they managed to perfect at least eighty percent of the alphabets, which was a great achievement nonetheless.

It was already lunchtime and a different nurse came in this time.

Again, Jean insisted on feeding Marco, while Marco made sure Jean ate some of his food as well.

"Ahh… I'm tired…" Marco groaned as Jean came over to adjust his posture.

Jean sat down and leaned back, staring at the yawning Marco blankly.

He was tired too, but he did not want to go back home or sleep yet. He wanted to accompany Marco just a little longer, even if he is sleeping or eating or… Or anything. As long as he is with him.

There is no need to ask why.

"Marco…" Jean, still staring, called out. Marco looked at him questioningly. "It's gonna be April soon, and the cherry blossom trees will be blooming soon, too." Jean was somewhat in a daze and his tongue was a bit tangled up.

Marco eyes lit up before Jean could say any more, "Eh, really?! Can we go see them together?"

"Well, that is what I was gonna ask you."

"Can we?"

"Of course."

"Thank you so much, Jean!" Marco, out of excitement, wanted to jump up and hug him when he realized he could not. He remained stuck at the same position while struggling to move, as if he was drowning in quicksand.

Instead, Jean automatically got up and wrapped his arms around him, extinguishing some of Marco's pent up frustration.

Smiling sheepishly while feeling a fleeting tad of tears appear at the edge of his eyes, Marco whispered into his ear, "Thank you, Jean."

"It's okay, Marco. It's okay," the last couple of words were nothing but a breath leaving Jean's parted lips as he hugged him tighter.

After Jean pulled away, Marco felt the urge to tell him not to. He did not want his warmth to disappear just yet.

Because it'll be gone soon.

"Next week, I'll bring you to Inokashira Park. There are swan boats for rental there so we can view the sakura from the water."

"But we need to cycle the…"

"I'll do the cycling and you'll do the viewing, so don't worry about it," Jean assured him almost immediately upon seeing his confused eyes. Before Marco could object, he continued, "I'll also make some bento for us, so you won't starve on that day."

"But…" Marco looked for something to say, or rather something that he could do for Jean. However Jean only shook his head.

"I'm sorry…" Marco's voice trailed off.

"It's okay. I don't mind doing these kind of things for you. It's nothing at all," Jean said gently.

Since it's you.

"I'll go check with the doctor if I can bring you out next week, and at the same time rent a wheelchair or somethin'."

After Jean went off, Marco sighed.

"Next week, huh… I don't know if I can…" Marco mumbled to himself.

"I'm sorry, Jean…"

Thank you so much.

When Jean came back, he was as happy as a clam, "The doctor said tha-" However, he realized Marco was suddenly all wide-eyed and he did not reply him. Bewildered, he asked, "What's wrong, Marco?"

Marco snapped out of it and looked at Jean before he slowly averted his gaze away, "It's nothing…"

Noticing the slight tremble in his voice, Jean repeated his question again, sounding more concerned this time.

In the end, Marco gave in and said, "I'm just… A bit scared."

It was obviously a lie.

"Scared?"

"Do you remember what the doctor said on the first day?" Marco paused, unwilling to look at his friend's eyes. "He said my days were numbered. That means, that means… I could die anytime and I wouldn't even know. Not you nor me… I would just leave this world and…"

I wouldn't be able to feel your warmth being wrapped around me anymore.

"I'm scared, Jean. I'm scared. I'm really scared… I mean… Where… Where will I go after I die? Is there heaven? Is there hell? Where exactly do I go? I'm scared, Jean, please… I don't…" Tears began to plummet onto his shirt.

Help...

His next words were just a soft whisper.

"I don't want to die yet…"