Prop's to angellwings, xXfly-by-nightXx, and Standard-Ang3l for their reviews on "Rose Garden", and for putting Rose Garden to their favorites!

al3xasara and angellwings for their reviews And DeadlyDaringLove for adding "Painting Wild Flowers" to her favorites.

nitchie4ever, al3xasara, NverSayNver for their reviews and favorites on "Sharing".

Nitchie4ever, al3xasara, angellwings, huffle-bin for their support on "In Sickness"

angellwings, Standard-Ang3l, and xXfly-by-nightXx, nadiac869 for their reviews on "Winning Roses"

angellwings, nitchie4ever, al3xasara, and Standard-Ang3l for supporting and reviewing on "Novelty"

If you haven't read "Never Have I Ever", "Novelty", "Rose Garden", "Painting Wild Flowers", "Sharing", "Winning Roses", "In Sickness", or "Sweet Tooth", I would appreciate it if you did.

A/N: The song is "Cancer" by My Chemical Romance. I changed one word to fit the plot and that was "chemo" to "treatment".

"Ella, I think it's time. Your hair can't support these extensions any more." Laura says inspecting my roots closely. Her words almost send me into a frenzy. What would that mean? Would I finally have to go public with my condition? Would I need to cut it short?

Tears build up in my eyes and I feel like breaking down. Laura spins the chair around so she can hold me in a hug.

"Oh baby, I wish this wasn't happening. I wish it was someone who truly deserved to be miserable had this."

I let out a watery laugh and hold in my tears, just hugging her. It was like holding on to her could take away all my pain, humiliation, and suffering.

"When has anyone learned a lesson by watching someone get what they deserve?" I sigh. "Let's just get this over with."

Laura backs away and turns me away from the mirror. "I'm going to cut your hair too, so that people think you just got a new style."

I close my eyes, and listen to the flying of her equipment until all the extensions are out and my hair is now in a wedged bob.

"If I had known that I would look this good, I would have done this before my hair started falling out." I joked weakly, running a hand through my now short hair.

"I agree."

"Ella?" Shane's eyes bug-out when he takes in my new hair cut. I blush sweeping a few strands behind my ear.

"Oh, hey Shane, Mitchie." He keeps staring and his eyebrows seem to be permanently frozen to furrow.

"Did something happen? What happened? Are you okay?" Mitchie rushes over and slaps a hand to my forehead. Shane moves at a slower pace but abandons his tambourine at the door.

"Yeah, I'm great." I flip through Candace's design sketches for the tour, anything to keep me from fidgeting under their gazes. Shane's hand comes over the booklet and lowers it to the table.

"Ella, seriously. What's going on?" Shane's voice is soft and concerned, something I've never heard from the pop-tart.

"Guys, sit down. I have something to tell you."

"So you have no idea how long you have?" Mitchie whispers, clutching Shane's hand. I nod my head in affirmation.

"Tell Nate." It was the only thing out of Shane's mouth. His eyes were watering and he shut them tightly before squeezing Mitchie's hand and leaving.

"Knock, knock." I say, stepping into Nate's little recording room. His head shoots up and his eyes glimmer.

"Hey Ells, rumor has it that you cut your hair." He smirks a little and my heart stumbles over its self.

"Nope," I pop the 'p' obnoxiously and twirl the fringe at the front around my pointer finger. "It shrank six inches into my head." He lets out a long laugh.

"Hey! Do you want to hear something I wrote?" I ask, opening my sheet music and setting it down on the piano, not really waiting for a response.

"Um, yeah. Sure." Nate said, side-stepping out of the way.

"Good, and I want you to listen really hard to the lyrics. This is important to me."

I placed my fingers on the keys and pressed the starting chords.

Turn away,
If you could get me a drink
Of water 'cause my lips are chapped and faded
Call my aunt Marie
Help her gather all my things
And bury me in all my favorite colors,
My sisters and my brothers, still,
I will not kiss you,
'Cause the hardest part of this is leaving you.

Nate circled the piano, looking intensely at my face, so I opened up and let him in.

Now turn away,
'Cause I'm awful just to see
'Cause all my hairs abandoned all my body,
Oh, my agony,
Know that I will never marry,
Baby, I'm just soggy from the treatment
But counting down the days to go
It just ain't living
And I just hope you know

He had to know, and this was the only way that I could make him understand. Understand the pain and suffering that I lived with. How hard it was for me to love him while knowing that this was happening and he had no idea. I had to show him my heart and how much he means to me and that it's not easy going through this a lone.

That if you say (if you say)
Goodbye today (goodbye today)
I'd ask you to be true (cause I'd ask you to be true)

I'm begging at this point. I'd accept if he left and was angry, but that doesn't mean that I wouldn't break. It wouldn't make my heart hurt any less. I need him. I need him to know that it would be the hardest thing in my world to let him go. For any reason.

'Cause the hardest part of this is leaving you
'Cause the hardest part of this is leaving you

His hands are shaking and tears are trickling slowly down his face. He slowly walks over to where I'm seated and shuts the piano lid. His chocolate eyes are blurred with unshared tears as he takes my face between his hands.

"Ella, I don't know what's going on. Or what you're talking about, but I'm not leaving." His lips collide with mine and a moment of desperation takes control. We were physically letting each other know how the other felt. As our lips molded and shifted, they whispered sorrows for lost time. Hands roamed, trying to memorize the feel of the person who held such a large part of you. Skin brushing each other, proving that we were both human.

At that moment, I wasn't Ella Padore, musician, singer, and AISD patient.

I was just a girl, holding the man she loved.