A week later, Jon and Colby's family were sitting on the front row in a large arena where a graduation ceremony was taking place. Colby had finally graduated school, getting his Masters in business. Jon couldn't be more proud of his lover as he stood and cheered along with his family, whistling loudly and yelling how much he loved the younger man. He could practically see Colby's red face from across the arena, but he didn't care. Snapping pictures and taking pictures of Colby accepting his diploma, all else was forgotten. Nothing else mattered in that moment but this.

The day prior, Jon and Colby had gone to the tattoo parlor and got their matching tattoos done, the date that they made their relationship official, an infinity symbol as a dash, and 'forever' inked around their ring fingers. As Colby said the week before, no, it wasn't a marriage, but each time that Jon looked down at his finger, he knew that this man was his until the end of time and that nothing was going to take him away. Their love was one of a kind, a love that Jon had longed for since the day he left home leaving his homophobic parents behind. They had disowned him when they caught him with another guy in bed and from that day on, he never looked back. But he was missing something and he found that in Colby's love. Pure and raw, beautiful as the day's sun.

"Oh, baby! I'm so proud of you." Colby's mother wrapped her tiny arms around her youngest son, kissing his bearded cheek as tears ran down her face. "My smart boy. Oh, my."

Colby's older brother, Robert chuckled, giving him a one armed hug since Colby's mother still hadn't moved out of the way. "Trust me, she was like that when I graduated, too. Congrats, bro. I'm proud of you."

"Thanks, Rob, Mom. Means a lot that you guys came." Colby smiled, but there was a strong hint of sadness in his smile as he shuffled his feet, eyes peering up at Jon quickly. "Uh.. Dad..?"

"Baby.. he wanted to come, it's just.."

Colby cut his mother off as he shook his head, waving his hand back and forth. "It's okay, Mom. Don't worry about it. I understand."

Tiny hands rubbed against Colby's tie, more tears falling from the mother's eyes. "You know he loves you."

"He just wishes I was straight."

"His own father left your grandmother for a man. He grew up believing gays were evil, baby. It's going to be hard for him to understand."

"He's a grown man, ma. And I'm his son.." Colby's voice broke, but he shook his head, refusing to cry. This was his day and he wasn't going to let his father's childish antics get in the way of that. Kissing his mother's wet cheek, he moved to greet Jon, giving him a peck on the lips and a big hug. "Thanks for being here, baby."

"Where else would I be?" Jon whispered back, hugging Colby back and kissing his neck softly.

The four of them grabbed a quick lunch before going their separate ways. It was a bit uncomfortable, the air thick over the issues Colby's father had, but no one brought it up. Once Jon and Colby were alone, though, it got better and they decided to spend the rest of the day happy instead of sad or upset over the parents who couldn't accept their children for who they were. The men went for a cruise downtown, buying a few t-shirts and trinkets along the way. Colby began to feel dizzy, but he didn't say anything because he didn't want to ruin the day even more. All week, he'd been having dizzy spells, even threw up a time or two. He put it off as being nervous about his final exam and graduation, but he knew it was much more deeper than that. He was groggy, like he was getting sick, but not the normal kind of flu sick. Still, he wanted everything to die down before he brought up another issue even though he knew Jon would be pissed for not telling him.

That night, after making love two times and falling asleep in each other's arms, Colby climbed out of bed near four in the morning, his stomach feeling as if it was going to explode. His body was hot all over, even as he stood under the air conditioning vent, and he felt as if he couldn't fully catch his breath. Tears of desperation began falling out of his eyes as he leaned against the skin and waited for the spell to go away, but it didn't. Suddenly, he hunched forward and threw up on the ground before turning to the toilet, the fluids continuing to spill from his mouth. When he saw blood mixed in with the bile, he grew hysterical, calling out for Jon in between gags. Jon jumped out of bed in a fright, running over to Colby as he stepped over the gunk on the floor and rubbed his back, asking what was wrong, but Colby couldn't answer. His face was bright red as he continued to throw up, Jon losing his mind not knowing what to do.

Less than ten minutes later, an ambulance arrived. The paramedics sedated Colby because he wouldn't stop crying and his body was shaking, the temperature rising gradually with a high fever. Jon threw on some sweats and a tank along with his house slippers, quickly packing an overnight bag for the two of them because he knew that they were going to hospitalize Colby. Getting in his car, he followed close behind the ambulance as they made it to the hospital and they quickly stabilized Colby and set him up in a room, with promises to return for tests and answers to what was happening. The storm had only just hit the surface.