Moving In With R5
~Chapter Fourteen~
Ross taps his foot impatiently. He's hiding in the cocoon of his hoodie, something he always did when he was upset and wanted people to leave him alone. His arms are crossed over his chest and he's pouting.
Stormie Lynch turns down the dial on the radio, neither passenger was bothering to listen to it, but it served as background noise to their tense car ride. "Ross, honey, please stop bouncing your foot. You're making the car shake," she asked of him politely, gently.
"You should have taken me to the hospital last night!" He yells. His mom winces, but she doesn't take his harsh tone personally. She knows he's just stressed and upset and most importantly scared.
She pats her son's knee. "It was late last night, Ross. We'd already been through a lot, too. We're going now. It's gonna be okay."
Ross continues to bite down on his thumbnail, and, despite his mother's pleas, bounce his foot.
"She needs me... I need to be there with her..." Ross mumbles distractedly to himself. Stormie doesn't respond. She knows by now he's off in his own little world, letting fear and anxiety cloud his mind.
When they get to the hospital Ross rushes out of the car, barely even a second after his mom had parked it. She trails sluggishly behind him. She thinks once about warning him not to run in the hospital, but ultimately decides against it. He was gonna do whatever he wanted anyway.
"We're here to see Kiersey Clemons," Ross tells the receptionist. The poor woman looks at him, extremely caught off guard. He's gripping onto the desk for dear life, afraid he'll float away somewhere far off into the clouds, and he really needs to be here right now. For her. And for himself too.
"Ross!" He hears Dove shout from behind him. He turns around to see the trembling girl emerge from her boyfriend to stumble over to Ross. She looks so tired. She'd probably been there all night. Her hair was quickly done in a messy ponytail and she didn't have any make-up on, wearing glasses instead of contacts. She was a mess. A weepy, tear stained mess.
She fell into Ross's embrace, sobbing into his chest. She was saying something, he could hear her speaking but her words were cries of agony and he couldn't distinguish what the words actually were.
"Ssh," he smooths her hair down and feels his heart break into so many different pieces -all of them shattered all over the ground and he doesn't have time to pick them up because he's trying to console Dove. "Ssh, it's okay. She's gonna be fine."
"You don't know that!" She whines against the soft fabric of his jacket.
Ross's hard eyes snap up to look at Ryan. He's sitting in a waiting room chair, head resting in his palms. He looks tired too. Ryan glances up and locks gazes with Ross. They share a look for a few seconds, both of them in understanding. Then the moment is over. Ross goes back to hugging Dove. Ryan goes back to sitting in a chair being tired.
Stormie finally catches up with her son and she places a hand over mouth, letting out a small gasp, when she sees the sight.
"Oh, Dove." Her eyes tear up and when the young woman notices this she pulls away from Ross a little to let Stormie in on the hug.
Ryan decides to join them. They all stay like that. Four people all going through the same thing, comforting each other, hoping for the best.
A nurse timidly walks up to them, not wanting to intrude on the moment.
She clears her throat and grabs their attention. "You can all see her now if you'd like."
…
Mark hadn't anticipated all that would happen in one single night, but he was happy to find that all of the kids were dressed and ready to go to the hospital when he woke up. He felt a bit sheepish himself, still having not been ready.
"Okay, guys we're gonna leave in ten minutes to meet your mom and Ross at the hospital." Everyone nods affirmation.
When he comes back downstairs they all head out to the car, but Mark notices one particular member stays resolute in her seat at the kitchen table.
"Laura," Mark says gently, feeling sorry for the girl, "we're leaving now. Come on and join us."
Laura looks up to meet his eyes and can't understand why he's being so patient with her. Wasn't he suppose to be mad at her? Everyone else seemed to be.
"I'm not going. I just... I don't think it would be a good idea for me to tag along. Ross is upset enough with me." She sighs, drawing herself up from the chair and placing her dirty cereal bowl in the sink.
Mark sighs too. He glance back to the waiting group of kids outside who are anxious to get going soon. It's in that moment that the older man realizes, even though he's known Laura since she was young, he's never had much interaction with the girl. But he can tell she's not in a good mood at the moment. And maybe she shouldn't be going to the hospital. She didn't really know Kiersey, but then again, leaving her here seemed like such a heartless thing to do. Especially with the broken expression she's wearing on her face.
He's torn. All he knows is that he has to do something, make some kind of decision, soon.
Riker pops his head through the door. "Uh, dad, we're kinda waiting on you out here."
Mark takes his eyes off of Laura long enough to speak with his son. "Riker, I want you to drive yourself and Laura down to the hospital."
If any of his sons were close with Laura, it was definitely Riker.
Riker's eyebrows raise and he points his index finger in the direction of the kitchen, referring to Laura. "But she said she wasn't coming-"
"I know what she said," Mark is quick to cut his son off. Riker stares at him with wide-eyes, surprised by his father's sharp tone. "But I'm not leaving her here alone. She's coming with us wether she likes it or not."
Then he leaves, and Riker just stands there for a moment wondering what had gotten into his dad all of a sudden. But Riker, being the oldest and most reliable, tried to be helpful when his parents were under a lot of stress. This must have been one of those days.
He takes one step -one single step toward Laura- and she turns on her heels to face him. "I'm not going with you," she states, assuredly. She sounds frustrated, and Riker wonders how many hours of sleep she got last night. He decides it probably wasn't very many. "Just go without me, okay? I shouldn't be there. I don't even know Kiersey that well."
"Neither do I," Riker replies, hoping to reason with her, "but we aren't going for her anyway. We're going for Ross."
"Ross hates me!"
The older blond boy sucks in a breath. He knew his brother didn't hate her, but how was he suppose to convince Laura of that? His brother could be a stubborn ass sometimes, but Riker understood that he'd been hurt a lot in the past. No matter how much he wanted to deny it to others, Ross was a sensitive guy.
"He doesn't hate you," Riker starts slowly. "Actually, he probably really likes you, which is why he's so hurt by what happened. If he hated you he wouldn't have cared that you knew about his cancer."
"Wow, that's one hell of a way to show someone you care," Laura deadpans.
"Look, I'm not saying what he did was right, but that's just how he does things. Trust me, I've lived with him for years. I've figured him out. I know how he works." A mischievous glint forms in Riker's eyes and his lips form into a goofy smile. "You wanna know a secret, Laura?"
"Sure," she says, but she's only half listening to him, getting bored of these excuses she's already heard.
She grabs a mug from the cabinet and goes to make herself some coffee. She's not really too big on coffee, she'd actually only had it one other time, but her eyelids keep fluttering closed and she's struggling to fight off sleep.
Riker slips behind her, trapping the girl between him and the countertop, her back toward him. Just to make sure she would actually listen to what he had to say.
"Ross would be more upset with you if you didn't show up today."
He smirks when she sets down the coffee mug and remains silent. He knows that what he said has had some kind of effect on her. But he doesn't anticipate it when she turns to face him, looking angry and on the verge of tears.
"What does it even matter if Ross is upset with me? Huh, Riker? What the hell does it matter?" She spits out at him, venomously.
Riker takes a step back, shocked by her tone. She was angry. Really angry. And at who? Him? Herself? Ross? She looks so tired and frustrated. She must have been taking this harder than anyone realized.
And then it hits him.
Laura likes Ross.
More than just genuine concern or the possibility of a friendship. She liked him, but she hadn't realized it herself until their fight. She hated him, then she got to know him. Then he told her he hated her and they hadn't spoken since, and she finally realized how much that hurt her and why it hurt her so much.
She had feelings for Ross.
"He hates me. He always hated me. Except for that short period of time and I completely fucked that up!" She screams in a strained voice. She looks so close to tears. Her head is killing her because she's so exhausted and hasn't slept in almost twenty-four hours. "What does it matter if things go back to how they use to be? If we go back to hating each other? That's how things were before and no one made a big fucking deal about it!"
Riker places a tentative hand on her arm, quieting her hysterics. He rubs her arm comfortingly and gives her a look. One look that tells her he can see right through her. "It doesn't matter to anyone. No one but you. You're the one making it a big deal, Laura. Why do you think that is?"
She pouts childishly, blinking back tears and wiping her nose on her shirt sleeve. She stares up at him through thick lashes, barely even meeting his gaze. She can't. It's far too intense, the way he's looking at her. She feels intimidated. She feels transparent. She feels like he already knows what's going on in her mind. So why did he even bother asking her?
"I don't know," she mumbles pathetically, gazing down at her sock feet.
"Ehh!" He says, mimicking the sound of a buzzer. "Wrong answer."
She rolls her watery eyes and folds her arms over her chest. "Fine. It's because I like your stupid brother."
A smug smile eases it's way onto the older boy's face. "There ya go!" She laughs and he claps a hand down on her shoulder, tucking her under his arm. "Alright, now let's get you to the hospital so you can tell that to my stupid brother, okay?"
Again, she rolls her eyes. "Okay."
He's still smirking. All while leading her to the doorway.
Laura narrows her eyes, glaring up at him. "And wipe that stupid grin off of your face will you?"
…
Ross was nervous again. It was almost his turn to see Kiersey and he was stuck in that battle between wanting to see her and wanting to cry his eyes out in the bathroom.
Was he ready to see her? What kind of condition was she gonna be in? He imagined himself falling to pieces all over again when he walks through the door to her room. Seeing her laying there, looking so helpless and fragile. His feet will fail him, his knees will buckle under the pressure, and he'll collapse to the ground.
No.
Ross shakes his head. Now was not the time for thoughts like those. He had to remain optimistic. He couldn't start crying before he even went in there to see her. That wouldn't look good. He had to be strong for Kiersey.
Dove carefully opens the door, slipping outside. Surprisingly, she isn't crying like Ross had expected her too. She was a very good actress, Ross decided. The girl he'd held in the lobby that morning and the girl standing in front of him were two different people. This Dove looked calm and serene. She wasn't smiling, but she wasn't frowning either. She looked indifferent. That was probably the best thing for Kiersey at the moment. Not being happy because she was, after all, in a hospital. But not being sad because that would only worry her more. She was a lot like Ross. She didn't like hurting people.
"How is she?" Ross asks, his voice cracking very obviously.
Dove swallows and nods her head briskly. "She's okay for now."
"Oh, thank God," he says, letting out a sigh of relief. Even if she had used the words "for now". It was better than nothing. She was still yet okay. She still had time left to fight it.
"But," Dove says, cutting through Ross's happy thoughts.
He shook his head. No. No buts. No buts were allowed in this conversation. She was okay, that was all.
"What?" He questions, testing himself. He wasn't sure he really wanted to know the rest of her sentence.
"Never mind," she shook her head, closing her eyes tightly to suppress an onslaught of tears. "Just... just go see her, Ross. She's really anxious to see you."
Ross obliges, patting Dove on the shoulder as he passes by her. She whimpers at his touch, feeling herself becoming very close to crying.
Ross opens the door, lets out a shaky breath, and steps inside.
"Hey, Ross." Her voice is hoarse, she's wheezing out her breaths, but she's smiling. Dammit, she's smiling despite all that other stuff.
Her forehead is coated in a thick layer of sweat and she's got all these tubes and cords plugged into her somewhere, hooked up to a machine that's sitting right next to her bed. She looks like a prisoner. A prisoner to this hospital. A prisoner to her disease. A prisoner that had no chance of freedom.
"Hey," Ross smiles warmly. There's a chair sitting closely to the bed, but Ross doesn't sit in it. Instead, he lays down on the bed next to Kiersey. It brings images to his mind of when they were younger and he would visit her in the hospital, or she him. It was usually the former though. They would always do this, lay on the hospital bed together, reveling in the company of each other. Ross always made the hospital feel less lonely for her. Instead of feeling connected to all the machines, she felt connected to him.
She felt connected to someone, and not something.
That was a pretty awesome feeling.
Ross smirks playfully at her. "Hey, look your hairs almost as short as mine is now." He laughs and takes a lock of it between his thumb and index finger. There isn't much of it left. It only goes down past her ears now. He remembers it used to reach the middle of her back. But that was a different time. In a way, her hair length symbolizes how much life she's lost, and how much she has left to live.
Ross's heart pangs. Why did he notice that? It's like he was looking for things to depress him now. As if laying in a hospital bed with your sick best friend wasn't depressing enough.
She laughs, too, and swats his hand away playfully. "Stop making fun of my hair, Ross." She pouts childishly and touches her hair self-consciously.
"I'm sorry, Kier," he apologizes.
She looks up at her blond friend through thick eyelashes. A small smile graces her lips at the sight of him, but her heart pulses with jealousy.
She'll admit it to anyone who asked her, she was jealous of Ross. He didn't make as many hospital visits as she did, he hasn't lost as much hair as she had, and if you didn't know it there's was absolutely no way, just by looking at him, to tell that he was a cancer patient.
She wasn't unhappy for him. That's not what she was saying. Kiersey's heart swelled with joy that Ross didn't have to go through the same things she did. But she was unhappy for herself. Maybe that was selfish, but it was true. She was unhappy about being hospitalized. She was unhappy about having cancer. She was unhappy that she wasn't as healthy as Ross was.
"So, what're you in for this time, huh?" Ross grabs Kiersey's hand and intertwines their fingers. She rests her head on his chest and closes her eyes, listening to the beat of his heart and sighing contentedly.
Maybe to some their position would seem intimate, but it was all actually very friendly. They'd always been like this. Even as kids. He would hold her when she needed comfort and she would lean on him when she wasn't strong enough to hold herself up. They both knew neither of them meant anything by it. They both understood it was completely platonic between them. Their friendship wasn't like that.
And geez, it's not like she'd grabbed his dick or anything.
She sighs. Her eyes shut tightly. She frowns, creating a crease in her forehead. "Well, I had an episode last night. Luckily Dove was there with me, so I wasn't alone. She called the ambulance and, well, here I am."
"What are they saying?" He asks very casually. He plays with the ends of her fingers, just so she can feel him, just so she knows he's there with her.
She groans feeling a pain set into her. Her heart rate monitor starts beating faster, but Ross supposed its nothing to worry about. Not that he actually knows, it's more just wishful thinking.
She uses the hand he's not holding to help roll her onto her side. She grunts with effort, feeling very drained from that simple move. Kiersey cuddles deeper into his side. She wants to burrow into the ground until all her pain, suffering, worries, and fears are suddenly gone.
And she knows that soon that day will come. It's just a matter of time until they burry her in the ground and she feels nothing. Not a thing.
"The same thing they've been saying since I was thirteen," she replies lazily. "My cancer is spreading. It's only a matter of time before it makes its way to some vital organ, like my brain, and I die a slow painful death."
Ross grips onto the girl even tighter after she says that. Kiersey can feel him tense underneath her and she flashes him a playful smile. "I'm just kidding, Ross." She sighs. "Well, actually I'm not kidding about it spreading. That really is happening, but that's been happening for years now."
She lifts herself up to look at Ross, feeling a pain rip through her side, but she ignores the pain. "Hey, don't give me that look. I'm gonna be fine, okay?" She gives him a lopsided smile. "I'm a big girl I can take care of myself."
She goes back to snuggling into his side, playing with the zipper of his jacket. She slides it along, up and down, eliciting that familiar sound a zipper makes as she does. Her smiles keeps fading away from her face, her eyes harden and the corners of her lips droop, but then she just focuses on the zipper and the smile eventually returns.
It's in that moment Ross notices how fragile she looks. And Ross would never, ever take pity on her (or anyone for that matter) because he knows she doesn't want people to pity her. He understands, he wouldn't want it either, but he can't help it. She looks so broken. She looks so innocent. Dammit, why did this have to happen to her? Why did it have to happen to anyone, but to her of all people? Why? Why? Why?
Ross hears a soft snore. He looks down to see Kiersey has fallen asleep, zipper forgotten, arm laying across his chest clutching a fistful of his fabric. She's asleep.
He places a gentle kiss to her forehead, careful not to wake her up. But she was pretty tired, he doubts she would wake up. He reconnects their hands. They seem so tiny and delicate in his hands. And they're so cold.
Almost... Almost lifeless.
Ross feels something cold run down his face. It's a tear.
She's asleep now. She can't see him cry now.
…
The energy in the waiting room was enough to significantly drop Laura's good mood, but she was still reeling from her discovery.
She liked Ross.
She actually liked him.
Of coarse she thought she liked Ratliff too, but we see how that turned out. Though Laura highly doubted that Ross would end up falling in love with Rydel.
Laura wrinkles her nose in disgust at her thought. That would be absolutely gross, and she would definitely not like him anymore after that.
Speaking of the tall blond Lynch girl, she still wasn't on speaking terms with Laura. Laura kept quietly to herself about the fact that she thought that was a total bitch move. It's not like it was really Rydel's secret to be mad about in the first place, but she let it go anyhow.
She just felt bad that Ratliff was getting some of the heat too. She didn't see him anywhere in the hospital room, which led Laura to believe that Rydel hadn't contacted him about this whole ordeal. They probably weren't on very good speaking terms either. Laura felt bad about that. She really did. But at the same time, Ratliff had been the one to blab the secret to her. A secret she hadn't exactly been begging for him to share with her in the first place.
"If you're not gonna eat anything than at least have some coffee." Riker's words pull her out of her own thoughts and he sets a big styrofoam cup down on the table in front of Laura. She glances up to meet his eyes. The look he's giving her is stern, but he looks likes he's about to quit the act any minute now. They both knew Laura wasn't gonna drink the coffee if she didn't want to.
And she doesn't. So she pushes it away and Riker huffs like a parent who was unsuccessful in getting their child to eat their vegetables. But he didn't press it any farther. Honestly, he looked too tired to put up much of a fight. They were all tired actually. Laura wagers that not many of them got much sleep last night.
"So, any idea of what you're going to say to him?" Riker asks, rather intrusively. He plops his butt down in the seat next to Laura and stares at her all wide-eyed and ready for all the juicy details.
She just shakes her head and cracks a smile. She feels a bit guilty smiling in a hospital waiting room; a room full of unhappy people who were definitely not gonna be smiling anytime soon. It felt a little sacrilegious. Laura props her elbow on the arm rest and lays her chin inside her palm. "No, and could you please stop being such a teenage girl."
Riker scoffs. "I am not acting like a teenage girl." He shrugs his shoulders and flashes Laura a somewhat hopeful look through the lenses of hid glasses. "I just, ya know, wouldn't mind seeing my brother happy for once." He knocks Laura's shoulder with his smiles cheekily. "I think you could be good for him, Laur."
"Geez, you're such a cheeseball!" Laura hides her bright red face in the palms of her hands, feeling mortified. She shakes her head, swallowing thickly and clearing her throat. "Okay, new topic."
Riker rolls his eyes, but accepts defeat. He'll get her talk about it sooner or later anyway.
"What's wrong with Kiersey? I mean, I kinda figured she has cancer, but what kind and how bad is it?" Laura implores catiously. She may not have known Kiersey very long or very well, but she seemed like a nice enough person and Laura knew she was really important to Ross.
Riker sucks in a breath. "Truth is, the doctors basically announced her death the moment they found out she had cancer. I'm not sure what kind it is, but whatver it is, it spreads like wildfire. It's really dangerous and has already taken over 75% of her body. She's terminal, and it's probably a miracle she's lasted this long."
Laura frowns, deeply upset by this new information. "Really?"
Riker nods his head, sullen.
"Well, is she gonna... die...like, today?"
"I don't know. But even if she survives today, it won't be long before she's back here again. And probably in much worse condition."
Laura stares down the long hallway across from her, greeted by the faces of grief and sadness. It seemed like everyone here was expecting the worst. There wasn't a single person in the room that looked like they were having a good day. her gaze flitted back and forth from a young couple, holding hands and her head was rested on his shoulder, cradled by his other hand, to an older gentlemen who was sitting in a wheelchair, all by himself. Two guys were sitting on a bench, making an attempt at conversation. The blond haired woman next to them was peering down at her phone screen, gaze glazed with intensity. She never looked up -never once broke contact with her phone.
Laura leans beack in the waiting room chair. She wonders what their story was. Why they were here, who they were here for, would that person make it through to tomorrow?
Her vision lands on a familair head of blond and of brown hair. Rydel and Rocky.
That brings up another thought in Laura's very full (at the moment) head. She turns back toward Riker. "Do you think I broke up Rydellington?"
Her question breaks through Riker's own thoughts. He gives it some thought, but ultimately shrugs his shoulders. "I don't know, but Rydel's pretty mad at him."
"Do you agree with her being angry?"
"I don't know."
"You don't know much of anything, do you?" Laura folds her arms over her chest, exhaustion settling into her system. Not sleeping was finally starting to catch up with her. She grabs for the styrofoam cup she'd rejected not to long ago. It was probably cold by now, but coffee was still coffee right?
Riker laughs. "I think Rydel is scared that she and Ell rushed into their relationship so she's using anything she can to fight with him as a crutch for not being in a relationship with him."
Laura arches an eyebrow. "Why would she do that? She's been in love with him for years now."
Riker shrugs. "This is her very first relationship. And it's with Ell. Someone really important to her. Maybe she's afraid she'll screw it up and things will never be the same between them." He pauses and just briefly glances at his sister over his shoulder. "You saw how anxious she was at dinner last night. Maybe she just doesn't think she's ready to risk anything yet."
Laura sighs. She's tired of talking. She's tired of thinking. She's just tired. Her eyes flutter, and eventually her exhasution wins and sleep overtakes her.
...
Kiersey woke up in extreme pain. Her ribs were soar, like something was on top of them, weighing down on them, crushing them. She coughs, violently, which causes Ross to look up from his phone screen. He panics, rushing over to her side.
She gags, clutching her chest which blazes, like it'd been set on fire, from the pain. Ross grabs her hand and squeezes it. His mind is a mess. What's he suppose to do? What can he do? What's happening?
"Kiersey! Kiersey! It's me, Ross. Kiersey, it's okay. Stay with me, Kier!" His voice breaks, depserately.
He can hear the incesant beeping of her heart moniter in the background. It's freaking the fuck out and he wants to just rip the damn cords out of the wall because it's so fucking noisy and his best friend is coughing the life out of herself and he can't fucking think!
Kiersey, between coughs, manages to gasp out a few words. "Ross, it hurts..."
The coughing takes over her, and her small, fragile hand slips out of his grip, falling to the side.
But it isn't long before doctors and nurses are bursting through the door of her room, pushing past Ross who stands there lifelessly. They push him out of the room, and when the door slams back in his face he screams. "No!" He's pounding on the door, begging for them to please let him in. He bangs on it until his knuckles are numb from the pain.
Ross rests his forehead on the door. "No."
Tears fall down his face. Tears he hadn't even realized he was holding in. His vision is blurring from the tears. He keeps rapping his knuckles on the door, more quietly this time.
"Hey," someone from behind him quietly says. "Is everything okay?"
He turns around to find Laura standing there. She looks shocked when she sees his tear stained face and puffy eyes.
"Ross, what's wrong?" She asks, stepping forward.
He doesn't answer, but instead crashes into her, wrapping his arms around her and squeezing her tightly. He sobs into her shoulder and she can only stand there and hold him back. Her arms snake around his middle, hanging loosely around his hips.
That's where his family finds them. Hugging each other with tears pouring out of Ross.
His mom smiles, her heart warmed by the sight, but she doesn't say anything.
"It hurts!" He cries into her shoulder.
She grabs his face, cupping it in her hands. "What hurts, Ross?"
"It's Kiersey. She told me "It hurts". She's hurt," he continued to mumble out his words, still sobbing all the same. He holds onto Laura with a shaky grip. "She's in pain, Laura! She's hurt and there's...t-there's nothing I can do about it."
"I know Ross," she tells the sobbing form in her arms a little longer. And then she releases him and he hugs the other members of his family. They all console him.
"Ross, I'm sorry, man," Rocky says, and that scares the hell out of Laura. Because Rocky Lynch was an obnoxious ass. He always made jokes at the most innapropriate of times and he never took anything seriously. Until now. That's how she knew how bad it was.
Laura rests her head back against the wall. She sighs, running her hands over her face and sighing. She catches her bottom lip between her teeth and tugs it gently.
This was what cancer life was like. This was what it took to be a part of something like this.
She closed her eyes, feeling tears welling up behind her lids.
Ross was right. She wasn't ready for this. And if she cared about Ross, she had to walk away, for his sake. For everyone's sake.
She fishes her cell phone out of her back pocket, breathing deeply and dialing the number.
rrringgg...
rrringgg...
rrringgg...
"Hey, babe? What's up?"
A smile eases it's way onto Laura's face. "Hey, Mai. I, uh, I need a favor..."
...
Laura descends the staircase, gripping the handle of her luggage bag. She nods to herself. She's doing the right thing. Atleast, that's what she keeps telling herself.
She steps down onto the last bottom of the stairs and takes in a deep breath.
Ross is sleeping on the couch. Stormie is in the kitchen working on dinner.
She timidly makes it to the opening of the kitchen, her suitcase rolling right along behind her. She sees Stormie's back turned toward her and she doesn't really know what to say or how to say it so she just kind of comes out with it.
"I really appreciate you letting me stay here, Stormie," the woman turns around at the mention of her name, "but I think it would probably be best if I found alternative living arrangements."
That's when Stormie's eyes catch the purple suitcase. She puts down her knife she'd been using to cut the vegetables and places her hands on her hips. "Laura, what are you talking about?"
Laura sighs audibly. She lets go of her luggage. "It's just that, well, I feel like me being here is messing up everything for you guys. I feel like, now that I know about Ross's cancer, I've intruded." She stares down at her shoes and scuffs them against the floor. "I just don't think I'm ready to be a part of this. The whole cancer thing I mean, and you don't need me around to make thinsg harder."
"Oh, honey," Stormie says. She opens her arms and Laura is instantly running into them. "Laura, sweetheart, you are not a burden. None of this is your fault." She pulls away. "Is this about what happened with you and Ross?"
She nods. "I've obviously upset him, and he has every right to be mad at me."
"Well, where are you gonna go?"
"Don't worry about it. I've already taken care of that. I called Maia and she said her parents agreed to house me until my sister gets back."
Stormie purses her lips. "Okay," she says and it hurts her to agree because Laura is like a daughter to her and she cares so deeply for the girl. "If that's what you want then.. then I'll call your mom and tell her that it just didn't work out for you here."
Laura smiles, even though she has to wipe away a tear. "Thank you. For everything."
"Woah, ladies? What's with all the hugging?" Ross says from behind him.
Both Laura and his mother break away from the hug to look at Ross.
"You're awake," Stormie observes. "How are you feeling?"
He shrugs, leaning back against the doorframe. "Better I guess. I'm glad Kiersey's gonna go back home tomorrow."
"Wait, Kiersey's okay?" Laura asks, relief flooding her system.
Ross's eyes harden. "For now."
"Oh..." is all she says, her voice small and careful.
"Hey, momma, can I, uh, talk to Laura alone for a second?" Ross nods his head, gesturing to the girl in question.
Laura and Stormie exchange glances. A ghost of a smile graces her lips and she nods. "Of coarse, sweetie." She presses a kiss to his cheek when she walks past him and as a result, he swats her retreating figure playfully.
Ross pushes himself off the doorframe, pacing toward Laura. He awkwardly begins, "So, Laura, about what happened at the hospital-"
"It's okay. You don't have to apologize. I understand you were really upset and vulnerable, and I was the first person you saw."
He doesn't say anything further. He looks about the kitchen, feeling awkward because quite frankly he wasn't going to apologize. That's when he notices the suitcase and he turns his attention back to Laura, eyebrows raised.
"You going somewhere Laura?"
"Actually, Ross..." she peers up at him through her lashes, and his face is so innocent -so ignorant to what she was about to say- and she doesn't know how he'll take this news, but she's confused. Because he was suppose to mad at her. Why was he not mad at her?
His eyebrows raise again as he waits in anticipation for her to continue.
"Ross, I'm leaving."
Now his eyebrows furrow and he frowns. "What?"
"I can't live here anymore. Maia and her family are gonna house me for the remainder of the summer," she bites her lip and sighs, waiting for his response.
"Is this...is this because of me?"
He looks so sad and guilty about the whole thing.
She shakes her head vigorously. "No, it's because of me. I just feel like I'm getting in the way here."
Ross stuffs his hands into the pockets of his jeans, guilt settling in the bottom of his stomach. Neither one of them say anything. Ross doesn't know what to say. So he hugs her, and she's taken off guard, but she hugs him back, slowly and uncertainly.
"I'm gonna miss you, Laura." She lets go off him to look at him seriously. "But if you think it's better that you stay at Maia's then..." he trails off, but she still understands what he's getting at.
"Do you hate me?" She asks, because she can't not know the answer to that anymore.
He gives her a lopsided smile. "No, I don't."
She thinks that maybe they're gonna hug again, but after a beat or two, his mom peaks her head around the corner and declares that if it's to be Laura's last dinner at the Lynch house, it's gonna be one hell of a dinner.
Laura smiles, ignoring the ache in her chest for the rest of the night.
A/N
Okay, so i'm not a huge fan of this chapter to be honest, but I tried to rewrite it many times and it just didn't happen so this is what it is. I'm sorry. And I'm sorry that it took so long but I sick with strep throat for a week and then there was trouble with the internet at our house, then for a few days I was just being lazy.
Hope it's not too terrible. That Ross and Laura though. Am I right? Am I right? Huh? Okay, nevermind.
Thanks for the continued support! I love you guys so so so much! :) Please leave a review telling me what you like, what you didn't like, how horrid my writing was this chapter. (I know, I know. It wasn't very good I apologize - AGAIN)
alright I'm tired. It's been a shitty day. I'm going to sleep. Goodnight y'all!
kthanxbai!
Morgan :)