A/N: The author's note on the last chapter was supposed to explain why I had Brenda and Dylan fighting instead of falling into each others arms, but it seems to have scared some people, so let me reassure you… This is a Brenda/Dylan story. He isn't going to give up without a fight.

And now… Brenda tells the Walshes. And they tell pretty much everyone else.

Part Five

"I'm telling them."

"When?"

"Brunch. Can you come? Please?"

"Give me fifteen minutes."

Kelly had been planning to go on a run; after having dinner at the Walsh house three nights in a row, for two of Mrs. Walsh's famed Christmas dinners and one leftover feast, Kelly was positively bloated. Still, Brenda was more important right now, so as Kelly threw down the phone she shrugged out of the sweats she'd intended to wear jogging and grabbed the nearest pair of jeans. For the first time since the fire, she didn't even think about whether or not she was hiding the burns effectively.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The food was ready, and the Walshes were seated around the kitchen table, Kelly between Brandon and Brenda, as everyone began to dig into their food. But Brenda couldn't even think about eating. She hadn't planned to tell them right away, but her nerves wouldn't let her wait any longer either.

Dropping her fork, she stood up and cleared her throat, immediately getting her whole family's attention. Kelly sent a sympathetic look her way, and Brenda was grateful for her friend's presence.

"Mom, Dad, Brandon," Brenda began slowly, enunciating each name carefully. They were all staring at her expectantly. "I know you've all been wondering why I came back…"

"Brenda is this the time?" Jim unsubtly tilted his head towards Kelly.

"I asked her to be here," Brenda told him, before continuing. "As I was saying. I know you've wondered, and I'm grateful that you haven't pushed," much, she added mentally, "and I guess I'm ready to tell you."

But as soon as the words left her mouth, Brenda's throat closed up. How could she tell them the truth? This will destroy them, Brenda thought, feeling her muscles tense up. But that wasn't the only problem. Years ago, when Cindy's sister Sheila had been sick, life at the Walsh house had been a living Hell, so bad it was actually made better when Shiela died. Brenda didn't want to go through that again. Ever.

They'll figure it out, no matter what you do, Brenda's inner voice reminded her, and the expression on Kelly's face told her the same thing. Taking a deep breath, she just spat it out.

"I have cancer."

Her father's face seemed frozen, and her brother was looking between Brenda and Kelly, clearly clued in that Kelly had found out the truth before he had, but it was her mother's gasp of pained shock that captured Brenda's attention.

"I went to the doctor in England because I was having these headaches, and they found a cerebral lesion," Brenda forced herself to continue. It would be better to get it all out at once than to tell the story in bits and pieces. "They ran a whole bunch of other tests, and found another tumor on my breast. Both the tumor and the lesion are so small that the doctor said either one of them could have come first, but because of the family history, they think it's probably metastatic breast cancer."

Cindy was crying now, and Brenda knew exactly why.

Metastatic breast cancer was what Sheila had.

"Brenda…" her father's voice shook and stopped. She'd never seen her father so incapable of speech. A part of her wished he could blame this on her, or demand to know why she hadn't been more careful, or do something that would seem normal to her.

"I don't know what to say," Brandon choked out, but then he turned to Kelly and narrowed his eyes. "You knew about this?"

"Only since Christmas Eve," Kelly answered honestly.

"How could you not tell me?" he demanded, and Kelly seemed to shrink a little. Brenda knew it had been difficult for Kelly to keep the news from Brandon, and it wasn't fair for him to turn on her now.

"Because I asked her not to," Brenda cut in. "I didn't want… I wanted you to hear it from me. I'm sorry if that hurts you but I thought it was best."

"Why did you wait so long to tell us?" it was her mother's turn to demand information, and Brenda turned to face the most devastated member of her family.

I always said Mom loved me more than Dad did, Brenda quipped mentally. Even she didn't find herself particularly humerous.

"I wanted Christmas to be good," Brenda answered honestly. "I didn't want everyone to be sad on Christmas."

I was a coward.

"What now?" Jim's voice was filled with the quiet, we-will-beat-this determination it had been filled with the first time she'd found a lump, and Brenda felt a surge of affection for her father.

"I have an appointment with Dr. Dana…"

"She's the one who treated you last time?" Jim cut in and Brenda nodded.

"I have an appointment with her tomorrow at three and then she'll probably want to do surgery as soon as possible," Brenda answered. "They didn't want to do a brain biopsy in England until they knew what they were dealing with, but she probably will want to."

"They'll… they'll cut into your brain?" Cindy's voice was shaking and she wasn't even trying to hold back her tears. Brenda just nodded.

"I'm going to talk to Dr. Martin about finding the best surgeons in Los Angeles," Kelly spoke up, touching Brenda's hand lightly. "I was only waiting for you to tell your parents, so that Donna wouldn't find out…"

"Thanks," Brenda smiled at Kelly, and then she grimaced. She didn't want to have this conversation all over again with each of their friends; she didn't even want to have this conversation once more with all of her friends at once.

"And I'll take off work tomorrow," Jim nodded to himself. "Brandon and your mother don't have classes so we'll all be there with you."

"I'd like that," Brenda nodded.

"I need to call my mother," Cindy rose abruptly from the table, but instead of taking the kitchen phone, she slipped upstairs. Brenda knew she was going to the phone in her bedroom. She also knew she wouldn't dial right away. Jim stood too, and Brenda figured he was going to follow Cindy, but instead he came to Brenda's side, folding her into a big bear hug, the kind that used to make her feel like the safest, luckiest girl in the whole state of Minnesota.

"I'm sorry Brenda," he whispered, his arms still around her. "I know I haven't always been very supportive, but I want to make up for that."

"Thanks," Brenda said as he pulled away, kissing her forehead.

"We'll get through this, kiddo."

With that, he left, following her mother out of the room and up the stairs, and leaving Brenda alone with her brother and his girlfriend.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Jim disappeared from view as Brandon stared down at the food that had gone uneaten. Next to him, Kelly was standing to clear the table, and he vaguely heard her mention something about Tupperware, but the truth was, he was having trouble focusing on anything other than his sister's voice, repeating in his head.

I have cancer. Cerebral lesion. I have cancer. Metastatic breast cancer. I have cancer.

Without realizing what he was doing, he found himself enveloping Brenda in a warm hug, and saying "tell me everything."

Unfortunately, the more Brenda told him, the more Brandon felt like the worst brother in the world. The doctor had sited weight loss, unusual behavior, headaches, and fatigue as symptoms, Brenda said. Brandon had noticed that she was losing weight last year. He'd noticed it again when she'd arrived back in California. He'd noticed her erratic behavior last year – how could he not have? He'd even noticed her napping and reaching for the aspirin bottle a little more often than usual.

How could he not have known?

How could he have been angry at her for coming home?

How could he have been relieved when she went away?

"Brandon, I didn't know until a few weeks ago," Brenda seemed to read his mind. "There's no way you could have known."

"I just…" Brandon choked on his words.

"I haven't been the best brother," he concluded. Seeing her about to interrupt, he shook his head. "No, Bren, it's true. Even putting aside the C word, I should have known that you were going through something last year. And instead of being there for you, I got obsessed with shaking the president's hand."

"And stealing my ex-boyfriend's on-again-off-again-girlfriend," Brenda quipped. "I know that had to involve a lot of careful planning."

"Hey, I had to get him back for letting the on-again-off-again-girlfriend steal him from you," Brandon quipped back.

"Ahh, so it was all part of your plan," Brenda nodded wisely. "What are you gonna do with her now?"

"I am standing right here," Kelly came out from behind the island, abandoning the Tupperware containers and the dirty dishes and putting her hands on her hips defiantly.

Brandon smiled, wrapping an arm around Kelly and pulling her towards him quickly. Kelly let out a squeal. "I think I'll keep her."

"Don't do me any favors," Kelly rolled her eyes playfully before standing on her toes to kiss him.

Out of the corner of his eye, Brandon saw Brenda smile at them as she leaned against the island.

"You guys are cute."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Cancer."

Donna felt like a parrot, but she didn't know what else to say. Ever since Christmas, she'd felt like the third wheel on the Brenda-Kelly bicycle, a feeling she hadn't had since senior year, when Dylan came between them. She'd actually been jealous that they were keeping secrets and whispering in corners together.

But if this was what Brenda and Kelly had been keeping from her, from everyone, Donna wasn't sorry she'd been out of the loop.

"That's bad right?"

"David!" Claire whacked her boyfriend in the stomach, and Donna felt like hitting him herself. Actually, felt an irrational urge to scream that he didn't live here anymore, and would he kindly take his girlfriend and go? He wasn't exactly Brenda's friend anyway.

"Well, we don't really know," Kelly answered, shrugging her shoulders. "It certainly isn't good, but until she meets with the doctor tomorrow, we won't know for sure what's going on."

"What time?"

"Donna, you promised my Mom we'd spend the day with her tomorrow," Ray reminded her. Donna shrugged out of his arms and stepped away from him.

"I'm sure LuAnn will understand."

"And I'm not," Ray pressed. It was Donna's least favorite of his traits; Ray could be excessively demanding sometimes.

"Ray, my best friend may be dying! Your mother can wait!"

"We don't know that she's dying," Claire spoke quietly, looking at Kelly for confirmation. "Lots of women are diagnosed with breast cancer every day, and a lot of them survive. Maybe even most of them."

"She's not in good shape," Kelly sighed, looking at her hands. "But she hasn't been handed a death sentence either."

"See?" Ray continued to press Donna. "She said she'll be fine."

"That's not what I said," Kelly's eyes shot daggers at Ray. "If Donna wants to be there for her friend, she should be."

"Fine."

Ray stalked out of the apartment, and Donna wasn't entirely sorry to see him go.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Cancer."

The word left a dirty taste in Steve's mouth.

Brenda has cancer.

The last time this had come up, Steve had barely known Brenda, hadn't seen her as anything more than Brandon's sister. And even though he'd told her last year that he wasn't her friend, in reality, she had become a good friend. Brenda could always be counted on to make the dance floor more lively at any party; to go along with hair brained schemes to deface the Hollywood sign; to tell him when his girlfriend was a grave digging good-for-nothing. She changed the whole group dynamic. Until the end of the night, the Walsh Christmas party was the first time in a long time that things had felt right with the eight of them.

Now everything was going wrong.

"Are you sure, Brandon?" Andrea sounded as doubtful as he felt, although Steve recognized it as the old editor in chief in her, wanting to make sure she had all her facts straight. "I mean, it couldn't be something else?"

"She seemed pretty certain," Brandon shook his head. "She has her second opinion tomorrow though."

"Do you think she'd mind if we came?" Andrea asked. "For moral support?"

"I think she'd like that. It's at two o'clock."

"I'll need to see if Jesse's Mom can watch Hannah, but I'd like to be there."

"I'll drive you," Steve volunteered.

"Kelly thought you might have some contacts in the medical world," Brandon was clearly speaking to Andrea now, and Steve was actually a little jealous. He wanted to be able to help Brenda. He wanted to be able to call someone and have strings pulled; that was usually his role, after all.

"Donna's father would probably be better," Andrea shrugged. "I can feel around though."

"Thanks."

"Brandon, can I ask you something?" Andrea asked after a few moments silence. Steve didn't hear Brandon's response, but he must have nodded, because Andrea soon continued. "Why are you telling us this? I mean, not that I don't want to know, but you asked specifically if you and Steve could come over and talk to me about something…"

Steve turned to look curiously at Brandon. He'd been wondering the same thing himself.

"Brenda told our parents this morning, and she told Kelly a few days ago. She didn't want to have to go through it a third time, so Kelly and I volunteered," Brandon answered, shrugging. "Kelly's telling Donna and David, because they're all at the apartment, so I'm telling you two."

"So Dylan doesn't know," Andrea looked contemplative, but a cry from the next room interrupted their conversation. Looking at the clock, she sighed. "It's time for Hannah's bottle."

With that Andrea disappeared from the living room, leaving Brandon and Steve alone. Neither man spoke.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Andrea knocked three times on the door, but when it didn't open, she decided to try the back of the house. Sure enough, Dylan was out there working on the motorcycle. She had no idea why a single motorcycle would require the constant uptake that Dylan devoted to his, but she'd always figured it was a guy thing. She set Hannah's travel basket on the ground as far from the bike as she could manage and coughed.

"Andrea," Dylan's head snapped up. "I didn't see you there."

"I knocked, but…"

"Yeah, Iris is doing a little retail therapy," Dylan shrugged with a small smile. It was sweet to see how much he enjoyed having his mother around. "I tried to teach her to surf this morning. It didn't go well."

"I can imagine."

"Can I get you a drink?" Dylan offered. "I have water, and soda, and maybe some milk, or something."

"That's okay, I can't stay long."

"What brings you by?" Dylan looked at the basket on the ground. "Is that Hannah?"

"Her? No, she's just a baby I found on the street."

The look Dylan gives her causes Andrea to let out a bark of laughter.

"Joke," she explained, looking at her feet. She knew it probably wasn't her place to talk to Dylan like this, but she couldn't help it. She was a sucker for happy endings, and she wanted Brenda to have one. Brenda was, after all, the real reason she'd become a part of their circle of friends. Brandon had been perfectly happy to leave Andrea on the sidelines and play with the popular kids. Brenda had befriended her, had invited her to sleepovers and group outings, and even tried to help set Andrea and Brandon up sophomore year.

Looking at Hannah, most days, Andrea was glad that Brandon hadn't given in to his sisters machinations, but some days, she still wondered what might have happened if Brenda and Andrea had pushed a little harder. She even had dreams sometimes that Brenda trussed her up like Sandy in the last few scenes of Grease.

It wasn't about Brandon, anymore really, of course. She loved Jesse, and she loved Hannah, and she wouldn't trade them for anything in the world. But Andrea still longed to be someone she still didn't think she was; someone beautiful and popular and wanted. She'd started to feel that way, with Dan and then in the early days with Jesse.

Now she just felt like a mom.

"Can I?" Dylan was gesturing to Hannah, and looking at Andrea with an expression she'd never seen on his face before. She smiled and nodded her permission. As he lifted Hannah out of the basket and into his arms, Andrea marveled at how much her daughter had grown since her hospital days. "She's beautiful."

"She is," Andrea nodded. "And I did want you to meet her, but that's not really why I came."

"Why did you?" Dylan looked away from Hannah's face for a second, but he was quickly distracted again by the baby's happy gurgle. Andrea suddenly thought better about telling Dylan about Brenda while he was holding Hannah.

"Maybe I should…" Andrea gestured, and Dylan reluctantly relinquished Hannah.

"Don't trust me, huh?" Dylan sighed. "Seems to be contagious these days."

"It's not that," Andrea insisted. "Maybe you should sit down."

"Why?"

"Because what I have to tell you is about Brenda."

The look on Dylan's face actually hurt Andrea, a mixture of guilt, worry, love, anger, and an overwhelming amount of pain.

"She's sick Dylan. That's why she came back."

Dylan leaned back against his bike for support, but he must have leaned too hard because the bike toppled out from under him. Andrea mentally congratulated herself on taking Hannah from him before she told him.

"What?" Dylan gasped as he righted himself and the bike.

"The doctor in England said it was metastatic breast cancer, but she's getting a second opinion tomorrow," Andrea paused. "I don't know that I should be telling you this, but I thought… Dylan, I don't know what happened between you two this summer, but she did tell me before she left that you were giving things another try…"

"It didn't work."

"I did pick up on that," Andrea teased, but neither Dylan nor Andrea found it amusing. "Dylan, when I was in the hospital last spring, when Brenda told me you were getting back together, she told me all she wanted was for you to be there for her. To fight for her, the way you did when everyone was talking about her and Roy Randolph. Do that now."

"She asked me to leave her alone."

"Don't."

With that, Andrea placed Hannah back in her baby basket and left.