Guys - please do not kill me... I was meant to add on to the last chapter that I would be going away during the week where there would be no time to update and no wifi so excuse the long wait. Gave me some time to write!

Just want to explain some of my choices for the guys' lives as I go along a little. I have had three grandparents pass away from cancer and know people fighting it and there are many survivors! Stay strong to all those fighting cancer!

Chp 2
~ Williams POV ~

I shakily grabbed the chair and sat down. I couldn't think straight as my heart beat so fast that I thought it would burst. I put my head in my hands as I tried to make my whole head stop spinning. "Will." She said, softly.

I looked up at Melody. She gave a sad smile. "I'm fine, honestly." She said, sadly but with a smile. I shook my head and stood. "I'm not fine with it." I said. I stood up and walked over to where my guitar was perched.

"Where are you going?" She asked, following me. I went up the few steps onto the empty stage and grabbed my guitar. "We're going back to the hospital." I said, slipping my guitar into its case.

I grabbed the stand and sat on the edge of the stage. "Will, what are you going to even do? Demand he magically makes a cure in two seconds and saves me and we live happily ever after?" She asked.

I sighed and shook my head, not in the mood for her trying to make this seem okay. "Well you want me to just sit here and watch you die?" I asked, turning to her. She sighed. "Will, I'm basically already dead inside." She said.

"Don't say that." I said, bluntly. My hands shook as I tried fold up the stand. "But it's true. I thought you were given enough time to prepare for me dying. We all knew I would." She said, looking at me.

"Mel." I said, desperately. She looked at me and swallowed. "Surely there is something else you can try." I said. "Uh, you did chemo a couple times, um, and targeted treatment? How about the stem cell transplantation?" I asked, trying to think.

"I'm done fighting. I've been doing this since I was five, Will. I need a break." She said. I finally got the stand to close up and packed it away in my tog bag. "You're so stubborn." She said, slightly annoyed.

"What are you doing here though? You could get sick? You should be at home." I said. "Who even let you come here?" She pulled her jacket closer to her again and said, "Dad."

I seethed slightly. "Is he such an idiot he would let you just walk around?" I asked. She sighed. "Reality check." She said. "I am going to die soon as the doctor predicted, a week later you'll be throwing my ashes into the river at the lake house and you'll let me go with the ashes. You'll not act like I just died, you'll act like I'll finally be able to walk by your side instead of being stuck at home or at the hospital."

The reality was harsh. I didn't like hearing the harsh words. She said it sharply with no remorse, as if she wasn't talking about death. I flinched at the words. I didn't say anything, I just looked at her.

"I'm taking you home." I said, softly. She tried to protest but I took her arm and gently pulled her to my car outside. We got in and I started driving. I let the tears drip down my face slowly.

My throat ached as I started the three and a half hour drive. We hardly spoke, which left her to sleep. It was around two when we arrived at our family house in Boston. The lights were on inside, and I could see my parents, my cousin and my aunt and uncle sitting inside in the lounge.

I shook her arm lightly and she woke up. She noticed we were at the house and we got out. I knocked on the front door, pulling my jacket closer to me as the cold wind bit at my face.

My mom answered the door and sighed in relief slightly. She pulled us inside, giving me a hug. I followed them to the lounge and the others all smile softly. "William." My dad said, standing to give me a hug. "How could you just let her take a train to New York?" I asked, ignoring him.

He took a deep breath. "She wanted to see you, to tell you face to face." He said. "But then you drive her." I said, as if he was very stupid, which I thought he was. "Will, the car was in-" he started.

"No excuses, you drive her there no matter if you go with her on a public bus. As long as someone is with her i don't care what you travel on. But you just give her money for a train?" I asked.

"Well I'm sorry. I didn't think about it at the time." He said rubbing his eyes. "Oh yeah, I forgot - you act without thinking about consequences." I said, flatly. He looked guilty.

"William." Mel said, tugging on my sleeve. She gave me that look that she didn't want me to get madder than I already was. "Does four hours matter when your daughter is dying and she wants to go somewhere?" I pushed further.

"Okay, I get you are in a bad mood and you obviously just want to blame this on someone but do you have to be so inconsiderate that you upset your whole family?" He asked, looking a bit annoyed.

"Did you have to be so inconsiderate and upset your whole family when you undid your jeans for the nanny or the next door neighbor? Were you just stressed and sad then?" I retorted, glaring at him. "Okay, I think we should-" mom started.

"You forget who pays for your studies to that university." He said, trying to black mail me. "I didn't ask you too." I said. "And you chose something to do that was ridiculous. How far will you get by publishing music for a living?" He asked.

"It is not ridiculous." I said glaring at him. "Please, if you wanted to write words on a page for a living you should have become a journalist." He said. Mel tugged on my arm again and I looked down at her.

"Please don't so this now." She said, softly through welled eyes. I swallowed hard. "Mel, it's late. You should get in bed." I said, looking at her. She narrowed her eyes at me. "What are you going to do?" She asked.

"I'm going home." I said, and she furrowed her eyebrows. "I thought this was home." She said, softly. I sighed and looked at her. "You know what I mean." I said. "Look, tomorrow I have a study group early and need to get back to my place." I said, rubbing the back of my neck.

"William, it's so late. You should stay the night." Mom said, putting a hand on my arm. I hesitated. I really didn't feel like it. I wanted to seek the comfort of my own serenity without feeling uncomfortable in this house that had more bad memories than good ones.

"Please." Melody said, begging me. I nodded. My aunt and uncle said goodbye and went upstairs. They had to move in with us after my uncle lost his job. Ben, my cousin, was in his last year of med school, probably the most qualified person in my family so far, but had to pull out to support his parents.

Ben had taken over my room, which I was fine with because I didn't want to go back there, and my dad was sleeping on a mattress in Bens room whilst mom and Mel slept in their own rooms.

So I resorted to sleeping on the couch. But I couldn't sleep at this very moment. I turned on the kitchen lights and went to the cabinet. I got out a glass and a bottle of bourbon. I poured some in the glass and sat at the table. I had a sip and ran a hand through my hair.

My whole life always seemed like a misery. My twin sister, Melody, had gotten cancer at a young age. We managed to kill it by the time she turned seven but she fell ill a year later. I remember clearly going to wake her up on our eighth birthday and seeing her coughing up blood.

She had leukemia. No matter what we've done, it's never completely gone, and even grew back a few times. I spent endless summers and school afternoons sitting in a hospital room with her, trying to be a supportive brother. When I learnt to play guitar, I started to play for her. She liked it and it made her happy.

But we've been on loose ends for such a long time. I felt slightly guilty for feeling relieved when I got my scholarship to NYC. I had to get out this town, away from this life that seemed to be pulling me down. I rubbed my eyes and took another gulp of my drink.

"Bourbon is something to savor." I heard someone say, and looked up. Ben gave a small smile and came in. He got out a glass and poured some in a glass for himself and topped mine up. He took a sip and sighed, putting his glass down and looking at me.

He had similar features to his mom - brown hair and green eyes with flawless skin and a very down to earth personality. "You know, I always hoped things would get better for your family." He said. He was like a big brother to me, the six year age gap not bothering us.

"With Mel getting sick and having to give up things for her." He said, looking at his glass. I nodded. "I guess some of us just have to work harder for comfort." I said, flatly. He chuckled.

"You know, I was talking to a girl that I remembered from school and we went out and she asked me who I looked up to." He said. I nodded and stared at the liquid in my drink. "I told her my cousin William."

I looked up at him with a confused expression. "You'd think it would be Mel because she's been fighting cancer for such a long time and your parents for having to be in debt for her sometimes. But to me it is you." He said.

"I didn't do anything." I said, shrugging. "You've done so much." He said. "You've stood by your sisters side for nearly two decades now. You've given up your childhood so she didn't have to not have one. You've smiled at school through pain. You've come home for the past twelve years like the kid with nothing wrong when everything had been crumbling around you."

Hearing my life being told to me sounded so weird. "You know, I thought Mel was finally getting better last year." I said. "And she told me that she was getting better and that she was fine." I smiled. "She even asked me to go date someone."

He chuckled and sipped his drink. "And then I got slight more attention from mom and I felt I didn't actually have to ever look for love. Then she went back to hospital after a month and I lost the attention all over again."

I closed my eyes as I thought of it. "I know this isn't anything to laugh about, but I remember when that girl showed up here one afternoon and said she thought she was pregnant and you were going to be the dad." Ben said, smiling softly.

I chuckled lightly. "Mom was so mad, she wouldn't even let me reason that I hadn't slept with her." He laughed, trying to not be too loud. "Man, I thought she was going to kill you. And then you blew up at her after she shouted at you. We were all so shocked." He said.

I smiled, even though it had been a terrible experience that my mom thought I would disrespect a girl. He looked up at the wall and said, "You should get to sleep otherwise you won't get up in the morning." I nodded and went off to the couch.

It felt like I had only slept for a couple of minutes when I woke up. It was half five in the morning. I had only had two hours sleep, and had been up all night which was probably why I felt like death. I heard talking.

I got up and walked to the kitchen. Mom, Aunt Julie and Uncle Don were in the there, drinking coffee. "Morning honey." Mom said, giving a hopeful smile. I gave a small smile and made some coffee. I grabbed a few slices of bread and out them in the toaster.

I sat at the table, feeling their eyes on me. "How are studies Will?" Julie asked. I shrugged. "They're fine, I'm meant to be going to a workshop in Miami in a couple weeks." I said. "Wow, sounds exciting." She said, trying to sound enthusiastic this early in the morning.

Someone else who had early bird syndrome, my sister, came in. She gave a little smile and gave us all a hug good morning. I finished my breakfast and found my keys and phone. "Are you leaving now?" Mel asked as I pulled on my jacket in the entrance hall. I nodded as my family came out.

She swallowed deeply. "It's so strange not having you around anymore." She said, giving a small smile. I smiled. "It's strange not sitting up at night with you." I said. She smiled. "Travel safe." She said, giving me a tight hug. I hugged her back, sighing as I wondered if this would be the last time I did so.

No. I was going to see her again. She wasn't going to leave me so soon. I pulled back and covered my mouth as I coughed. She gave me that look and I smiled softly. "I'm fine." I said. I kissed her forehead before turning to the others and giving them hugs. "Keep well." I said, then left the house with a heavy heart.