Chapter 5

True to her words, it took only a few minutes to reach the couple's cottage. It's a nice little cottage with well-groom front yard and surrounded by the nature. Tony killed the engine and stepped out of his car. He did a light stretching as the long aimless drive is starting to hurt his back. He then head towards the trunk of his car to retrieve his duffel bag. Thank god he has that bag containing his spare clothes and basic toiletries always ready in his car.

"Come on now, dear. Don't be shy." Beth smiled inviting Tony into their cozy little home. Ian unlocked the front door and switched on the light. The inside of the house was simple with minimal furniture but somehow there's a homey aura the moment Tony stepped his foot into the house. He's starting to feel glad that he decided to spend the night with them.

"Make yourself feel at home, Tony. Ian darling, why don't you show him the guest room for him to settle down tonight."

"Follow me, boy." Ian gestured to Tony to follow him as he leads them to the guest's room.

"Get some rest and freshen up. Dinner will be ready in half an hour." Told Ian upon entering the room.

"Thank you, Ian. And I'm sorry for troubling both of you." Said Tony as he put his bag on the bed. Ian just smiled and shook his head letting Tony know that he's not a trouble to both of them.

Tony lay on the bed and closed his eyes. So many things are happening in his life in a short amount of time. He knew that he cannot put too much stress on himself or his health is going to become worse. He wiped his face before getting up and head to the bathroom to freshen up.

Looking at the mirror he can tell that he looked worse that he thought. His face was pale and his eyes were bloodshot with dark circles around them. No wonder Beth said he looked pretty beat. He opened the tap and started splashing water to his face. Feeling a little refresh, he changed his shirt and pants into his Buckeye t-shirt and sweat pants.

The moment he stepped out the room he can smell that something delicious is happening in the kitchen. The sound of his stomach reminded him that the last meal he had was a muffin for breakfast. As if on cue, Beth emerged from the kitchen holding a pot of Bolognese sauce in her hands.

"Oh, Beth. You seriously reminded me of my nonna." Tony was already joining Ian at the dining table. Beth laughed at Tony's remarks.

"I knew that it wasn't a mistake for me to cook something Italian today." Said Beth as she started to fill up both Ian and Tony's plate with a hearty amount of spaghetti and Bolognese sauce.

"You can never go wrong with something Italian for dinner." Tony told her as he started to eat his food.

"So Tony, what's your story? I heard you said something about clearing your head earlier?" Ian tried to make some conversation with Tony.

Tony was thankful that he didn't have a full mouth upon hearing that question. He choked a little before sipping the water and cleared his throat.

"I'm sorry. Umm… It's nothing actually. It's just that I received some bad news earlier and I'm still in the process of digesting them." Tony politely wiped his mouth with the napkin as he told them the basics.

"You know what? I was in your shoes once. A couple of years ago, I was diagnosed with a breast cancer and the doctor told me that I only have less than a year to live." Again, Tony was thankful that his mouth was empty or else he would've sprayed everything from the shock of hearing Beth's words. What are the odds of him meeting a cancer survivor just after he found out about his.

"What happened to you?" asked Tony curiously.

"I was so depressed the moment I heard those news. I didn't tell Ian at first. I didn't want him to feel sorry for me or feel like I was a burden to him. I tried to go through it all by myself. But I'm telling you that it was the biggest mistake I've made." Tony felt like he was being slapped in the face. He was feeling and doing exactly what Beth did and considered as the biggest mistake.

"And why would you feel that way, Beth?"

"Because the pressure I'm putting on myself to keep everything to myself was taking a toll on my health. I was so stressful that my cancer was growing faster than it should. That's when I decided that I need to tell Ian about it. I need someone to help me emotionally. Someone I can count on to help me at my worst moment." Beth's eyes were starting to fill up with tears the moment she retold the story. It's always a sensitive minutes for her everytime she remembers about that moment.

"After that we started changing our lifestyle. I started to live positively, going religiously to the chemo sessions and I managed to prove the doctor wrong as I'm still breathing in this world years after he told me I was supposed to be dead." Ian was holding Beth's hand by the end of the story because he knows how lucky they were to have been able to escape the death sentence.

"Don't you have any family to be there for you dear?" asked Beth upon seeing the look on Tony's face.

"Well, I lost my mother when I was eight. My father was kind of estranged with me though we did try to make our relationship work. But I had a nice group of people at my workplace that I considered as my family." Tony smiled at the thoughts of his little family at NCIS.

"Then why don't you share the news with them. Trust me; it's not doing you any good trying to keep everything to yourself." Beth told Tony and Ian agreed one hundred percent with his wife.

"I don't know. I don't want them to pity me and I don't want to become a burden to them. I mean, what if they started to treat me differently when they found out about my problems? I don't want that. I don't need any special treatment. I just want them to be the same to me."

"Believe me boy. They're not gonna feel that way. They might care for you but that's what families are for. To help you when you're down on your knees." It was Ian's turn to convince Tony to share his problems with someone else.

"I'll think about it. Thank you for sharing your story, Beth. And for this wonderful dinner." Tony started to make his way out as exhaustion was slowly creeping into his body.

"No problem, my dear. I hope you'll figure it out by morning. Have a good night sleep." Said Beth as she hugged Tony dearly.

"I'll try. Good night, Ian, Beth." He made his way to the guest room after both Ian and Beth said their goodnights to him.

Lying in the bed, Tony started to think about all the things that Beth and Ian had told him earlier. How it is possible to beat the odds, how it is important to always have someone to share the misery, how it is essential to be surrounded by positivity. He switched on his phone, typed a quick message before sending it to Gibbs and switched it back off.

A/N : I'm sorry if some of you feel affected by this issue of cancer. I personally lost a couple of close family members to cancer and a couple of them are still battling with it. (Unfortunately for me, cancer is in our traits) I hope I didn't offend anyone with this fic and I hope you will continue reading it to the end. Much love.