The Unexplainable You.

Part Twenty-Six. Portland.

"You have to get better." I argue, my hands clenching his shirt in a lousy attempt to keep him here forever. To never let him out of my sight. "You will get better, there has to be another way. There has to be-"

"Portland!" He exclaims, his voice finally rising. "There's nothing we can do, okay? I told them that I wanted to spend my last few months with you, and that's what I intend to do. So please, just let me get the best out of the rest of this short life I have?"

My throat feels tight, and it feels like someone is sitting on my chest. 

"Do you know how much time you have left?"

He doesn't look at me as he answers quietly, "Four months, maybe."

"Well what if you stay in a hospital? Can they keep you  alive longer? Maybe there's another treatment?"

He laughs lightly, pulling me closer to his chest and running his fingers through my hair. "I would much rather spend a short life with you then a long life in the hospital."

I shake my head, pulling away and standing up, the world spinning way too fast around me.

"You don't understand Asher," I say, tears filling my voice like I'm drowning in myself. "I need you more than I've ever needed anything in my entire life. You are the only person who knows how to silence the voices inside my head, and frankly, I think you've saved my life. So please just listen to me. I know how hard it is, and I know how much you fight, but there has to be a little bit left in you."

I think I hear him say something, but his voice is all but white noise against the blood pounding through my ears.

The world spins around me, and I want to beg Asher just to hold me to his chest until the blackness of the world leaves me alone.

***

I knew something was wrong when my parents sat the three of us down at the kitchen table. We never sat together anymore.

I give Andy a sideways glance, my heart pounding.

"So kids." My mom starts, not looking at my dad as she speaks. "The two of us have been talking, and we think it would be best if..."

She finally glances at my father, almost as if waiting for him to finish her thought.

"We decided it might be better if the two of us... If we went our separate ways."

I can tell the words hit all three of us at the same moment. Tears hit Mals eyes, numbness covers Andy's features, and me? I'm not sure what I feel. On one hand, I haven't slept in days due to my parents screaming late into the night at each other. But at the same time, I think about when they were happy, the joy that filled our house, overflowed from it. 

"So we both already signed the papers and agreed that this is the best thing for all of us." My dad tells the three of us. "We are putting the house up on the market tomorrow, and your mom is going to move back to Ohio, and the four of us are going to go live with Auntie Selah and Uncle Steve in Maryland."

"You mean, you aren't even going to ask us what we want?" Andy mumbles, his eyes full of tears. 

Both my parents nod sadly. 

"It's not ideal." My mom tells him, resting her hand on his knee. "But it'll be better for all of us, I promise. You'll make some new friends, and there might be better  options for you with sports."

Andy shakes his head fiercely, standing up quickly and storming up the stairs, slamming his bedroom door.

***