A C T O R S || OS

180. Charlie Bewley | No Goodbyes Yet

By : volturidoll13 | TumblrDemetri Volturi 

They say that love usually lasts forever. But what if you don't have forever? When your fiancé learns that you've been hiding your terminal illness from him, how will he handle the news? And more importantly, how will he help you spend the last remaining bits of your life...?

• angst; fluff; language; TW themes of dying/death

-----

⚰ READER'S POV ⚰

You sigh quietly as you tug your dark blue beanie further down on your head, hiding your new pixie cut. The short style was all you could think of for your poor hair, given what was left of it after so many rounds of treatment. Treatment for what, exactly? Well, you had something called Hodgkin lymphoma, a type of cancer that liked to wreak havoc on the human body.

They said the survival rates were usually high for patients like you, but fate hadn't been so kind. You were one of the few whose body just wasn't taking to the treatments all that well, and eventually... Well, eventually you had just decided to stop treatment altogether, and just prepare for the inevitable. That was a year ago.

One year and four days, to be exact. You had found out you were ill, about four years ago. But now you only had a year left, based on what the doctors had told you. A whole year to try and make the most out of your life, a whole year to prepare for those tearful goodbyes, those bittersweet "See you soon" messages and conversations to everyone you were close to, including your fiancé.

You had been lucky enough to attend one of the many Twilight festivals up here in Forks, a few years ago. That was where you had met him... The one and only Charlie Bewley. The two of you had gotten to talking, and hit it off right away. He had even treated you to a cup of coffee and lunch out with him that next day, and one thing had led to another... And a week later, he was asking you out.

You had said yes, and it had been one of the most joyous days of your life, despite the darkness. You had ended up telling him about your illness, and while he had tried to put on a brave face for you, there had been many tears shed that day. But the two of you hadn't let it get you down, not one bit.

He had gone with you to all of your treatments, and a year and a half later, he had proposed to you.... And you had said yes. And now here you sit, still shaken with the news about last week's test results, how they said you were terminal, with only a year left to live. Charlie had no idea, and you didn't know if you were ready to tell him yet.

Another sigh slips out into the chilly mid-January air, as you dig the toe of your boot into the sand. The smell of salt hangs in the air, as the waves crash onto the shore out in front of you. Out in the distance, you can hear the sound of the seals barking at one another, and your heart twinges painfully in your chest. How lucky they are, able to live their lives without fear of anything, it seems.

Behind you, you can hear the soft clattering of rocks, and when you turn to look over your shoulder, you see Charlie approaching you. The expression on his face makes your heart nearly stop for a moment, and you can feel your eyes beginning to burn with unshed tears. The poor man looks like he's been kicked while he was down, utterly broken.

Without a word, he sits beside you on the fallen log, his hands clasped in front of him as he leans forward, forearms resting on his knees. There's nothing but the sound of the crashing waves and those seals, as the two of you sit there in silence. Finally, he breaks the quiet, and when he speaks, his voice is a soft, trembling murmur. "W-when were you going to tell me, Y/N?" he asks.

You swallow hard, fighting back the tears again. "You know?" you whisper, staring out into the ocean. Out of the corner of your eye, you see him nod. "The hospital called your phone a few minutes ago. They wanted to know if you were absolutely certain about wanting to stop the treatments." he whispers back.