𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟔

KANE

Her fingers stroke through my hair, instantly calming me. Sighing in content, I lean deeper into her chest, arms tightening around her.

"Reed!"

"What?"

"Chill out." She slaps the back of my head, causing me snicker. "I'm not going anywhere."

She turns her concentration back to the TV, but all I can think about are her words. "Im not going anywhere."

I should believe them by now. We've been best friends for over ten years, but still— It's terrifying thinking she'll have to leave soon. Just like my mother.

She's going to fall in love, marry someone and settle down with a family.

It would be you if you just told—

Both my mother and father were workaholics— all they did was work. My mother more. She never had time for me. Always harshly pushing me to the side. My father never noticed, seeing as he was busy, but when I did tell him, he spoke to her about it, which ended up with my mother always yelling at him.

It wasn't a nice sight to see— your parents fighting.

She ended up cheating on him and was apparently cheating on him for a while. My father wasn't surprised, he seemed as if he expected it. I didn't want to admit it, but we were happy without her.

Are happy without her.

It was always me and my father and most times we spent it with Izzy and her father. My father soon was diagnosed with cancer. Stage four.

He was diagnosed when I was fourteen and it gradually got worse. My dad couldn't work anymore and he was ordered to be on bed rest. Now he lays in a hospital bed, spending most of his time alone.

That's until I man up and visit him.

The cancer has slowly spread to most his organs and parts of his body. He's having radiation therapy, hooked up on medicines but not healing at all. It's hard to admit that my father is terminally sick, so I avoid it.

I know he hasn't got much time left. He also knows it, but he's not giving up. His exact words were, "I wasted half my life in business, now I'll suffer though the pain if I must, just to enjoy what I have left."

It kills me. All the time.

I often visit him, but he's always asleep or drowsy. Izzy comes along with me and encourages me to speak to him, even though he may not hear. I always appreciate her support. I don't know what i'd do without her.

"Reed," she softly nudges me, "You've got that look in your eyes. Stop it." I groan, shoving my face into her chest, right between her goodies— That's what she calls them.

But she's right. They are goodies no one should be touching.

"Shut up!" I practically whine and she chuckles, nails softly scratching my scalp in a comforting manner.

I love holding her. I love having her near me. Just her touch makes me feel alive and pushes the bad thoughts away.

"Are we going to talk about what happened last night?" Her voice comes out strong but hesitant, her question making me tense.