The Loverboy

Maybe pt. 2

*Rowan's POV*

I saw the nurse talk to my parents in a hushed tone. They all looked over at me and Ashton. "Rowan, let's go see Tyler." My mom whispered. "Ashton sweetie, you can come along too." My mom said. We both nodded and followed the nurse into an escalator and then down a long hallway. I was so nervous, but I wanted to be strong. I didn't want to break down again. I grabbed Ashton's hand, but didn't look at him. The nurse stopped in front of a room. "Rowan, let your mother and I talk to him, and then you and Ashton can see him." My dad said quietly. I nodded and tried to put on a smile, but I couldn't.

We stood outside of the room for a good thirty minutes, just waiting. My hand didn't leave Ashton's soft grasp, which made me feel a little better. My parents walked out of the room and offered for us to go in. "Go ahead" Ashton whispered. I slowly walked in to see my little brother lying in a hospital bed, and bandaged up. He had various tubes all over him, and his hair was a mess. " Hey, Ro." He croaked. "Hi" I smiled, taking a seat beside his bed. Ashton pulled up a chair and sat next to me, letting me squeeze his hand.

"You two are cute together" Tyler said in a weak voice. "I thought you didn't like-" I cut myself off. "Thank you." "Hey Tyler?" Ashton spoke up. We both looked over at him. " I just kinda remember that I never had the chance to personally apologize for punching your eye that one time, and I feel kind of bad." He said. "Hey, no worries, dude. Thanks." Tyler said with a weak smile. I started to tear up. "But uh, do you mind if I can have some alone with Rowan?" He asked. Ashton nodded and said his goodbyes. "I'll wait for you." He said to me. I thanked him and waited for him to leave before more tears came falling.

"Rowan..." He began. "You know I have less than 24 hours left." "I know" I cried, clutching onto his cold hand. "Rowan, I love you sis. Never forget that. No matter where I am, I will always love you. When I'm in heaven and I meet Jesus, I'm going to ask him to send you all sorts of blessings." I smiled and cried harder. "Why is God taking you? You're too young! You have your whole life ahead of you!" I cried. "Rowan, I don't know. All I know is that God is calling me to come home and it's my time. Maybe I don't have my whole life ahead of me. Maybe before I was even born God planned to end my life when I was 16. But hey, now I don't have to worry about college!" He said, trying to lighten the mood.

"Rowan, you're my best friend. Look at you. Here you are with me for the last time before I go home, holding my hand and crying. None of my friends would do that. They're not even here, but you are. You were always an amazing sister. You always stood up for me. You always were my best friend, and you always will be. Think, one day we'll be best friends in heaven, too!"

"Tyler please don't go! I love you too much to let you leave me! I'm not letting you leave! God wouldn't be so cruel!" I bawled. "It's not my choice, sis. But listen, you gotta be strong for me. Promise me that you'll keep living your life. Promise me you won't take this out on yourself. I know you've been cutting Rowan. You don't do a good job of hiding it. I don't know why you did it but promise me you will stop. For me." "I promise" "Stick with Ashton. He's a good guy. I think he's the one." "I thought you didn't like him?" "Eh. He's grown on me."

My parents knocked on the door. "Rowan, it's getting late. You need to get home. It's time to say goodbye." My mom said. I looked at Tyler and hugged him tightly, crying into his chest. "Please don't leave us! You can't! I won't let you! There has to be a way to save you! I can't say goodbye! It's way too early!" I whined. "Rowan. This isn't goodbye. We're going to see each other again very soon. This isn't the end. You're going to go back into the world with your head held high. You're going to take on life and then one day when it's your time, God will call you to come home with me." He said, quite relaxed. "How can you be so calm?" I asked him. "Because I'm just holding onto the fact that I'm about to be with Jesus and that I'm going to see you again." He replied.

"I love you so much Tyler." I cried harder than I ever had. "I love you too, Rowan. There's something of mine I want you to have too. You gotta hold onto it and take care of it." He said, slipping off the woven bracelet he always wore. With his cold, shaky hands, he tightly tied it around my wrist before giving me a kiss on the cheek. "You can have anything of mine you want." He offered. "Thank you" I said, doing my best to smile for him.

"I love you, Tyler." I said one last time. "I love you too, Rowan." He said. I took one last glance at him before leaving for the last time. My parents went back in to stay with Tyler until he passed on. I walked over to Ashton and buried my face in his chest, tightly hugging him and crying. "There there Rowan. It's okay. It's going to be okay." He cooed, rubbing my back. "Please don't leave me Ashton." I sobbed. "I'm never leaving you, baby." He whispered.

I cried the entire car ride home. Ashton walked me into my house and up to my room. "Get to bed, baby." He said. "Ashton." "Yes?" "Can you stay with me?" "Of course." Ashton took some sweats out of his gym back and took off his shirt and waited for me to change. After I was changed, he crawled into my bed next to me and pulled me into his warm body. He let me cry as much as a needed to before I feel asleep and was able to escape this nightmare for a few precious hours. 

A/N- IS ANYBODY ELSE CRYING