Will we? ~(Sturniolo Triplets)

Chapter Four, Sweatshirt; Night One

(NAME AOIFE, PRONOUNCIATION: EE-FAH)

June 16th, 2023, 8:35PM

*Aoife's POV*

We had picked up the two pizza's, along with drinks, and headed to the hotel, "Alright--question." Matt said as he rounded a corner of one of the beds, I got comfortable where he was going to sit and continued when we all gave a nod. I crawled onto the end of the bed, sitting crisscross before I began eating my piece of pizza. Chris was already sitting at the end of the bed, giving me a strange look. Ashton was sitting at the computer chair at the desk, while Nick was sitting on the other bed. I gave Chris a 'what' look, and he immediately turned his expression from unimpressed/confused to a smirk before he took a bite of his slice of pepperoni pizza.

"Matt--sweetums--" Chris started, earning a disgusted side eye from Nick, "Could you get us drinks?" He asked. "I guess, pb." Matt said, standing from the bed. "Ayyy---PB." Ashton said, getting the reference. "Fridge---" Chris pointed at Nick, who again, gave him a judging look, then looked at Ashton, then back to Chris as he chewed his piece of pizza. "Absolutely not." Nick shook his head.  

"Okay--if you guys could relive one moment, in all your life---what would it be?" Matt asked. "Go Matt---askin the questions." Nick said, absolutely vibing while eating his pizza. "Uhm..." Ashton thought, looking up to the right, "Probably the moment I told my grandparents I was gay." He paused, earning a 'go on' look from the rest of us, "I mean--because they've raised me most of my life, and they're very kind people anyway---but I was only fifteen, and I thought they were going to disown me. But they actually were so supportive and positive about it, that was the moment I knew they'd always be proud of me." He finished. "Awe---" We all chorused. "Mine would be---" Matt started, "I think for me it'd be the first time we went to LA---so just experience it more, and view all the firsts." He added. "Yeah, I think that would be mine too." Chris nodded. "I think I'd want to go back to that one day in high school where I wore a snapback, and just burn it." Nick said quickly, shaking his head. "Eff, you next." Matt motioned, my heart becoming so happy when he called me 'Eff'. "Uh, probably the moment I met you guys for the first time." I said overly seriously, causing them to laugh, "But no really---probably to the last trip Ashton and I had taken with our best friend, Braeden." I said, causing Ashton to gasp lightly. "We were seventeen, and we went down to Virginia Beach for a few days of  summer break. Not to do anything crazy, just to be together and hangout away from all the drama at school and home." I said, giving a nod as I fought back the tears. "Where's Braeden now?" Chris asked softly. "He uh---" I started, speaking slowly, she took a long pause, "He passed away the beginning of last year.." I said. "Oh my god." Chris, Matt, and Nick said simultaneously, all coincidentally taking a bite of their slices of pizza. I looked over at Ashton, who was just looking at me with a hurt look, before I turned my attention back to the other three, "I don't wanna bum any of you out anymore than I already have." I shook my head, then took a bite of my pizza. "You don't have to tell us, but if you want to talk and let it out--you can, for sure." Matt said.

I took a deep breath, "Okay, but can you hand me that?" I motioned to the can of Dr. Pepper that was on the night stand beside Chris. "This is yours?" He asked, giving a guilty facial expression. "Yeah?" I asked. "My bad, I drank from it." He chuckled, "Matt, get her a new one--" He motioned, Matt nodded and went to get up. "No, don't---I'm not a germaphobe." I shook my head, still reaching for the can of soda. "Are you sure?" Chris asked. "Do you have a commutable disease?" I laughed, he shook his head, "Then it's fine--" I said, then he reached over and handed me the can. I took a good sized swig of it before I handed it back to him to place on the nightstand, "Thank you." I smiled sweetly at him, he did the same back, scrunching up his nose adoringly, "Anyway--he had been one of our only other real friend most of our lives---we met him in first grade. But when we were sixteen, he found out that he had lymphoma, a type of cancer." I paused, "And so he was on treatment for it, but for some reason it wasn't getting any better. So B always said, he knew he didn't have long with us, so he wanted to live things out as long as he could be active enough to." I said, bracing myself through continuing, even though I wanted to cry, "So that's what we did. Even though we were hoping, and begging his doctors would some how miraculously make him better, and when he got the clear for spring break, he took it---he had always wanted to see Virginia Beach, because his grandparents met there and they had so many nice stories to tell about it. So we went, had a blast--but apparently he and his mom had known that it was getting really bad again. And apparently he was just waiting on telling us because he wanted to enjoy his last four or five months without having us all be so sad all of the time. But after a month or so after that, we noticed things for him seeming harder to do, like walk up the stairs, or to grab his favorite blank off the back of the couch when he was just chillin." I said. The three just watched, listening intently to me telling the story, "Then, January first of last year--we knew something was up--so Ash and I stayed over, sleeping on the chase in his room. He stayed and talked with us all night--" I paused, my voice breaking as it was becoming hard to continue. "And even though his voice was weak, and he hardly even looked like himself, anymore--" Ashton stated, standing from where he was sitting. He came over and wrapped his arm around me, "It was the perfect last night with him--he thanked us, obviously to which we thanked him even more. For being the best friend we could have ever asked for." He paused, "And we hugged him for what could have been twenty straight minutes---and we told us we loved him, and he returned it. Then told us you guys will be happy, in your lives. I know you won't be able to see me, but I'll always be with you, right by your side." He said, getting all choked up by the end.