Heroes (BoyxBoy)

2. Truth Begins

Recap: "Liam is showing signs, negative and positive, and I'm afraid..."

The doctor sighed, "I'm afraid that he'll have to come back for regular check ups, and if you desire of him. We can go through chemotherapy, his chances are very good if that's the case but it will do a number on his body. Watching it is usually the hardest to go through for loved ones. The choice is up to you as a whole, and Liam."

Niall's mouth was dry, "But... is he okay now? What does this mean? Is he well right now....? I don't under-"

"Niall, hunny. Shh." Karen said, wrapping her arm around his waist and pulling him close to her side. She rubbed his arm in soothing circles. Calming him down a bit before he can have a panic attack. He didn't understand what the doctor was saying. He didn't know if his best bud would be alright... he just wanted to know that things would be okay.

"He's fine now. He'll be ready to go home in a couple days. We just need to take some cautionary tests first." The doctor said calmly, and Niall relaxed. That's all he wanted to hear, was that Payne would be okay. That would be alright because that's how it always was going to be.

"We can see him, right?" Niall asked. His voice was slightly shaky. He was still scared that the doc would turn around and say something that would break Niall's heart.

The doctor nodded, "In fact, you can see him right now." Then he looked at them all carefully, "I will allow you all to go in at once, but you must be very quiet." They all nodded and mumbled their "of course" and followed the doctor to the room that was Liam resided in."

Niall was relieved when he saw Liam. He wasn't hooked up to wires, needles, and machines anymore. Seeing Liam like that almost broke him right then and there. Niall had seen Liam before in the care of doctors but nothing as severe as what had happened just days ago.

Liam gave them all a small smile as he saw them walk into the room one by one. Seeing them was enough to make him stop longing for the comfort of his home and own bed. Instead, he looked up at Niall standing at the side of his bed. They smiled at each other, not needing to speak. Liam could tell that Niall was just happy to see him well and okay, and Liam was just pleased to see that Niall was there. That's all he ever seemed to need for his world to be whole and complete was Niall.

"So your going home in a couple days." Nicole said with a sincere smile, and then sadly, "Just in time to see me off."

Nicole, Liam's sister, was headed off into the big world of college. The Paynes seemed to be close, with some odd feuds here and there. However, the siblings all got along quite well. People who met all the children all at once were perplexed at how their bonds were.

Liam gave her a sheepish smile, "I'm sorry."

Nicole chuckled and waved her hand, "Eh, it's alright little brother. I'm just happy to see those puppy eyes of yours."

Liam smiled shyly and looked down. He always got shy when he was complimented like that, no matter who it was. Niall rubbed his hand on Liam's head and said, "Now we can go finish that game we were playing."

"Did you get any further on it?" Liam asked him curiously.

Niall shrugged, "Nah, ain't the same without you."

Liam grinned from ear to ear; shaking his head, he looked at his mother, "I can't wait to eat normal food. I miss your food." With that, they all burst into laughter.

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Liam bit his lip as he watched Niall trying to build the birdhouse. It had been about, oh, two hours? Nevertheless, he was oddly determined to fix it. Mainly because he accidentally broke the one Liam had built when he was ten. It was no big deal. He didn't attach to the thing, but being Niall, he wouldn't let it go.