Adolescent Foolishness (A Fearless Vampire Killers Fanfiction)

Chapter Nineteen

Dropping my bag onto the sofa, I sigh deeply, before sitting down next to a shaking Aryssandra. There's no use in asking if she's okay, because I know she's not...I just don't know what I should say to her. What do you say to someone that's dying? It sounds like the start of a sick joke.

"I don't get it. Why do they say there nothing they can do, and yet still insist on offering you treatment? It's sick." She whispers. "Why can they not just say I'm going to die and there's nothing they can do to stop me from dying?"

"Don't think like that." I take her hand in mine gently, sighing. "There'll be something they can do, I'm sure." I reassure her.

"I highly doubt that. There's nothing they can do, and I know that for a fact. I'm going to die in less than seven months, and all because of a stupid tumour." She bows her head, and then sighs. "I'm sorry, I'm being stupid. I shouldn't let this get to me." She pushes to her feet, shaking her head. "I-"

"You have every right to let this get to you," I tell her firmly, standing up and placing a hand on her forearm gently, "you're going through hell right now, and it'll only get worse. So don't dare say you shouldn't let this get to you."

She just stares up at me in wide-eyed silence for a moment, before shrugging. "I'll go and make some tea."

"I'll do it." I guide her back into her seat, before crossing the room and entering the kitchen. I click the kettle on, leaving it to boil as I check the cupboards for mugs and teabags. Poking my head back into the front room, I see that Arys is simply staring into space. To snap her out of it, I speak. "Are your parents away out or something?"

"At work." She tells me quietly. "They won't mind you being here."

I nod, before quickly making two mugs of tea, one for Arys and one for me. Sitting down with her again, I pass her the tea, and she smiles slightly in acknowledgement.

"Thanks. I..." She doesn't say anything else, and instead continues to stare into space.

"Arys, speak to me. Please?" She doesn't say anything. "Arys-"

"What is there to talk about? I'm dying, Drew. I can't just deal with that in two seconds. I'll be dead by February, probably. Knowing me, I won't even make it until Christmas."

"Aryssandra." I plead. "Stop this. For me."

"How would you react?" She asks me. "How would you react if you were told the longest you'll live is another seven months?" I'm taken aback by that question, and just stare down at her for a moment. "Wouldn't you feel like this? Like there's nothing else worth living for, because you're going to die eventually anyway?"

"Everyone dies eventually. Just...just it'll happen sooner for you." I force out. "Besides, I know you have something worth living for." I squeeze her hand reassuringly. "You have your friends, your family. Yourself."

"And I have you." She sniffs, a tear rolling down her cheek, another one following soon after, and then another, until her cheeks are soaked again, and she buries her face in my chest, hiding from me.

"Yeah." I wrap my arms around her, patting her back unsurely. "You have me." I bite my lip to stop myself from saying anything else, resting my chin against the top of her head and staring blankly over at the window. We stay like that for a while, until I hear the front door opening.

"Ryssie? You home?" I hear someone call. I glance over at the doorway, just as Arys scrubs away the tears from her face with her sleeve, looking over at the short dark-brown-haired, hazel-eyed woman in the doorway.

"Yeah, mum."

"And...who's this?" She smiles slightly. "Drew, I take it?" I nod. "She's constantly been talking about you, you know. I think she's just a tad besotted."