Fall For Me

Chapter 6

Natalie's P.O.V.-

"6 months." Austin repeated. His whole body was shaking as he struggled to comprehend what I just told him. He looked over at me with sadness in his eyes, and took my hand in his.

I shook my head and looked down at my feet, trying to hide my tears. Austin sighed and pulled me into his chest and I cried harder, as he whispered in my ear, "It's okay, Nat. You're okay." We sat there for an hour, him just holding me as I said nothing and just cried.

***

Austin's P.O.V.-

I pulled up to Julia's driveway and sat in the darkness of my car for a bit, trying to compose myself. All the lights in her house were on and I saw her looking out the window at me. Sighing, I opened the car door and walked up the steps to her house where she met me on the porch.

"What are you doing here?" She asked angrily. Her face soon turned worried when she saw mine. "What's wrong?" She asked as she led me inside. We sat on the couch and she turned to look at me. Her eyes were curious and scared. 

"Are you breaking up with me?" She asked as her voice shook.

"No." I said in monotone. "Natalie has cancer."

Her eyes widened and her hand flew up to her mouth. "My God. Are they going to give her treatment?"

I shook my head. "There's nothing they can do." I said quietly.

"Oh." She said sadly. There were tears forming in her eyes as she scooted closer to me and put her head on my shoulder. "How long does she have?"

"6 months. I'm gonna go home, Julia. It's been a long day." I stood up.

She looked at me and pouted. "Come on Austin. We haven't hung out lately. Especially since she came home."

I clenched my fists and started grinding my teeth. "She has cancer Julia. She's dying and you expect me to give you my undivided attention? Sorry, but that's not happening."

Julia's eyes widened and her mouth opened and closed a few times, making her look like a fish. "Well Austin, maybe we should take a break then." She finally said.

"Fine." I said angrily as I stormed out, making sure to slam the door.

Getting in my car, I drove off down a back road and started speeding, turning up the music and forgetting about everything as I kept my foot on the gas.

Natalie was dying. Natalie is dying and I can't stop her. There's nothing I can do. Her clear blue eyes kept appearing in my mind. The way she looked at me when she told me she only had six months. 

"FUCK!" I screamed. I slowed down but kept screaming. Soon I came to a complete stop in the middle of the road. My breath was coming in fast bursts and my throat was raw. I leaned my head back and closed my eyes, shaking with anger.

At that moment, my phone started to ring. "Hello?" I answered.

"Austin, where are you?" Natalie's voice asked. It sounded normal, like she didn't just get the worst news of both of our lives.

A chuckle escaped my lips, "The middle of nowhere actually, why?"

"I don't know. Just wanted to see if you could come pick me up. Just drive around for a bit maybe?" She asked.

"Okay." I responed, "I'll be there in a 15 minutes." We ended the call and I started driving towards her house.

****

Natalie got in the passenger seat of my car 15 minutes later. She was wearing sweatpants and a sweatshirt with her hair tied up. Her face was pale but she seemed relatively fine.

"First thing's first." She announced as she got in. "Tonight I don't wanna talk about cancer. I just wanna talk about everything else, okay? After tonight we're free to talk about it. Tonight, I am cancer-free."

I looked at her and nodded, smiling slightly.

"What?" She asked. "Why are you smiling?"

"Julia and I broke up today." I said, searching her eyes. "Which means I can do this." I leaned in and her face froze as I caressed her cheek, still staring into her eyes. She breathed out a shaky breath as I brought my head in closer and pressed my lips to hers.