In Sickness and In Health

Chapter One

"I still don't know why you sneak me up here. You know we can get caught, right?" Sero sighs, climbing up the make shift ladder up to the window. Denki laughs at his best friends annoyance, pulling him into the window. The window wasn't high up but it would break bones if you fell from it, so Sero was glad when his feet hit solid ground.

Climbing up to his best friends window was a common thing that Sero was sure the neighbors knew he was sneaking in.

"I know. But i don't care." Denki laughs, backing away, reveling his darkened room. He flips the light on, smiligh brightly at Sero.

"Your mom almost had a heart attack when she found me here last time."

Denki shrugs, pulling the taller male into a hug. "I'm sick of being stuck up here. Just cause i'm sick doesn't mean i can't go out and have fun." Denki pouts, crossing his arms.

"Unless you agree with my rentals?" The blond teases, raising a eye brow at Sero who shakes his head.

"No. You need more friends." Denki giggles a little, shushing Sero when the floor boards begin to creak. They both look at each other with a nervous look. Denki dashes for the door, and Sero ducks near Denki's closet. Denki opens his door, Sero being ready to duck in his closet if his parents were still awake. He didn't feel like being screamed at today. Denki looks left and right, shaking his head.

"Clear. Your so jumpy." Denki closes and locks his door, flopping on his bed. 

"You were jumpy too, blondy." Sero follows his friend, laying next to him. His cheeks heat up significantly when the blond pulls him close, resting his forehead on Sero's chest.

"I'm going to get another opinion tomorrow. Hopefully it's good news." Sero has gotten used to his friends sudden hospital visits. Denki was diagnosed with lung cancer about two months ago. It came as a shock to Sero but Denki was always coughing so he should have known something was up. It should have been a sign when he started coughing up blood. 

Luckily, he was able to get to the hospital and find out before it killed him. He was able to be put on medicine, hoping it was just a infection but then came the diagnosis. That's when Sero was told he was no longer welcomed at their home and neither was anybody else. Denki was home schooled in order to prevent his sickness from developing further. They never considered treatment.

"That's good. Maybe you can beat this thing. Just don't keep me out of the loop." Sero whispers, watching Denki bite his lip, looking away.

"What if i don't survive?"

"We did our research. You know that the survivor rate is 56 percent." Sero was used to the blond becoming paranoid. Who wouldn't think the worse when they get told they have cancer?

"But i didn't catch it early enough. Then it drops to sixteen percent." Denki's breath shortens and Sero almost panics. That would be his luck if Denki needed to go to the hospital and Sero was caught in his room.

Sero pulls a now shaking Denki into a hug. "Stop worrying. I know you'll live. You have too. Your my best friend dude." Denki calms down, taking deep breaths. Sero ruffles the blonds soft hair, watching him playfully pout.

This was hard on Denki and Sero knew it. If Sero was diagnosed with cancer, he wouldn't know what to do. The blond coughs a little, sitting up to lean back against the head board of his galaxy themed bed. Sero watches the coughs wrack his friends body. Once he starts coughing up blood, the two look at each other, worried.

"I guess tomorrow isn't soon enough, huh?" Sero hands Denki a tissue, sighing. This was the norm. Denki always had random cough attacks that left his throat raw and bleeding. Handing him a glass of water, Sero sends a silent prayer, hoping his friend beats this cancer so he never had to see a bloody tissue anymore. 

It hurt his heart to see Denki trying to catch his breath without triggering another cough. Sero rubbed his friends back, comforting the blond.

He could only hope.

                               ........................................................................................................

The next day was boring for Sero. Besides stealing some candy and having to run from security, nothing eventful happened. Lighting up a cigarette, the teen walks up his tn=iny driveway to his house. Sero's home was rundown and falling apart. The grass was uncut and his mailbox was tilted. But being eighteen with a shitty pizza job didn't leave many options. Tossing his pizza bag on his broken couch, Sero makes his way to his room, still puffing on his cigarette.

 Nicotine makes you hungry. The thought of a nice sandwich makes his mouth water.

When he walked into his kitchen, Sero's fridge was empty, as usual. Except fo a container of spoiled milk which gets thrown away.

No such luck.

The black haired teen sighs in dismay, popping his gum as he makes his way to his room. 

His bed was just a mattress on the floor with dollar store blankets and sheets on it. Sero's only expensive item, his laptop sat on his bed as usual. Denki always joked that the house was abandoned and Sero was just squatting in it.

It sure looked like it.

Sero's outdated phone rang,forcing him to dig through his bag for it. Today was his day off so he wasn't in a rush to go anywhere. His check barely covered his bills, so Sero was surprised when it rang, Denki's contact showing up, with his cringey contact photo.

"Sero...Hurry!" Denki's panicked voice sobbed out, making the black haired pizza boy drop everything he was holding

Oh no.

"Denki? What's going on?"

"Hurry..I need you now." 

"I'm on my way." Sero only had time to grab his delivery jacket before he ran out the door, into his car. Denki had hung up, making Sero drive a little faster. It was four in the afternoon, well after Denki's doctor visit. 

What could have gone wrong?

When Sero pulled up to the house, Denki was sitting on his porch swing, curled up in one of Sero's hoodies he had borrowed a while ago. He looked like a mess. His hair was messy and his body heaved with sobs. 

"Denki?" The blond launched himself in Sero's arms, crying into his shoulder. "Wanna tell me what happened?"

"They said i was stage three."

"Stage three? Your joking."

"No." Denki whined out, wiping his eyes on the hoodie sleeves. "They said the cancer spread. That's not even the worst of it."

What else could be this bad?

"The cancer spread to my heart. Sero, i only have three years to live"