It's Not Meant To End (WayHaught Fanfic)

Prologue

This must be what it feels like before dying.

Nicole's eyes were fixated on the vast space below her. She was leaning by the edge of Purgatory's own Timber bridge, with one arm gripping unto the railing behind her. Beyond her dirty Converse sneakers that she had worn for two years now, was the rushing stream of the river below. The reflection of the moon shone before Nicole, making a straight streak of light across the surface of the water. That must be so deep.

The bridge was empty at the time, leaving Nicole on her own musings. Her eyelids drooped to close as she let the cold breeze blow past her face, making her red hair sway in all places. All she could see was darkness at this point as she listened through the deafening silence. A specific memory immediately flashed into her head, transporting herself back to what happened earlier that afternoon.

Nicole was seated beside her mother, her round brown eyes staring at the large aquarium her doctor had in her clinic. The younger redhead was fascinated by the way guppies wave its tail.

Nicole's mother of forties with red locks and frock dress was talking to an older woman with the weirdest spectacles Nicole had ever seen.

"What do you mean that it sometimes happen to some patients?" Nicole recalled her mom asking for the second time. She had never heard her mother sound so exasperated before ever since she was still in grade school, when Nicole had her first chemotherapy.

"I'm really sorry, Miss Haught... Sometimes, the treatment would work on some patients... Some cancers, particularly when treated in earlier stages, have low recurrence rates... Unfortunately, for your daughter's case, she began chemo when she had it on stage two. A recurrence can happen weeks, months or even years after the primary cancer was treated," the doctor calmly explained. She must have been trained to talk like that, Nicole thought. Especially when she's always the bearer of bad news.

"But what can we do? What can we do about it?" Nicole's mother stuttered. She was trying her best to stay at her best behavior. Even though she knew her daughter could be taken from her at any moment. Nicole liked that about her mother. She used to defend the younger redhead when her Gym class instructor gave her a C minus for not showing up for one week.

"We can put her into another treatment... It has gained reputation for curing 37% of its users. But we can only undergo such procedure when the body has already relaxed from the last time. I believe your daughter had hers about 266 days ago... However unlikely, Miss Haught, there's still no reassurance that her body would not reject said treatment."

Nicole's mother only nodded. She hated how her mother and doctor were discussing as if she was not there. Hey, I know I'm dying. At least, say that to my face.

At least, Nicole got to meet with her good old friend for the third time around. She had her first chemotherapy after her surgery. They had removed some polyps from Nicole's colon. The operation took most of the day but she was asleep all the time. She remembered waking up feeling all thirsty and hungry, with a numbing pain in her stomach. Then after a month, she had undergone a chemotherapy where she lost most of her hair for a year. She stopped going to school for that. Her second and latest treatment happened almost a year ago. Even though she didn't lose any hair during the process, Nicole's hands and toes darkened as if they had been buried deep in the snow and developed frostbite. It took her a lot of time to regain color. Wearing gloves even when the sun was out didn't help her from the bullies in her school.

"Whatever you're planning on doing, it's not worth it." The sweet angelic voice brought Nicole back to reality. Gripping the wooden railing tight behind her, the redhead turned her back to glance at the speaker.

With her luscious wavy brown hair and piercing hazel green eyes, Waverly Earp was the most beautiful girl Nicole had ever seen in her entire life, even when it was only going to be a short one.

Being a famous junior head cheerleader in their school, Waverly was liked by everyone including Nicole. The redhead had been crushing on her since the brunette had stepped foot in their school. Apart from her good looks and manners, the one thing Nicole hated about Waverly was her friends. Waverly had always been an accomplice to her royalty friends in the school. The group of friends that had bullied about Nicole's sexuality through the years. It started when Nicole had asked Shae out on a date and Champ, Waverly's boyfriend and also part of the royalty club, heard about it. Rumors started spreading like wildfire. Nicole hadn't had a chance to extinguish the flame, not much sooner than extinguishing Shae from her life.

"You can talk to me. I am here now. Please, talk to me," Waverly went on as she slowly stepped towards the redhead, bringing Nicole back to her senses. "You don't have to do this. You know someone out there loves you... Your parents... Your friends... They care about you.. I care about you... Please.. climb down."

Realizing her mistake, Nicole climbed over the railing back to the asphalt road where Waverly was standing five feet away.

"It's not what you think," Nicole hurriedly said, as she turned around and headed towards her bike.

"What I think? Nicole, you were going to kill yourself..."

"I am not," Nicole spat. "So, please leave me alone." Nicole was telling the truth. Jumping off from a bridge would be the last thing the redhead would do. She had never thought about what others would think anyway about her actions. Of course, that would be the first conclusion one could come up to when he/she sees someone on the end of the bridge, clinging for dear life.

Nicole thought she was alone. She thought she could get away with it. She never thought someone would notice her, much less someone she knew.

The redhead had always wanted to climb on the edge of the bridge while clinging against the railing. She had always wanted to experience how close she was to dying yet it couldn't come sooner. It was like taunting death. I know you'll get to have me, Death. But today's not the day.

Apart from that, it was also one of Nicole's bucket list that she had mindlessly wrote an hour ago. It was a normal reaction when someone suddenly came bearing one's longevity status.

Waverly followed her. "I am not letting you. What if you'll come back and hurt yourself again?"

"Why do you even care?"

"At least, let me get you home," Waverly offered. Nicole's eyes darted to the red Jeep Wrangler she had parked on hazard behind them.

Nicole decided to ignore the brunette as she went to climb on her bike. As she was about to pedal away, warm little hands yanked her, making her lose balance and almost fell to the ground. "What the hell was that for?"

"Was this because of what Champ and Steph said about you yesterday?" Waverly asked. Nicole only glared at her. Right. The part where Champ and Stephanie called Nicole a dyke. It was partly Nicole's fault why they did what they did yesterday. Nicole was throwing dirty looks at them as she passed by their table in the school canteen.

"This has nothing to do with that or any of that," Nicole immediately answered. "Why do you care anyway? As far as I can remember, you laughed."

"I didn't laugh! In fact, I broke up with Champ. Although I already have my reasons before yesterday happened. But it triggered me to do so."

Nicole felt her heart lighten from the news but she shrugged it away. She shouldn't be feeling these things at all. Why do I care Waverly's single? She's straight and she would never look at me the same way I see her.

"Well, congrats," Nicole scoffed as she climbed on her bike again. Then she pedaled away.

"Nicole, I meant it!" Waverly shouted after her. "You can always talk to me!"

And besides, I'm already married to death.