Before I Die | Lilo AU

II : Liam

friend ~ noun : someone who likes and knows well another person : sympathizer, helper

The next day after school, as I was feeling much better, I invited Liam and Louis around to my house, mainly to tell Liam about my Leukaemia. I had made Louis swear to secrecy, even to Liam throughout the day which would be hard for Louis but somehow he had managed and Liam was oblivious. I was surprised too, as Liam was the smartest out of the three of us and would usually catch on to things quickly.

Liam was originally from Georgia, hence his wonderful southern accent, but moved here to Indianapolis when we were in kindergarten and proudly called here home, though he did return to Atlanta every summer from the day after we got off school till August 30th. That meant he kept his accent thick and strong but I also never saw him on his birthday, August 29th. Liam, who I described as a sensible yet fun-loving athlete, and I had met when we were in kindergarten. We had become friends instantly and had been pretty much inseparable till this day, excluding summer break. That didn't really matter though, as I was in Chicago for most of summer anyways but this summer my family's travels had been cut short by my complaining of being weak, tried and unhealthy.

I lead the boys up to my room like I did any other day and sat down on one of the three bean bags on the ground. We each had our own assigned bean bag: mine was blue, Lou's was red and Liam's was purple. We each had our favourite colours.

"So Li," I started when Liam and Louis had taken a seat.

"So Krissy!" Liam mocked. I rolled my eyes at his unfunny act.

"Ugh. First, happy belated birthday." I smiled and pouted. Liam mirrored my face.

"Thanks Krissy." He thanked.

"No prob. So, tell me about you're summer!" I urged, smiling at Liam crazily so I wouldn't burst into tears.

"It was great! My dad and I spent most of our time on the golf course, duh you know me. It was really warm all summer too and Ruth taught me how to horse ride, which I'm quite good at now might I say, and I practised for triathlon. You know, regular Liam stuff." Liam grinned. I felt happy knowing that Liam had enjoyed his summer.

"Great! That sounds amazing!" I sighed happily, thinking about horse riding and how I'll probably never do it.

Now for the crushing part.

I stopped and thought about my words. I didn't know how to tell him. I eyed Louis in the corner. He was smiling at me like an idiot, just like he always did. I chuckled slightly then stopped. "Umm, Li, I have to tell you something serious."

"What about Lou?" Liam asked.

"He found out yesterday. He wasn't meant too, but he did so now I have to tell you." I replied.

"What is it? Is everything okay?" Liam asked, worriedly.

"Erm... well, no." I watched Liam lift his cupped hands over his mouth and wait for me to say something. I could tell he was scared. "Well, you see, oh my gosh, I'm not good at this. Louis..." I looked over Lou as my cheeks damped for the billionth time this week.

"You want me to... Alright." Louis nodded and shifted towards Liam, who look completely confused. "Liam, what Krissy is trying to t-tell you is that she has l-leukaemia and she's very sick." Louis wrapped his arm around me and rested my head onto his chest. Liam looked like he was comprehending the situation.

"Wait, what?" He asked as if he hadn't been listening at all.

"Krissy has cancer." Louis said straight out. It sounded pretty forward to me so I would damn Liam if he hadn't put two and two together already.

"Oh my gosh, Krissy." Liam slowly came to me and squeezed me gently in a hug. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm okay, I guess. Guys, it's not a big deal. You don't have to treat me any differently, I won't let you. Except, Louis, maybe don't randomly punch me in the stomach anytime soon." I giggled, poking Louis' tummy.

"Sorry about that." Louis laughed, poking me back, but softly.

The three of us lay on our bean bags for a while just taking in the moment. Personally, I thought about how much I loved Liam and Louis. They seriously are the best friends I could ever ask for.