☆ S̶e̶v̶e̶n̶ ̶D̶a̶y̶s̶ ☆

➳D̶a̶y̶ ̶3̶ ̶|̶ ̶T̶h̶i̶n̶g̶s̶ ̶C̶h̶a̶n̶g̶e̶➳

✎T̴r̴i̴g̴g̴e̴r̴ ̴W̴a̴r̴n̴i̴n̴g̴✎

Disease, Death

♥♥♥

A pair of buttercup eyes flutter open, to which Sean immediately greets his friend. "Hey, Luke! You're finally up! How are you?"

Luke rubs his eyes before glanced at the older boy. "Oh, hi Sean!" He says cheerfully.

The two smile at each other as silence fills the room. Sean is the first to break it. "You know, I think you're really brave, Luke."

Luke's smile grows wider. "Thank you, Sean. But really, I feel bad for putting you guys through all this pain." Luke sighs, staring at the ceiling.

"Luke, you're the one fighting for your life! We all look at you as a hero, going through with this whole thing." Sean says, as small tears begin to form at the corners of his eyes. 

Luke's watery eyes look up at Sean. "How are the others holding up?" He asks, the glistening water drops giving the effect that his golden eyes were shining. 

Sean sighs before responded. "Jake is keeping his composure, but it's clear he's very stressed. Hailey isn't great, she looks like she hasn't slept in days. Milly is trying to be tough, but she's fighting back tears. I guess I'm doing okay. I think I'm still too in shock of this whole situation to really have a reaction yet." Sean explains, fiddling with his hands. 

Luke lets out a shaky sigh. "And Zander?" 

Sean looks at him hesitantly. "He's... A mess... He isn't going to school, and from what I've heard from Hailey, he isn't eating, or sleeping, and he... Spends all his time in his room, crying, and looking at photos of the two of you..." 

Luke flinched at the words. He hated putting Zander through so much misery. 

"Did you... See him?" he asked hesitantly, knowing he would regret it once he heard the reply. 

"Luke." Sean sighs.

"Did you?" Luke repeated, his voice dropped, his tone low and dangerous. 

Sean frowned in defeat, and slowly nodded his head. "He looks awful..." Sean whispered, as if someone was listening in on their conversation. 

Luke sighed, before the pair fell silent.

"Luke, no matter what happens, I'll always be by your side. If you had told me and the rest of the band about your condition earlier, we could've helped you! You wouldn't have to go through this alone..." Sean said, as the tears were now streaming down his face, leaving dark, wet stains on his cheeks. 

"I wouldn't want to put more stress on you guys with the upcoming competition, plus, you guys were each dealing with your own problems. I'd hate to be a burden. " Luke sighs, glancing out the window that had become all too familiar to him in the past several days. 

It was the only thing he still had of the outside world... 

"Luke, you're one of my best friends, you know that?" Sean asks, Luke blinks at him, before tilting his head in both curiosity and confusion. Sean considered it a sign to keep talking. "I mean, you're always there for everyone. You prioritize all of our problems over your own, even though you're the one dying! You act like you're perfectly fine, but I know you're losing it. I mean, your father's dead, so you have to take care of you and your mom, and on top of that, we all use you to rant to. How can you be so, freaking calm?!" Sean exclaims, before pulling his friend into a hug as he burst into tears, soaking the other boy's shoulder in tears.

Luke didn't exactly know what to do, so he simply awkwardly patted Sean's back, however it seemed to bring comfort to the other boy. Once Sean settled down, he looked at Luke, his teary, puffy black eyes blinking up at the dying boy. 

"We had a good run, Luke. I'm gonna miss you... " Sean sniffled, rubbing his eyes.

"Yeah, we did. I'll miss you to. You know, I've always looked up to you, you were my role model, and my hero, and my big brother!" Luke exclaimed, surprisingly enthusiastic for someone who had four days left to live. 

Sean watched his friend clap his hands in amazement. "How are you so happy?" He asked.

"Well, I'm nearly dead, might as well make the most of it, right?" He replies, wearing the fake smile Sean knew all too well. Sean sighed. 

Once his best friend passed, he planned on putting on his headphones, putting his favourite song on repeat, and reading their old conversations, knowing very well it would only make him miss him more. 

"I'll miss you. There's nothing else I can say, I'm just gonna miss you. It's that simple." (Quote not mine)

Luke sighed, managing to wear the smile on his face. 

"Things change. And friends leave. Life is cruel, and it doesn't stop for anybody."