Love is Always Write Anthology Volume 5

you did mean to call? Eventually?" His anger burned bright and fast before he seemed to collapse in on himself a bit. He sounded small and empty when he finally spoke. "Shawn, what happened to you?"
    Best to just rip the band-aid off, as they say. "I'm dying of cancer." I wasn't sure if I should keep talking or if I should give it a second and let that sink in. Turns out he took care of that decision for me.
    That anger from before was back in his eyes as he shot up from the couch and stalked across the room. "You're what?"
    I stood up too, so we would be on a more even footing. I wanted to look him in the eyes, but I couldn't quite manage it, so I stared at a point on my wall that was situated just over his right shoulder. "I have a brain tumor. About five months ago, I started getting dizzy spells. It took them a week or two to figure it out. It turns out I've got cancer taking over my brain. I've been going to chemo treatments but the doctor says it's only got about a twenty percent success rate with where mine is located." I had managed to remain pretty matter of fact up until this point.
    My voice cracked as I continued. "Yesterday's treatment was really bad." I risked a glance at his face. I still couldn't quite meet his eyes, but I saw the silent tears streaming down his cheeks. I felt tears leak out of the corner of my eyes as something broke inside of me. "I'm so tired, Andrew. I just couldn't do it alone anymore."
    Finally, I shifted my eyes to his. "Please, don't leave me alone again," I begged. My lungs strained to pull in oxygen and my chest heaved as I struggled not to burst into sobs. Oh God, I didn't want to die alone. Before I could get control of myself, I felt his arms wrap around me. I think it hit me right then, for the first time, I really could die. I clutched at him with all my strength and the dam that had been holding back all my emotions broke.
    I cried out my pain, my loneliness, my fear, everything I had in me, in wracking sobs against Andrew's chest. He held me, rubbing my back and whispering comforting words that I could not comprehend in my ear.
    Eventually, I cried myself out and I pulled away from the snotty mess I had made of his shirt. I felt like a weight had been lifted from my shoulders. I also felt a little embarrassed.
    "Andrew, I didn't do this to get you back. I just didn't have anyone else to call." Not that I didn't want him back. I still loved him. But this was not the time.
    He looked confused for a moment. "But what about your family?"
    A sharp pain lanced through my heart and I felt my face grow hard. "I don't want to talk about it." I had done enough spilling my guts for one day. And we hadn't even had breakfast yet. I could tell he wanted to press me, and I could see him forcing himself not to ask.
    "Okay," he said, through a somewhat forced smile. I saw his chest rise and fall in a deep breath before he spoke again. "Okay, why don't you put on a DVD while I make you some breakfast? What do you want?"
    I knew there would be more bad moments, and my fear was not completely gone, but for the first time in weeks, I felt a measure of peace spread through me.
    Over the next week, we settled into a routine. Andrew spent most of his spare time at my place. We watched all my bad sci-fi DVDs, and he cooked. We fell into an easy camaraderie we hadn't felt since we first started dating.
    Then, on Tuesday night, he walked into the apartment with a huge grin on his face. My heart skipped a beat in my chest at the sheer beauty of it and I smiled back, unable to stop myself. I raised my eyebrows in question.
    "I've got a surprise for you! We're going out tonight." I was a bit surprised, as we hadn't gone out anywhere since I called him to get me from the park, but I was feeling pretty good now that chemo was a week behind me. Plus, I had another doctor's appointment in the morning so there was no telling how things might stand after that.
    "Where are we going?" I asked him, a smile still splitting my face.
    "I told you. It's a surprise. Now go put on some clothes or we're going to be late." I did as I was told, and half an hour later found us pulling into an old strip mall off South Lamar. I recognized the Alamo Draft House Movie Theatre at one end and figured that was where we were headed.
    But when he led me away from the car, we walked straight towards what looked like a 1950's themed bowling alley. The sign above the entrance read, "The Highball". I was a bit confused. There