It wasn't long before Adonis walked into the kitchen. The sight of him usually made me smile, but after deciding what I was going to do, it made me hurt, especially when he gave me a dimpled smile. I made my best attempt to hide my inner turmoil.

"Hey." He dropped into the empty chair beside me. My father and brother had left, so it was only us and my mom.

I averted my eyes from him. I didn't want him to see that there was something wrong. His hand covered mine.

"You okay?" he asked. I nodded my head as I lifted my eyes to his. The plastered smile fixed on my face, I was trying my best not to let him see the sadness I was fighting inside.

His eyes searched mine before he wrapped an arm around me and pulled me closer. I felt a funny feeling in my arm and I looked down at my hand. It felt like a numbness feeling that spread up my arm from my hand. I flexed it and shook my hand, hoping for it to go away.

"What's wrong?" Adonis was watching me.

"It's my arm. It feels a little numb," I said. I saw the fear in his eyes before he swept it under a mask. He took my arm into his hands. He rubbed it, hoping to increase the blood flow.

I could feel my time slipping through my fingers. The side effects were happening more often, which meant the tumor was still growing.

After a few minutes, my arm returned to normal. The doorbell rang. I hadn't been expecting anyone, and I looked to my mom.

"I'm not expecting anyone." She was busy doing the dishes.

I got up to answer the front door. It was Link. He looked every inch a rocker who could have any girl he wanted. He was tall, dressed in a black shirt with jeans.

"Lacey," he said, and I smiled. He looked preoccupied and agitated, which I wasn't used to.

"Hi." I stepped back so he could enter.

"Is he here?" he asked, and I nodded my head. I shut the front door and led the way to the kitchen.

At the sight of Link, Adonis' jaw tightened. He wasn't happy to see his bandmate.

"Hi," Link greeted my mom before turning his attention to Adonis, who had risen. The atmosphere turned tense, I couldn't decipher what passed between the two of them.

"What are you doing here?" Adonis barely kept his anger at bay.

"We need to talk." Link rubbed his brow, but he had a determined glint in his eye.

"We can talk in the living room," Adonis told him, and they left the kitchen.

I was witnessing the repercussions of my tumor on his life. This was only the first time, but what about the next time or the time after that?

"What's that about?" my mom asked, and I shrugged like I didn't know. I didn't want to admit to my mom that I'd eavesdropped on their conversation, so it was easier to pretend I didn't know.

Link was here to talk some sense into him, and I hoped he succeeded. I sat down at the kitchen table for a few minutes sipping some tea. Sounds of heated voices pulled my attention to my mom, who was looking to the doorway with concern.

"I'll go," I told my mom. This was about me and I'd hoped that they would have sorted it without me having to interfere, but clearly that wasn't happening. The closer I got, the louder the voices were.

"I don't have to explain anything!" I'd never heard Adonis so angry before, I hesitated and then pushed forward.

"How can you say that?" Link sounded exasperated. "Of course you do."

"I wouldn't do this if I had an alternative. Trust me on this." Adonis was cryptic, giving nothing away. Did he not want to tell Link about me? Was it his way of protecting me?

"I don't get it. Why are you bailing on us?" Link asked, shaking his head.

I hesitated by the doorway, debating if it was a good idea to interfere, but I couldn't allow Adonis to do this to protect me.

When I entered the room, their attention moved to me.

"What's going on?" I asked, not wanting to reveal I already knew. Adonis glanced at the carpet. He wasn't happy for me to know. I looked to Link for an answer when I realized I would not get one from Adonis.

"He won't do an appearance tonight," he said, and shot Adonis a resentful look.

"Why?" This time I directed my question at Adonis, who looked up to meet my gaze head on.

He didn't answer straight away. It was like he was trying to figure out what to say. Just when I thought he was going to answer he pressed his lips together refusing to answer.

"Does it have something to do with this?" Link shoved a magazine into Adonis' hands. The shock on his face made me move beside him to take a closer to see the cover on the magazine.

Is Adonis Grayson sick? The headline read. The picture that accompanied it was of Adonis walking out of the specialist's office. It shocked me. I'd been there, and I'd never seen a photographer taking pictures. All I remember was the crowd of girls who had gathered to get autographs.

Adonis' eyes were on me as he handed the shoved the magazine back at Link. "It's just someone trying to make headlines."

His bandmate glanced between Adonis and I.

"If you hadn't been acting so weird, I might have agreed with you." Link wasn't buying it.

I couldn't let Adonis take any more flack from Link.

"It's me," I admitted softly.

"You don't need to-." Adonis tried to stop me, but I cut him off.

"I do." I shot him a determined look. Link frowned.

"I'm the one who had to see the specialist." I still hated to admit my body was letting me down. Adonis wrapped his arm me and held me close. "I've got a brain tumor."

There was a stunned silence.

"I'm sorry, Lacey..." The fierce annoyance that he had exhibited only moments before had faded away and he looked shocked. He moved to embrace me and Adonis dropped his arm from my shoulders. He hugged me hard, and I gave a shuddering breath.

"I'm sorry, man," Link said to Adonis when he let me go.

"It wasn't my secret to tell." He shrugged before taking my hand into his, a sign he was going to shoulder whatever happened with me. It made me more emotional than I wanted to admit.

"How bad is it?" Link asked, and the look Adonis shot him warned him not to go there.

"I have to have surgery to remove it." To say it out aloud made it more real and a lot

scarier.

Now that everything was out in the open, Adonis gave him a brief rundown of what the specialist had said. His friend's eyes shot to mine, and I could see the realization hit him that my chances for survival were slim. Then there was understanding in his features.

"That is hectic," he whispered. "If you need anything, you let me know."

I swallowed my emotions that wanted to break free at his sweet words. I nodded slowly, trying to keep myself from allowing my emotions to take hold. Adonis embraced me and pressed a kiss to my forehead.

"You take whatever time you need," Link said to Adonis. "We can handle it."

"Thanks."

Link left, leaving Adonis and I alone in the living room.

"You okay?" he asked, tilting my face up to his so he could directly into my eyes.

I took a shaky breath and nodded. I wasn't okay, but I would not admit that to him. With the appointment with the specialist and deciding to cut Adonis free weighed on me, but I gave him a weak smile to reassure him.

We went back to the kitchen so he could eat breakfast. Afterward he left to home to change. Preoccupied with my thoughts, I went upstairs to have a shower and get cleaned up.

I was in the shower rinsing the soap from my body when I felt a wave of dizziness, so I leaned against the tiles until my world stopped spinning. My temple throbbed slightly, and I slid down to sit in the shower. Feeling a little frightened, I tried to stand up again, but I didn't feel steady on my feet. It was like I was drunk.

Carefully, I got out of the shower and wrapped a towel around my body. I made it to my bed before I sat down. Feeling fearful, I took an emotional breath and exhaled. I stood up and this time I felt steadier, so I got dressed without further incident.