A/N: Hey y'all! Before we get into the chapter, I just wanted to let you know that there will be a spin-off coming soon. It's Veronica's story, and I promise you it's going to be GOOD! I'm going to publish chapters 1 and 2 next month. If you want to read it as soon as it comes out, make sure to follow me to get the notification. Here's the book cover:

Without further ado...

"You're wasting your time. I'm not gonna open up to you."

Darrell chuckles at Veronica's stubbornness and Veronica mean-mugs him. "You know what I like about you?"

"No, and I don't want to know."

"I don't believe that."

"What? That I don't care?"

"Yeah."

Veronica rolls her eyes.

"Even though I don't really know you, there's something I've noticed about you that I highly respect."

Veronica gives him that, hurry-up-and-say-it look. Darrell smirks.

"Every time we've cross paths, I always pay close attention to you."

"So, you're a creeper?"

He chuckles. "Veronica, I need you to listen to me."

Veronica is low-key turned on by his boss-like energy.

"At Dave & Buster's, I witnessed you trying to put out a fire with whoever you were on the phone with, while making sure Stephen's kids had everything they needed. I also watched you give my team, and the entire neighborhood, discounted haircuts just because you felt like it. You have a big heart. A heart of gold. And believe it or not, Stephen highly respects you, too."

"Fuck him."

"I don't know what he said to you on the phone. But whatever it was, don't let it make you believe anything negative. Before I met you, he would always come back from your family vacations saying how he missed your annoying ass. His words, not mine."

Veronica shakes her head, not wanting to engage in the conversation.

"Your whole family respects you. A lot."

"You call shipping-me-to-California-at-16-to-babysit-a-23-year-old-asshole, respect? I had to ask my Uncle for him to send me back to New York, just for him to say no because he only cared about Sam's feelings. I had to cuss Sam the fuck out just for him to finally stop acting like I wasn't living in the same fucking apartment as him. No one has ever cared about how I felt, except my mother. And maybe Sam, but I had to teach him how to separate me from everyone else. Then I had to fuckin' hide that his mother has cancer while trying to build a bond with her before she dies. Do you know how that makes me feel? Sam will never forgive me. I feel like a fucked up person for not making sure he spent more time with his mother," she vents out all in one breath, before quickly wiping a tear off her cheek. "Damn. All this fucked up shit got my ass cussing again."

Darrell walks over to the nightstand and pulls a tissue out of the tissue box. He attempts to hand the tissue to Veronica but she smacks his hand away. He steps closer to her and dabs her cheek with the tissue, which causes her emotions to go into overdrive. Tears are now streaming down her face, too fast for Darrell to catch.

Veronica snatches the tissue from him, "I got it."

"Let's make today about you. Just let me know how I can help."

"You should go. There are other people going through worse shit than me."

"Yes, people do go through worse, but that doesn't mean what you're going through matters less."

Veronica chuckles as she wipes away her tears.

"What's funny?" Darrell squints at her.

She shakes her head.

"So you're really going to lie to me?"

"So you're really not going to have sex with me?"

Darrell bursts out in laughter and Veronica smiles.

"I'm joking," she tells him, trying her best to lighten the mood. "Please don't tell anyone you saw me crying."

"I won't."

"But for real, you can go back to work, now."

He stares at her for a moment. "...Alright. It was good seeing you."

She nods and Darrell turns to leave. Veronica slides off the bed before following him to the door. "Darrell?"

"What's up?" He responds, opening the door.

"You seem like a great guy. But you should seriously try to pursue someone else."

"'Cause you don't wanna get close to me?"

She puts her head down, not really wanting to answer that question.

Darrell gently lifts her chin up, making her look into his eyes. "I like a challenge."

Veronica then shakes her head and smirks. "Bye Darrell."

"Goodbye, Ms. Veronica."

Veronica watches him walk down the hallway towards the elevator. Darrell looks back at her one last time, and Veronica quickly hops back into the room, not wanting Darrell to catch her looking at him.

___

Sam walks out of the elevator and onto his designated floor of the hospital. His facial expression shows how anxious he is right now. Just as Sam's about to approach a nurse, his grandmother Delores comes from around the corner, wiping tears from her own eyes. Sam does a double-take at her. "Abue..."

She quickly shifts her neck and looks up at her grandson. "Sam..."

"¿Cuándo llegaste aquí? ¿Qué paso con Ma?"

Delores grabs his arm and tries to pull him in the direction she just came from. "Muevete, ante de que sea demasiado tarde."

"Before it's too late? ¿Abue, qué coño?" Delores ignores his question as Sam allows her to drag him into his mother's hospital room.

Delores opens the door and pushes him in before quickly leaving back out. Sam glances at everyone in the room, catching Stephen in the corner looking out the window, hiding his face from everyone. Nate is standing against the wall across from the hospital bed, staring at Liliana. Sam follows his youngest brother's gaze and ends up making eye contact with Larry who is standing above a sleeping Liliana. Sam notices how hard she is breathing, causing his eyebrows to furrow.

"Son, we were trying to wait until you got here, but the doctor slipped and said it a few minutes ago," Larry tells him.

"I'm tired of y'all speaking in codes. What's wrong with her?"

Larry glances down at Liliana and then back up at his first born. "Your mother is dying from cancer."

Sam's eyes get big as he steps backwards towards the wall.

"I'm sorry, Sam."

Sam stammers, silently, and his face turns red. He subconsciously starts to slide down the wall, not able to hold up his body weight. Just as he's about to drop on the floor, Nate runs over to him and grabs him up. Sam snaps out of his daze and then bum-rushes his father, pinning him up against the wall. They don't realize the loud thud wakes up Liliana.

"There's no way she just found this shit out," Sam shouts out to Larry.

"Get off me, right now," Larry warns him.

Nate and Stephen have to pry Sam off of their father.

"Sam..." Liliana speaks to him in almost a whisper.

Sam shifts his neck and looks at his mother, his face beginning to soften. "Ma..." Sam walks to her and Liliana slowly grabs his hand.

"Don't be mad. I didn't want you to worry."

He takes a deep breath, trying to hold in his anger. "Since when?"

"... Last year."

"Last year?! Are you fuckin' serious?"

"Sam, you need to calm down," Larry tells him.

Sam scowls at his father before making his way back to him. Stephen blocks Sam's path and tries to redirect his big brother. "You're focusing on the wrong thing," Stephen tells him.

Sam gives Stephen a stern look and then quickly glances at everyone else before turning around to leave.

"Samuel..." his mother calls out for him, almost inaudible.

Sam punches the wall, and opens the door before storming out the room.