I moved his hand from my extremely wet face. And scooted closer to him so that our knees were touching.

"If we are gonna do this. We are starting off slow. And I mean EXTREMELY slow. No more random make out sessions. No more random pop ups. We move at my speed. We start off as friends and take it from there." I said.

"I can do that." He said.

"Secondly, if you push me away again. Then I'm staying away. And I mean that. My heart literally can not handle the flip flopping. Your either in or not. Got it?" I said sternly.

"Got it!"

"Thirdly, I have a weak heart. I've had two heart attacks. Kind of. I'm going to have to get a whole new heart. And that wait list is long. Meaning I'll be with this shitty one for awhile. I can keep it pumping for awhile, but it might give out before I can even get the new heart. And even if I get the heart, the procedure it self is high risk. Meaning you have to deal with the reality of the situation that I might not-" he cut me off with a quick, sweet, chaste kiss.

"I know the reality. I'm here." Was all he said. And my heart melted.

"Okay. Lastly, we need to apologize to My dad, Doc. T and Becks. Then we need to talk to Pops and Doc. T together." I said.

He was hesitant but he agreed.

"One last thing." I said. He looked up from our joined hand and looked me in the eyes. "What happened to Tim's Mom?"

His face was even more solemn. He took a deep breathe. "Well they were able to get the tumor or whatever out of her brain but the tumor did some long time damage to her. She still capable, she's not all there. She lives in the city with caretaker. We visit her once a week whenever we have the time. Dad never comes tho. The coward. She filed for divorce while she was going through chemo." He said with a weak smile.

"You remind me a lot of her. Strong, funny, willing to take on the world and the universe."

I laughed. "We'll I'm flattered to be compared to such an amazing woman."

"You should be. That woman's my hero." He said.

A knock at the door caught both our attention. I looked at Tate and told him to be quiet. "Who is it?" I asked.

"It us. Tim and Becks." Becks said.

We both relaxed. "Come in!" I yelled.

The door opened slowly, and the two slipped into the room slowly. "Soooo. You two married yet?" Tim asked with a rhy smile.

I rolled my eyes. "No where close to that." I said.

"But we are better." Tate said. And I nodded.

"Tate? Hurt her again, and I'll rip your jalapeño off. Got me?" Becks said putting her arm around his shoulder. He laughed but I noticed the nervous swallow. "Whatever you say mama bear." He said

"Becks, I need you and Tate to come back here tomorrow around 12:00." I said.

"Isn't that when you dad comes over for his break?" She said.

"And Tyler comes in for your treatment too?" Tim said.

I looked at him. "You already know his schedule?" I asked.

"Yeah. Me and T are cool." He said. I looked at him but said nothing else in the matter.

"Anyway, I know that. Just do it. For me?" I said

And she nodded. "I'll do it but I'd doesn't seem like a good idea."

Before they turned in left I called out to Tate. He stopped and turned. "Take it easy on me, okay?"

A small smile graced his lips. "Ok. I'll take it easy on you."

I nodded and watched him leave. It'll all be fine.

Tomorrow came a lot quicker than expected and I was nervous as fuck at the moment. It was 12:10, and my dad and Doc. T were already here and Becks just texted me saying that her and Tate were on there way up.

My dad and T were in the middle of discussing something, but I was too nervous to listen. "Dad! Tyler! We need to-" a knock at the door interrupted me.

"Come in!" I yelled. Welp so much for warning them first.

The door opened and Becks walked in first.

"Hello Becks. I didn't know you wer-" as soon as my dad eyes laid on Tate. The rooms atmosphere completely shifted.

"Hello, sir." Tate said while scooting his way over to me. Tyler's face was unreadable, but I could tell my dad was upset.

"And what exactly are you doing here? Your not on the authorized list of guess." Dad said. If looks could kill. Poor Tate would of been minced meat.

"Dad. I invited him here." I said.

"How I-" he started but then cut himself off before he could give away too much.

"What? You deleted his contact info and blocked his number before you he got me the new phone?" I asked sarcastically.

"Sweetie, I only did that because I was-"

"I know dad. I'm not mad. And I would like for everyone in this room to give Tate the same courtesy." I said. "First we would like to apologize."

Tate stepped up and looked my father and Tyler directly into the eye. " I was cowardly and immature. I apologize to you two, Rebecca and Meloni got causing any type of distress." He said.

That was a bit much. Tyler looked like he was holding back a laugh. And My dad just looked at him with a cocked eyebrow.

"Well....Ummm.....ok. I just....." my dad couldn't seem to find the correct words. So he took a moment to gather himself. "Look, your both kids and your gonna make mistakes and fuck up along the way. And as a parent I understand that. But this circumstance isnt a normal one. One bad day could kill my daughter, and it almost did. When she is stressed and upset she is forgetful and self destructive."

"And not to mention stupid." Tyler murmured under his breath.

"That too." Dad agreed. I couldn't disagree. "These are very sensitive times and last thing I need is some boy coming and literally breaking her heart."

"But I'm also a human being, who can make her own choices." I said.

"Not if they are reckless and could kill you." Tyler said.

"At this point anything could kill me. This conversation could kill me. A bird hitting the window and surprising me, could kill me." I said under my breath.

"Really, Meloni?" Tyler said.

"Sorry." I said. "Me and Tate are friends right now. And he has a clear understanding of the situation now. And until everything is settled he won't be any cause of any type of stress."

"How can we trust that?" Dad said.

"We really wanna bring trust into this conversation? Dad for the past month you have been lying to me. Telling me I had no visitors outside of Becks, Tim, and Mrs. Robinson. Then you told my friends to lie to me. Not just about Tate but Veronica as well. Now don't get me wrong I'm greatful that you didn't tell me about Veronica, but telling my friends to lie to me and then also going through my phone and deleting things, so not cool. And I understand you did it because you were worried, but my friends. That was out of line." I said.

Pops was quiet. "Dad. I'm not mad about the Tate stuff. I completely understand that. Shit if I was in your position I'd be against him too. But using my friends against me......if they were good liars, that would've broken my trust with the three people that I was closest too at the time. That alone would've been a stressor." I know I was being a bit unfair but it was the truth.

My dad still seemed a bit off. Ok, plan b.

"Put Tate on the visitor list, Tyler. Tate and Becks go with Tyler. I wanna talk to my dad alone." They all nodded and went on there.

We stayed quiet for awhile and my dad made his way over to my side. He grabbed my hand, and I watched him carefully.

"Nemo, I'm just worried about you. Your all I got." His voice cracked and I watched tear escape him. "I can't loose you, baby girl. I'll have nothing left."

I grabbed him and held him so tight that my arms were soar. "I never said I was giving up. I'm gonna make sure I out live you, ok?"

"But you always say face reality and the reality is-" I cut him off.

"Yes. Always face reality. But those are all the bad possibilities. And that's my fault. I shouldn't of said all that to you. I just wanted you to be prepared just in case. But another reality is I'm not ready to die and I will do everything in my power to make sure I don't."

"Promise?" He said against my shoulder.

"I promise, papa."

That's right. I'll survive. Even if the odds are against me. I have to survive.

Michaela Coel as Jada (Tims Mom)