Thanks to joeyspizza for the phenomenal covers!! She's amazing at graphics!

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"This will look amazing on you." Ashley said, holding a violet dress in front of my body.

The dress was a short dress, it maybe stopped at my upper thigh, it was flare and had sequins on the bust. It was too preppy for my liking.

"Ashley, it's not my style and you know that." I said with a sigh.

She rolled her eyes at me and put the dress back on the rack.

"Victoria, it's graduation! You gotta look your best. I mean, you'll never go to high school again. This is going to be your last moment to show all those dumbass high schoolers how much you slay." She said and emphasised 'graduation' like it was such a big deal.

"Ash, you know I'm not feeling graduation," I told her. "Or any celebration for that matter." I said bitterly.

Which was true, I didn't feel like celebrating anything when my brother was sick and could possibly die.

It had been almost 5 months since I found about about my brother's illness. His condition hasn't gotten any better in these past months, it only got worst.

Just 2 weeks ago he had fallen ill and landed in the hospital for almost a whole week. The doctor had said that his tumours were now spreading more into his brain which was only shorting his time.

They had started a chemo treatment, but after Michael came out of hospital he stopped it saying that it was just a waste of his money and time. I was so angry when he stopped his only change of survival that I stopped talking to him for a whole week. Of course, I couldn't keep it up anymore so I started speaking to him again.

My horrible parents, Natasha and her fiancé were unfortunately still staying with us and I hated every minute of their presence. Although, Natasha was getting married in the summer (I forgot which date) so hopefully she moves out soon, I don't think I can deal with her squeaky voice anymore.

As for my parents, well they came because of Michael's sickness so I have absolutely no idea when they'll leave.

Today was the 1st of June and graduation was exactly a week away. Ashley thought it'll be great to go shopping and get a dress for graduation. She had already gotten her dress so now she was forcing me to buy something, but I wasn't interested; they were more important things in life than 'graduation'.

"I understand, sorry for pressuring you." she said apologetically.

I smiled at her. "It's okay, blondie." I said and ruffled her hair which earned me a glare from her.

"As long as you let me choose an outfit for you from your closet." She said.

"Not like I have a choice."

****

*knock*
*knock*
*knock*

Someone furiously knocked my bedroom door. I rolled my eyes and walked over to open the door. Impatient idiot.

I turned the doorknob and opened it, revealing someone I never thought was the one knocking on my door.

My heart started racing and my jaw fell open. I started at him with wide eyes.

"Nate?!"

He smirked at me and then winked. "The one and only."

After Nate had asked me to be his girlfriend and I had said no, he never spoke to me the rest of the ride and the whole drive home. After we reached home he had only said one sentence to me, which was:

'Victoria, I understand why so you said no; so I'm going to give you your space.' And with having said that he just drove, leaving me confused.

After that incident he hadn't said a word to me, I tried speaking to him, heck I even went to his house only to find his sister and not him. I was losing my mind without him; I missed his touch, his voice, his kisses, every little thing about him I missed.

When Michael had fallen ill and was in hospital I was going insane, I was so scared that he was going to die. So I did the only thing I knew that would calm me down; I called Nate. He didn't pick up, I tried calling him again and again but nothing. I was an emotional wreck, until Ashley found me in the hospital crying my eyes out and she comforted me and helped me get through those few days.

Anger filled my whole body up.

"You," I shoved him with my index finger. "I needed you! I thought I was going to lost my brother, and I needed you; I needed your hugs; I needed your words of comfort; I needed your voice to calm me down. I needed you, Nate." I yelled at him, all my anger been taken out on him.

I clenched my fists and was about to punch him but he caught my fist and stopped me, "Calm down, sunshine."

"Calm down?! How the fuck do you expect me to calm down when you've ignored me for almost 5 fucking months! I tried; I tried to get you to at least say one word at me but you didn't seem to care! All you did was ignore me!" I screamed at him.

He let go of my fist, walked past me and into my room and faced me.

I frowned. "What are-"

He pulled me into his embrace, wrapping his arms tightly around me. He placed gentle kisses on my head while holding me.

I wanted to pull out of his embrace but the feel of him touching me was overwhelming and I lost my self control. I felt my body ease up, it felt like all the stress I had disappeared. I leaned my head against his chest. I could hear the slightly erratic beat of his heart.

"I'm so sorry, Victoria. I'm so so so so sorry," he whispered. "I was being an idiot. I didn't know I was hurting you, sunshine."

"I missed you so much, Nate." I said softly, my voice slightly muffled by his shirt but I couldn't move at all because of how tight he was holding me.

He placed a long and hard kiss on my head. I closed my eyes and inhaled his familiar scent. It felt like my body was filled with relief, like I was home.

"As much as I don't wanna let go, I came here to finally talk with you." He said and reluctantly let go of me.

After we broke apart, he held my hand and sat me down on my bed. Instead of sitting next to me he crouched on the floor so he wasn't towering over me and he could actually look me in the eye without me looking up and him looking down.

"Next week is graduation," he said and gently stroked my palm. "I'm leaving next Saturday."

I sighed. I knew this topic was going to come soon enough. Another reason why I was dreading graduation was because Nate was leaving. And to make that worst, I still haven't told Ashley about him and Jessie leaving.

"I know," I murmured, dread flooding my whole body.

"I promise I'll stay in touch. I'll text and call you everyday." He said.

"If you don't I'll cut off your man parts." I teased.

He laughed. "You're so violent at times."

"It's who I am," I said. "Now get off the floor, you weirdo. I don't even know why you're sitting there." I said and pulled him up by his hand.

He got off the floor and m sat next to me on my bed. He let go of my hand and pulled me into his chest.

I leaned my head against him and wrapped my arms around his torso. He placed his chin on my head.

"Victoria," he said softly. "Did you say no because I was leaving?"

I pulled apart from him and sighed. "Yes and no."

He frowned. "What do mean?"

"Well, yes, I partially said no because you're leaving," I said truthfully.

His frown deepened. "What were the other reasons?"

"Nate," I said. "I just couldn't jump into a relationship with you, things are too complicated. For example, Michael's dying; I can't focus my time on someone else when I need to be there for him. It's not that I don't love you or anything, it's just that they are more important things than my own happiness."

He frustratedly ran a hand through his hair. "5 months, I had 5 months to spend with you before I left. I wanted to make them the best we've ever had. I wanted to make you happy; I wanted us to be happy, but you said no to me."

Irritation filled me. Was he seriously blaming me for not spending his last 5 months with me? It was his fault; he ignored me. I needed him when I thought I was going to lose my brother, but where was he? Right, he was too busy pretending I didn't exist.

"You cannot blame this on me, Nate. We could've still had the best 5 months together, whether I was your girlfriend or not! You were the one who ignored my existence; you were the one who kept away from me!" I shouted. "I don't see how me being your girlfriend has stopped us in any way from spending time together. But wait, of course, it's my fault; it's my fucking fault because I was the one who said 'no' to be your girlfriend-"

"Victoria-"

"-But the truth is that it's all your fault! If you weren't leaving in the first place we wouldn't have had to cherish the little time that we have together! Don't you think that if I lose Michael it'll be a bit enough loss to me already? How do you think I feel over the fact that I'm losing you and Michael?! It's killing me, Nate! It's fucking killing me!"

"Victoria, you're not losing me," He said, sounding frustrated. "Just because I'm leaving doesn't mean that you're going to lose me."

I shook my head. "That's what you say now, but once you move and start your new life you'll eventually forget about me. I'll just be that screwed up, complicated girl from your past."

I felt my heart sink as I said that, all the anger draining, but I ignored it.

"That's never going to happen because I'll never forget you; you will always be apart of my life whether we're in the same state or not," he gently brushed my cheek. "I'll always love you, sunshine."

"That's not true. Eventually, a new girl will come in your life and you'll fall in love with her. I'll just be a memory to you; a memory you'll never wanna think about again."

He let out huff of frustration. "That's not going to fucking happen, Victoria. It's impossible for me to fall in love with someone else when I'm already in love with you! Don't you fucking understand that?!"

I flinched at his loud tone, which took me completely off guard. I never expected him to get angry.

"Nate, I really don't understand why you're getting angry, I'm just stating the truth." I told him.

"What's fucking pissing me off is that you think that I'm going to stop loving you. It's never going to fucking happen, because Victoria no matter what I'll never stop loving you, not even death can make me stop loving you." He said, looking intensely into my eyes.

"As much as I wish that that's going to happen we don't know for sure," I told him softly, and shifted my gaze down to the floor so I didn't have to look into his eyes.

"When you left New York I never stopped loving you, did I? No, I came back for you after two fucking years! What makes you think it's going to change this time, huh?"

I opened my mouth to respond but then closed it again. I didn't know what to say. He had a point there but things have changed, his going to go off to college and start a new life, a life without me. Who knows how long it'll be until we meet again, heck who knows if we will even see other again. Anything could happen in a matter of a few years. He could meet someone way better than me in New York and fall in love with her; he could marry her and start a whole new life, one without the burden of my baggage, where he could be happy.

As for me, I'll probably end up being alone and miserable without him. I love him too much to even think about being with someone else. I deserved it though, I deserved all of it. I played with Gerald's feelings and I guess karma was just going to bite me back, there's nothing I could do about it.

"Nate-"

Before I could complete my sentence I got cut off by my room door being pushed open and there stood a very worried looking Gloria.

"M-Madam V-Victoria," she huffed, sounding breathless.

Worry flooded through me and I jumped off my bed and sprinted to her.

"Gloria, what's wrong?!" I asked.

She caught her breath. "It's your brother-"

"What about Michael?" I cut her off, panic and worry taking over me.

"He was in the study room doing some work so I went in there to check on him and I found him unconscious on the desk."

****

I was standing in the waiting room of the hospital, nervously bouncing my knee.

After Gloria told me about Michael I rushed to where he was and instantly called the ambulance. After the ambulance came and took him, Nate and I have been sitting in the waiting room waiting for the doctor to come and let me know if he was okay. Each second that ticked by felt like a decade.

I was so nervous that it felt like the nerve were eating up my insides. I couldn't take this any longer, it was driving me insane.

Nate held my hand and gave it a slight squeeze. "It'll be alright, sunshine. He's not going to die, sometimes cancer patients just get weak and lose consciousness."

I ran a hand through my hair. "But the last time this happened we found out that the cancer had spread in his brain."

He pulled me into his chest and tightly wrapped his arms around me. "I'm sorry, I really am sorry, Victoria."

I had no idea what he was apologising about, but the feel of his arms around me was comforting and I felt myself calm down a little.

A little while later, I was still in Nate's embrace when the doctor arrived. As soon as he came Nate let me go and I faced Dr. Morris.

"Ms. Aldaine," He greeted. "Well I can't say that it's a pleasure to see you again," Dr. Morris said and chuckled.

"How's my brother?" I asked him, not in the mood for small talk with him.

"His condition is still the same from last time, he hasn't improved or worsened," he said. "The reason why he fainted was due to stress. He is stressing himself too much, I strongly suggest that you make sure that he stops stressing before his condition gets worst than it already is."

I let out a breath that I didn't even know I was holding. I was so relieved that his condition hadn't worsened. Yeah it sucks that he hasn't improved but it's a huge relief that he hadn't gotten worst and I'm grateful for that.

"Thank you so much. Dr. Morris." I said and beamed at him.

He smiled back at me. "I'll go and prepare the discharge papers and then you and your brother may leave." And with that he left.

I turned to Nate and flung my arms around him. "You were right, it's just stress. Nothing major."

He chuckled and wrapped his arms around my waist. "I told you, sunshine."

*****

After Michael came out of the hospital yesterday, Nate left and Michael and I went back home.

As soon as we got back yesterday I started lecturing him to stop stressing and to start taking his health seriously. He agreed, but I strongly suspect that he just did that so I could stop lecturing him.

Now, it was 6 in the evening and the two of us were watching Modern Family together. Thankfully, my parents, Natasha and her fiancé were gone out to dinner.

"Victoria?" Michael said.

"Yeah?"

"Just wait here, I wanna give you something." Then without explaining what he was going to get he left.

I frowned. What does he wanna give me?

He came back with a square box in his hands which was red and had a black ribbon on it.

"What's that?" I raised a brow.

"Well, you're graduating next week so I thought I could give you a little something," he grinned. "It's not a graduation present, it's more of a...pre-graduation present I guess." He said and handed me the box.

I shook my head at him. "Michael, you're wasting your money."

He rolled his eyes. "Just shut up and open it."

I lifted open the cover and seen black material which looked like clothing. I took it out from the box and seen that it was a beautiful dress. It was a short dress, maybe around mid-thigh or shorter, it had black lace sleeves and lace that went down from the front to the top of the skirt. The bust had like a black cropped top stitched under the lace and the back had a V cutout. It was really beautiful.

"Wow...it's beautiful. Thank you so much, Michael." I said and smiled at him.

"Glad you like it, lil sis," He said with a grin.

Guess I had my graduation dress then. Ashley would be pleased to know about that.

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