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ARI.

I don't know how long I was crying for, but my eyes were hurting and each breath was getting harder. The news of Brayson dying prematurely broke my heart into billions of tiny pieces. The thought of such a sweet, innocent, little boy being robbed of a fulfilling life crushed me and every fallen teardrop was a representation of that ache. I knew Brayson since he was born - I held him for the first time when he was only a few days old. I watched as he fought through his disease, stayed in hospitals for weeks at a time, and I was even there the first time he stepped foot in Disneyland. Brayson Zachary Cole was my little man and I couldn't bare the thought that one day he'll earn his angel wings.

"Ari, shhh, you're okay now," Luke cooed as he crouched down in front of me. I sat on the curb with my face buried in my hands and I could feel Luke tug on my body to give me a hug. "Breathe with me."

Breathe.

The word made me panic and cry even more. The simple idea of breathing - the act that we do involuntarily, was a luxury that Brayson couldn't have. All we do is breathe. Sitting down, driving a car, or even after a three mile run, our breaths still seemed to catch up with us. Not with Brayson.

"I. Can't. I. Don't. Wanna," I whimpered in between words that were muffled in Luke's warm chest.

"Ari, come on, breathe with me," Luke repeated. He pulled away from the hug, hooking a finger under my chin so I was forced to look at his blue eyes through my teary ones. He pulled onto my hands, standing as he did, "get up."

Luke took a step towards me, his feet on either sides of mine and as I watched him in confusion, he pressed my chest up against his. He hugged me tight; so tight that I could feel his chest rise and fall with each one of his breaths. But I think that was the purpose. Luke wanted me to feel his breathing-- chest to chest.

"Follow my breathing pattern," Luke softly said and I listened to him.

Though my heart was beating at rapid speed and my lungs were practically gasping for air, I let my chest rise and fall with Luke's. It was rhythmic the way his inhale would match my exhale and my exhale would match his. I closed my eyes and concentrated on getting my breathing back to normal after all the crying. Soon enough, air flowed nicely through my lungs and I was no longer hiccuping; no longer yearning to breathe.

"Feel better?" Luke asked, gazing down at me with a smile.

"Yea," I nodded, "thanks."

"Do you want to talk about it?" he questioned, separating himself from me but I oddly didn't want him to let go. He felt so warm around me and it was comforting.

"I just need some answers. I need to talk to my mom," I told him honestly. "Can you take me to the children's hospital?"

"Anything for you Ari," Luke gestured for his car, unlocking it. The headlights blinked as the two of us slipped inside the car in silence.

I leaned my head against the cool window and closed my eyes, feeling another set of tears threaten to skip out of my eyes. I concentrated on the sounds of All Time Low coming from the speakers - trying to lose myself in the lyrics. I guessed Luke sensed my anxiety and woe because he reached over to grab my hand. He laced our fingers together, gently rubbing my thumb with his. The simple gesture put my stomach into a whirlwind but I kind of liked it. I stared at our locked hands before looking up to gaze at Luke whose eyes were glued on the empty streets.

"Thanks," I said finally.

"For what?"

"For not giving me a half-assed friendship," I simply answered, giving him a smile.

He turned his head to look at me for a moment, returning a small smile before pulling up into the hospital parking lot. Luke let go of my hand to park the car and just like the hug, I didn't want him to let go. My hand felt empty and I frowned at the thought. Once the car was parked in a stall not too far from the entrance, both Luke and I stepped out into the evening air.

"Where in the hospital does your mum work?" Luke asked, as we walked through the automatic sliding doors.

"She's typically on the third floor with all the patients who have sucky lungs. She's a respiratory specialist and administers all the breathing treatments," I explained. Luke nodded at my words as he followed me through the hospital lobby.

The Children's Hospital was top notch and held notes of comfort despite the fact that it was a place for sick kids. The walls were painted with soft yellows and blues, decorated with hand painted art and even the employees seemed to have a permanent smile etched on their faces. It was a good thing, I supposed, because positivity was needed in a place like this.

"Hi Tommy," I waved at the security guard who was perched from behind a huge half-moon shaped counter.

"Ari, it's been a while," the dark-skinned man smiled. "Are you alright?"

He definitely noticed my bloodshot eyes and dark circles so there was no use in lying to him.

"Honestly, I could be better," I told him with a sigh and he gave me a sympathetic smile. "I'm here to see my mom."

"You know the drill," Tommy pointed to the clipboard on the countertop. "I'll also need both of your IDs."

"Luke, ID please," I brandished out my hand towards the white boy. I waited as he pulled out the rectangular card from his wallet and placed it on my palm. Together with mine, I handed the IDs to Tommy who looked at it while I signed in both Luke and I.

"Here are your passes," Tommy handed us two lanyards with a plastic number attached to the keychain. "And your IDs," he gave back our cards with a smile.

"Thank you Tommy," I bid him a goodbye and proceeded behind the desk towards the elevators. I rested my back against the wall, biting my lip in anxiety.

"Hey," Luke whispered, tugging at my arm. I looked over to him, "things will be okay."

"Promise?" I looked up at Luke with glossy eyes. He opened his mouth to speak but no words came out; like he was formulating the words to say. I felt a solitary tear trickle down my cheek, and a wave of sympathy hit Luke because within a millisecond, he pulled me into a tight hug.

"Promise,"

//

LUKE.

Ari was in another room talking to her mum while I sat around in a waiting room off to the side. Seeing her so upset was the last thing I wanted to witness. She looked so vulnerable and helpless unlike how she usually acted. Ari was tough as balls and could easily defend herself. But tonight however, I saw her weakness. And that weakness was the fear in losing the people she loves the most.

In that moment, that's when I realized why she didn't like half-assed friendships and only lets certain people into her group of friends. Ari didn't like to lose friends either; it was like she didn't want to put effort into a friendship that may end in heartache. Ari had already lost her father and I guessed that triggered the fear. I couldn't speak for anyone else but I knew one thing: there was no way in hell that Ari was losing me.

"Hey,"

I looked up from the phone in my hands to Ari who stood leaning against the door pane of the waiting room.

"Everything alright?" I asked, standing up from the chair and approaching her. I took a good look at Ari and I could tell that she had been crying again. I was about to pull her into a hug, but a woman wearing a pair of scrubs approached.

"Nice to see you again Luke," Mrs. Quiroz smiled.

"Nice to see you too. Um, is Brayson Cole really going to die?" I wasn't expecting to ask such a blunt question but I wanted to know. Mrs. Quiroz let out a sigh, sorrow dripping from her face.

She shook her head, "Brayson has been fighting for way too long; longer than what doctors expected. His lungs are giving out."

"But if his body has been fighting all this time, who's to say that it won't keep fighting till he's 50 years old?" I pointed out.

"His lungs are working into overdrive just so he could sit upright," she explained and I felt my own lungs clench. "The only option is to keep him on bed rest which may give him an extra month or two but he's still a kid. He wants to be active and play outside. Our best option is to keep him happy and to make sure Brayson has the best, last few months of his life."

I nodded my head, not knowing how to vocally respond. Ari's mum had a good point. Brayson was only 6 years old. He deserved to be outside; to play around and be a kid. I only met the little tyke today but in the short few hours of being with him, I grew to love him too.

"Listen, I have to get back to work and do my rounds," Mrs. Quiroz started. She looked over to Ari, "are you going to be okay? I'm off tomorrow and we can do something relaxing. Maybe go to Lotus Cove and visit Mia if you like."

"Sounds good mom," Ari fell into her mum's chest, giving her a tight hug.

"Thank you Luke for taking care of my daughter," Mrs. Quiroz pulled me into a hug and I reciprocated the embrace. She was smaller than Ari and I almost didn't want to hold her too tight in fear of snapping her in half. But when Ari's mum squeezed me tighter in appreciation, I knew that it was okay.

"Of course," I assured, looking over her head and looking straight at Ari, "ride or die."

Ari didn't want to go home and instead of dropping her off, we went back to my place. My own mum was already sleeping and I knew this because all the lights were off when we walked in through the front door. Ari followed me into my room where she sat at the edge of my bed while I rummaged through my drawers. Pulling out a Nirvana shirt and one of my boxers, I threw them over to Ari.

"You can wear those. There are spare toothbrushes in the bottom cabinet in the bathroom," I informed. Ari nodded her head in silence before walking out of my room and into the bathroom.

I took the liberty of washing my face and brushing my pearly whites in the downstairs bathroom while Ari took her time in mine. When I jogged up the stairs and sauntered back into my room, Ari already found solace beneath my blankets. I shimmied out of my jeans and pulled off my flannel, tossing them off to the side before crawling underneath the covers next to Ari. We laid there in silence, just the sound of our breathing filling our ears like a lullaby.

"I don't know if I can handle it Luke," Ari spoke suddenly. She had been so quiet I thought she fell asleep.

"You can handle it. You're not alone," I told her. It was more like a promise because she didn't just have her mum, sister, Ashton, Calum and Michael - she had me too.

"Ever since my dad died, I've had this horrible fear of--"

"Losing your loved ones?" I finished. I felt Ari shift around in the bed. When I looked over to her, she was now lying on her side to face me.

"My dad died slowly," she started, her voice oddly calm.

"Ari you don't have to talk to me about that," I quickly mentioned.

"I want to tell you," she asserted, "I trust you."

She trusted me.

"My dad had lung cancer and it started off like he just had the flu. Then he got worse. Coughing up blood and getting weaker by the day. He was in so much pain and there was nothing I could really do but try to make him as comfortable as possible. My sister failed every class during that semester at Uni because she couldn't concentrate. I missed a lot of school too. I couldn't eat and I was always stressed out that my own hair started to fall out. And then one day he left us. Just like that," Ari's voice cracked and I could see the teary beads glisten as they trickled down her cheeks. I could see pain embedded in her eyes and I could tell that each word was like a dagger to the heart.

"Come here," I breathed, pulling her shoulders. Ari scooted closer to me till she was wrapped securely in my arms.

"I barely survived watching my dad die before my eyes. I don't know if I can survive watching Brayson go through that too," she cried into the crook of my neck, her warm breath fanning my skin. I gently rubbed her back in attempt to calm her down and relax her overwhelmed heart.

"You survived your dad, you can survive Brayson. It's going to be hard but I believe you can pull through, Ari. Your dad got to live a fulfilling life because he had you and your sister. He married a beautiful woman and was able to watch you grow up,"

"Brayson won't have that,"

"He'll be able to live a fulfilling life in other ways. He's only 6 but he's wise beyond his years,"

"We have to make sure he makes it by Christmas," Ari declared. "That's two months. We gotta keep him happy through Christmas."

"We can try," I said.

"No trying. We have to," she insisted. She lifted her head from my neck to look at me with hopeful eyes. I stared back at her and I could see something deeper beneath her brown eyes. I couldn't say no to her.

I nodded my head, "okay. We'll keep him happy through Christmas."

"Thank you," Ari breathed. Unexpectedly, she kissed my cheek before burying her face back into my neck with a satisfied sigh.

I felt my cheek tingle from where Ari's lips touched. I smiled to myself just thinking about the gesture and I couldn't help but to feel happy about it. Do friends kiss each other on the cheek? Did they kiss each other on the forehead too? I wasn't sure of the answer but I did it anyway. I leaned my head down to kiss Ari's forehead lovingly and I felt an arm wrap around my torso in response.

I think the stupid butterflies in my stomach were trying to tell me something.

//

Yay! Update!

Arke is so cute! I'm getting feels just thinking about it and all the plans I have for those two!

This story is almost at 10K reads and that makes me so happy! THANK YOU ALL SOOOO MUCH!! Thank you for reading, voting and commenting on this story! I appreciate it so much! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!