Trigger warning

Two days pass and Emerson doesn't say a word about having cancer to Remington. He knows he needs to and that it's only going to get harder the longer he puts it off, but he also knows how devastating the news will be for Remington, and how he'll most likely spiral and end up back in hospital.

Today he's going to hospital for a test, to see if the cancer is spreading, or if the treatment he has had so far is working. Shy is coming with him for support, and currently they're on the motorway, twenty minutes away from the hospital.

The woman turns her attention from the window to Emerson. "You know you really need to tell Remington, right?" She asks. Ever since she found out Remington hasn't been told, it's been on her mind.

Emerson sighs. "I know. I keep telling myself that I will, but every time I can't do it. And Shy, he won't even look at me at the moment. I've really fucked up with him."

"It doesn't matter if you're arguing or not, Emerson, he needs to know. Just tell him."

The drummer shakes his head, unsatisfied. "I don't know how. He is so breakable. He barely managed when Andy was on tour, how the hell will he manage when I tell him I've got cancer? I can't do that to him."

Shy understands. She has seen how easily Remington is hurt. "Well, you're gonna have to," she says, and the conversation ends there.

At hospital, they wait for nearly three hours before being called into a room. Emerson has his blood taken and a few scans done, and is told they'll have the results in two weeks. Until then, all he can do is hope and pray, and hopefully tell Remington.

On the way home, his phone rings, and when Shy tells him it's Remington, he raises an eyebrow and asks her to answer it. She does, and greets the singer.

"Oh, sorry, is Emerson busy?" Remington asks in his quiet, anxious voice.

"He's driving right now, yeah. I can give him a message."

The boy looks at Andy, who persuaded him to call his little brother, and then talks. "Will he be home soon?" He reaches for Andy, who smiles and steps closer, taking his lover's hand and rubbing his shoulder.

"Yeah, we'll be home in fifteen minutes."

Remington wraps himself in Andy's arms. "Could he come round here for a bit? I wanna talk to him."

Shy looks at Emerson. "Yeah, sure. I'll let him know."

"Thanks. See you later."

Remington hangs up and exhales, leaning into Andy, who rests his chin on Remington's head. "Is he coming here?"

With a nod, the boy closes his eyes. "Unfortunately," he mumbles, "why'd you make me do that?"

Andy chuckles. "Because, beautiful baby, you two need to stop all this arguing. It's not good for you." He sways gently.

Remington whines. "You're annoying," he complains, "I love you."

"You're annoying, too."

The boy lifts his head with a pout. "Now you're just being mean. Don't you love me, too?"

"You know I love you, silly. Don't fall asleep on me. You've got your brother to talk to soon. Sleep after." He ruffles the younger's hair.

Remington yawns and whines again. "'s not fair."

"I know. Life isn't fair."

"Life isn't fair, but you make it better." He pulls away from the hug and smile sleepily, scrunching his face up when Andy ruffles his hair. "Can I skip dinner tonight?" He asks, looking at Andy with big eyes.

The man shakes his head. "You know that's not possible, sweetheart."

"Please?"

"No. Recovery means eating, princess."

Remington runs a hand through his hair. "Well recovery is stupid," he mumbles, "what's so bad about not eating, anyway?"

Andy kisses his head. "Well, you'll collapse and you'll be taken to hospital, and you know what happens in hospital, don't you? You get fed through a tube. You don't want that, do you?"

"No, but..."

"If you really can't eat tonight, sweetheart, then fair enough, but if you're just being stubborn, you know that's not a good excuse." He rubs his arms and kisses his head again.

"Fine. I'll just force it down."

"Good boy. You might want to get yourself into a better mood before Emerson turns up."

"Ugh, Emerson. He's a bitch."

Andy can't help but to smile at Remington's childish behaviour. "Yeah, maybe don't say that to him."

"Well it's true, so..."

"I'm sure it is. Do you need another hug?" Andy knows Remington sometimes gets like this when he's upset, which usually indicates that he's in need of affection.

The boy shrugs. "If I say yes will you give me one?"

"That's usually how it works."

"Then yes please. Hug." He's wrapped in a hug again, and exhales. "I don't wanna see Emerson," he says against Andy, who hums. "If he shouts at me again, I'll cry."

Andy rubs his back. "It'll be okay, baby boy. You need to try your best to stay calm, even if he says something upsetting, okay?"

"'kay," Remington murmurs, "'m falling asleep."

To stop him falling asleep, Andy tickles his sides, and Remington squirms. "You can sleep after you've talked to Emerson," he says.

When Emerson arrives, Remington opens the door and lets him in, following his brother into the living room and siting down. "I just want to know why you keep getting so mad at me," he explains, "because I'm trying so hard to get better, Em, and every time you comment on my weight or whatever, it just makes me feel so much worse about this whole recovery thing."

Emerson sighs. He had been rehearsing in his head on the way here what he'd say, but now he's here, he just can't. "I'm just worried about you," is what he responds with.

That feeble excuse doesn't exactly ease Remington's mind. "You're worried? What, so that's why you keep insulting me? Emerson, that makes no sense." He knows Andy said to be calm, but he can't. He's tired.

"I'm not 'insulting' you, Remington, I'm just-I'm expressing my concern."

"Jesus Christ, Emerson, we're brothers, not work colleagues." He wishes Andy was in the room with them, but the man decided that it'd be best to leave the brothers to work things out without him interfering.

Emerson rolls his eyes. "You know what, we might as well be work colleagues at this point. You don't tell me anything anymore."

The boy can feel tears in his eyes and he blinks. "Every time I try and tell you something, you start shouting at me, so can you blame me? And if I'm not mistaken, you didn't even tell me you and Shy were engaged."

"Oh my God, are you really about to cry right now?" He sounds unimpressed, surprised at how easily Remington is brought to tears, even though he knows why, and that it's out of Remington's control.

"No," Remington lies, blinking profusely in an attempt to hold back tears.

Emerson rolls his eyes again. "Right, well that's a lie. Honestly, Remington, what don't you cry about these days? Or are you just too fucking pathetic to handle anything?"

"Can you just go?" Remington ask weakly, no longer looking at Emerson.

"I thought you'd never ask."

Remington sits still while Emerson stands up, and crumples into tears as soon as he hears the door close. He can't understand why Emerson is being so cold towards him. It hurts that he doesn't know why.

Andy hears the front door shut and frowns when he sees Remington with his head in his hands, crying. "Remington, sweetheart, what happened?" He asks, crouching in front of the boy.

"You made me call him," Remington says, "so it's your fault." He lifts his head and gives Andy an annoyed expression. "Don't wanna talk to you."

Andy knows to give Remington some time, and leaves the room after saying, "come get a hug if you need to, angel." He goes upstairs and sits on the bed with a book, and ten minutes later, Remington crawls up beside him and puts his head in Andy's lap without saying anything. He soon falls asleep.