***This chapter isn't the most eventful, but it has important clues! If you stick till the end of Act 3, keep a close eye on the banner above :) Anyway, I would just like to say that I despise this chapter because it took an entire month to write, and it's still bad. Note to self: heavy editing needed!***

Julie hadn't seen Rosaline in ages, making her wonder what had happened to her. She shook off the weird feeling and glanced down at her notifications to see if she had responded. Nothing.

Nessa walked into her room, glancing around to see if Rosaline had been with her, but was disappointed to see she wasn't there either.

"What happened to her?" Julie asked. "She never does this. She hasn't even shown up to school in a week."

"I have no idea, but what I do know is that," she paused for a moment, trying to let her friend finish the sentence. She scoffed and spoke again, "Why is Rowan Myers living in your house?!"

"I got kicked out," a voice came from behind her. Nessa spun around to see Rowan leaning against the wall with a bowl of cereal in his hands. She sighed and took a seat next to Julie's vanity.

"What happened between you two? You're hiding something."

Julie cleared her throat and motioned for Rowan to come inside which he did without hesitation. He sat down on Julie's bed, taking a spoonful of food and putting it into his mouth. Nessa looked at Julie for answers to which she sat down in front of Nessa, taking her hands and squeezing them.

"Don't freak out, ok?" Julie whispered.

"I won't."

"I mean it."

"I'm telling you," she insisted. "I won't."

Julie looked back at Rowan who was glaring at his food in panic. She let out a deep breath before standing up, looking her friend directly in the eyes, and saying, "We're getting married."

"It's December, Jules," she laughed, the corners of her eyes slightly creasing. "April fools is still a few months away, can't you wait?"

"Vanessa," Rowan pitched in. "She's not joking."

She pressed her lips together, staring at the ground for a few moments. Julie stared at her expectantly, but she did something unexpected.

Nessa simply stood up and began walking out.

"Wait!" Julie exclaimed. "Where are you going?"

"To give Micah and Rosaline a piece of my mind," she said, her voice deadpan. "I'll find her, don't worry." She marched off again with Julie chasing behind her.

Jayden came out of his room to see what the ruckus was about, and he saw Julie tugging at her friend's arm. Nessa tried pulling away and opening the door, arguing with Julie as she was doing it.

"It's their fault, isn't it?" she rebutted.

"No, I swear it's not," Julie promised. Nessa wasn't believing a single word. She pulled away from Julie and turned the doorknob, practically running out.

"Nessa- Vanessa!" Julie called out after her. She ran out the door, following her friend who was halfway to her car. Julie caught up, completely out of breath. She threw an arm around her, stopping Nessa from moving another inch.

"It's my fault, Nessie. Don't blame them."

"You're eighteen!" she yelled. "I'm going to blame them. I didn't think it would escalate to this level."

"There's a reason," Julie said quickly.

"Like what?" Nessa asked, exasperated. "There's no reason you could give me that could possibly explain why you would do this!"

"Just hear me out!" Julie yelled back. Nessa stopped, and suddenly, the world was quiet. A car drove by, speeding by the two who were practically standing in the middle of the road.

"Tell me," Nessa muttered. "I'll hear you out."

"I have six months left," she said simply. "I'm dying, Nessa." Her shoulders relaxed as she finally said the seven words that weighed on her chest. Nessa froze, nearly flinched, at her response.

"What?" she asked, dumbfounded. Jayden ran out, finding his sister standing on the road and panicked. Nessa saw him, and all the pieces fit into place. Everything made sense all of a sudden.

Jayden was overprotective because his sister was dying.

Rowan didn't know Julie because she was always in the hospital.

It all clicked. Julie never did anything slightly active. Now, she knew why.

"Jules-"

"Can you two argue on the sidewalk?!" Jayden yelled out, sprinting to his sister and pulling her to the side. Nessa followed her, but everything blurred into the background. The sounds of arguing, birds, and vehicles vanished.

How could she not notice?

How could she have been so blind?

Her feet ran to Julie, shoving Jayden out of the way and enveloping her in a tight hug. He stepped back, still confused about what was happening. He shrugged it off and went back inside to find Rowan standing near the doorway.

"Care to explain?"

"She'll tell you when she wants to."

"Whatever you say," he said and walked back up the stairs. Jayden looked back every few seconds to see if Rowan would explain, but he remained still, just gazing at the two outside. Jayden retreated into his room, leaving Rowan by himself.

He pulled out his phone and hovered over Micah's contact, contemplating whether he should call him or not. He looked back at Julie and Vanessa nodding furiously at each other, bouncing back after their argument and confession.

Without hesitation, he pressed the dial button and waited for a response from the other side. Surprisingly, Micah picked up faster than he thought, but his tone was still short.

"What?" he asked, clearly still mad.

"Can we talk?" Rowan pleaded, the desperation in his voice showing through. The line was silent for a few moments before Micah finally spoke again.

"I'll come over."

"I'm at Julie's house. It's across from Vanessa's."

"I know," he replied, then hung up. Julie came back inside with Nessa close to her. She smiled at Rowan and extended a hand to him. He stared at it for a few moments, confused.

"Shake my hand, Rowan," she said in the most polite but threatening way. He hesitantly grabbed it and shook it slowly. "Say hello to your witness, helper, and most of all, your executioner if something goes wrong."

"Nessa!" Julie exclaimed.

"I'm being dead serious. If he breaks your heart, then I'll do whatever it takes to avenge you."

"That makes me feel so much better," Rowan said sarcastically.

"Good."

...

Rosaline ran up to Julie's door and knocked, despite it being nearly midnight. A sleepy Julie opened the door and laughter immediately hit Rose's ears. She woke up at the sight of her missing friend, gaining awareness of her surroundings again.

"Where have you been?" she asked.

"My mom grounded me. She took away my phone."

"And didn't let you go to school?" Julie asked, not believing a single word.

"Yeah."

"Julie!" Rowan called. "What's taking so long?" His footsteps drew closer until he was right behind the two of them, and his smile dropped in an instant.

"Hi," Rosaline said, sheepishly.

"I don't think this is the best time for you to be here, Rose. Maybe another day?" Julie suggested.

"Why? What's happening?" she questioned.

"Nothing important," Rowan cleared up. They looked between each other as Rosaline realized what was happening.

"You don't trust me?" Rose asked. "I brought you two together, and now you're-"

"I think you should go," Rowan told her, placing his hand on the door. Julie looked away from her, staring at the ground as if it were confirmation.

Her plans were going awry.

She was in deep trouble, but she couldn't tell them that. Otherwise...

It's for the best. Rose thought.

She nodded and without another word, she ran off to the car waiting for her in the distance. She looked back desperately, but Julie couldn't see her expression and shrugged it off. Rosaline got into the car, which drove off as fast as possible, most likely above the speed limit.

"What was that?" Rowan asked. Something felt off about the interaction they just had, but he couldn't place his finger on it.

"I don't know."

"It's probably nothing. Now," he started. "What type of flowers do you like because I don't know any flowers other than roses."

"Tulips," she said simply. "They're a personal favorite of mine."

...

Julie had woken up in the early hours of the morning. Thankfully, her parents were out and Jayden had left for practice and didn't bother to look in her room. Nessa had fallen asleep beside Julie, Rowan on the other side of her, and Micah was laying on top of a chair nearby. She nudged her friend's arm off of herself and got up, stretching.

"What are you doing?" Nessa mumbled sleepily.

"Waking up," Julie replied with a large yawn. She drew her wrist up to her face as her yawning wouldn't stop. Nessie tugged on her friend's arm, and Julie pulled her up. The other two were sound asleep, one on the ground, and the other in the most unnatural position possible.

Micah stirred at the sounds of people shuffling around. He groaned as his neck cracked from sleeping on a chair vertically. He looked around drowsily, but stopped when he saw Nessa.

"Where am I?" he asked. "What's on your..." he gestured to Nessa's cheek, and she touched it unconsciously. The bright, red, rash-like mark was clearly visible now. It spanned over the entirety of the right side of her face, spreading down to her neck.

"U-uh," she hesitated. "Nothing, just go back to sleep." She walked out of the room calmly, presumably to cover up the mark. Julie sighed, sitting back on the ground.

"What was that?" Micah asked, waking up completely. He stood on the ground, his entire back cracking as he stretched.

"It was the mark on her face that you accidentally insulted, obviously."

"That's what it was?!" he exclaimed. "Why are you telling me now?" He ran out to where Nessa had gone, presumably to clear up their misunderstanding.

I'm surprised neither of my parents freaked out when they got back. She thought. Julie looked back to Rowan as he turned away, sleeping peacefully.

"Rowan," she called. "Get up."

"Five more minutes," he groaned. "This bed feels nicer than mine."

"You're sleeping on the ground, genius."

He opened his eyes slightly, using his arms to prop himself up. His disappointment shone through as he looked at the floor.

"Did you purposefully give me the worst mattress in your entire house?" Rowan asked, standing up and staring directly at her.

She just shrugged with a smile before walking out, Rowan following shortly after. Julie saw her brother open the door, walking in from practice.

Wait, from practice? Julie thought.

"Why didn't you tell me?!" Rowan yelled, resisting the urge to slap himself. "Coach is going to be out for blood, specifically mine!"

"Eh," Jayden replied simply, grabbing a paper towel off the rack to wipe his face off with. "I'm not your mother. Speaking of which..."

"No, she hasn't contacted me."

"Wow, she really holds a grudge, huh?" Julie asked, giving him a reassuring pat on the shoulder. A sound came from behind the two, and they spun around to see Micah and Nessa, both clearly exhausted.

"I'm going to head home," Nessa declared. "And you," she said, turning to Micah. "We're not done with this conversation."

"Of course," he replied as Nessa marched down the stairs. She walked out the door that Jayden had left open, closing it shut afterwards.

"What is happening?" Jayden asked, peeking around the corner to see if she had actually left. He looked back up at the bridge of the house where they were standing. "Does anyone want to explain?"

"Not it," Julie said, backing away. Rowan frowned at her, but ran downstairs to help Jayden understand the situation.

...

"So, you're telling me that you..." Jayden said to himself in disbelief. He stopped for a moment, thinking about it.

Micah held his breath in anticipation as he heard the news a second time. Yesterday, he couldn't believe anything he was hearing, but now it seemed more real. His friend was getting married, and he planned it all in hopes that his life would turn around.

"I can't let you do this," Jayden declared, standing up from the couch. Julie and Rowan looked at him, slightly confused.

"There's no way I'm going to live to see the next year, and you're saying this?" Julie asked, the pain in her voice shining through. Her brother couldn't bear to look at her, but he disapproved. Seeing his sister doing what seemed like throwing away the rest of her life was too much.

"What are you going to tell our parents?"

"I haven't thought that far."

"What about school?"

"Look-"

"What about your family?" Micah added, not realizing he was speaking out loud. Rowan nudged him with wide eyes as if it were a sign to stop speaking.

"What are you trying to say?" Julie asked. "Am I selfish for wanting to live my life?"

"You're not selfish, but this is... completely unexpected. A bit of a stretch," Micah told her. "This was one of the last things I was expecting when Rowan called me."

"I'm telling our parents," Jayden said, slowly walking away. "They'll stop you from doing this better than I can."

"Don't!" she yelled, grabbing his arm. He tried pulling away, but it was no use.

Everything was falling apart.

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-Hershey