Summary:Liam lived half of his life taking care of his brother, Leo who was diagnosed of brain cancer and each passing day was a battle life of death for him. His younger brother’s only wish was for Liam to find someone who can be with him even if he’s gone. And On Leo’s birthday, when Liam was almost about to give up from giving his best gift for Leo, Zayn Malik comes up and offers help that might be more than just what Liam needed.
By: Theallegoryofzayn.tumblr.com
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I.
Leo was Liam’s everything. It may be a cliché thing to describe a sibling-relationship but there was no other way to portray how Liam sees his younger brother as the only thing that makes his world keep turning around. Liam was this spherical mass and Leo was his axis. Without him, he’d just stop. And Liam almost fell out of this axis when he discovered Leo was diagnosed of Brain Cancer at such a young age of 10 while Liam just turned 19.
Liam felt like he was a character driven out of a book or a movie that lives such a tragic life and has to receive bad news every now and then. After all, it hasn’t been that long when he received the news of his parents’ untimely death due to a car accident while he was still trying to figure out how to kiss a girl inside his room.
From then on, Liam dropped all the curiosity he wanted to discover and dedicated his life on taking care of Leo.
He stopped schooling and worked several jobs a day, providing for Leo’s basic needs and paying hospital bills. On early mornings, Liam would cycle around the busy streets of the city and deliver newspapers. When afternoon arrives, he works as a waiter on a small business café and during the night, he works as a bartender until midnight.
Ever since then, Liam forgot how to act of his age. He never engage himself into parties, drinking, going out with friends or the idea of blind dates or group dates or anything with the word ‘date’ in it. And even though there’s a fair amount of ladies lining up to get his attention, Liam humbly rejects them all.
His younger brother doesn’t like what he’s doing as well. Leo doesn’t like it when he’s beside him in his hospital bed instead of partying and trying to socialize. He kept mentioning of getting a life but Liam just shrugged the idea – Leo was his life, what was there more to get?
In honesty, Liam was scared. He was scared that on one certain night he’ll be partying or going out with some girls, Leo’s brain would just shut down and he wouldn’t be able to be there when that happens. It was already painful whenever Liam witnesses Leo having seizures, how his whole body just snaps and shakes and like someone was strangling his brother, someone he couldn’t see and he couldn’t stop. Seeing him like that was like seeing Leo battling for his life – a constant battle of life and death – not just of Leo, but also for Liam.
And Liam couldn’t bear the thought of it. What if his brother would never wake up? Who would be there to comfort him, to tell him he’s okay, and he can still live? And these thoughts would run endlessly inside his head as he holds Leo’s hands, begging him to wake up, to not leave him, to keep fighting – and in a matter of seconds, Leo’s hand would move, his heart would start beating again and everything would be alright again.
But what Liam didn’t know was that the only reason why Leo struggles to fight and to live was because he couldn’t afford to leave his older brother without someone who’ll be there even if he was gone. He wanted to see Liam with someone. Someone who will take care of him more than how Liam cared for Leo, more than how he loved him.
