cancer, egd

10.warmth

But I don't mind, at all.

"Vic, come here for a sec." I motion to her. She gets up from her spot on the ground and walks over to me. I hop off my board and gesture to it. "Hop on." I smile.

Her eyebrows raise and tucks the handle of her breathing tank down, and pull straps out of it, slipping it into her back like a back pack. She steps onto the board and grabs my hand, that I didn't even realize I offered. Her tiny, calmingly warm hands grasp mine and I smile as she laughs. Her hands shake slightly as she leans onto me a bit harder. I laugh and walk along with her. I start to walk a little faster and she laughs and lets out a small scream.

"Ethan stop!" She laughs. I slow down and slowly let go of her hands. She rolls along and I laugh as she pumps her hands in the air.

"My little baby, she's growin up so fast!" I say in a southern accent making her turn around and laugh at me. "Look at her go, go baby go!" I continue on with the accent. She laughs and hops off the board, hunching over with laughter. Gray joining in with us.

"Oh my lord, you crack me up." She tries to calm her laughter.

"Well that's my job isn't it?" I ask.

"True." She nods finally coming to her senses. Gray comes over to us, shaking his head.

"Well, where to next?" He asks.

"How bout home?" I ask.

"Fine with me." Vic says.

"Hold up, which home? Mine or your home?" She says, pointing an index finger at each of us.

"Our home, come on. We'll make cookies. I'll take you home then." I tell her smiling face. She nods and crawls back under the fence and back to the car. I load up the boards again, Gray taking the backseat, Vic the passenger.

I drive us home to our place, a quick drive relative to the 15 minute drive to the hospital. We arrive in under 10 and leave the boards in the car. Mom and my sister are out for the night, claiming they needed time to be women before Cam, my sister, returns to college. So, we have the house to ourselves.

I unlock and walk into the house. Vic follows behind me and Gray behind her. I take in the familiar smell of home, moms crisp apple scented candles have been one of my favorite things since I was a kid. Gray slips past Vic and i and bounds up the stairs. I give Vic a confused look and she laughs.

"No time for house tour, lets get making these cookies." She rubs her hands together and peeks around the hall, looking for the kitchen.

"Right this way." I lead her to the kitchen and help her get out a cookie sheet, cooking spray, and the cookies that await in a bag. They have Christmas trees on them, but I don't any of us truly care, they taste like jesus himself.

"Awesome." I hear Vic say, clapping her hands together. A devilish plan arises in my head and I smirk into the back of Vic's head. I open the fridge again and grab the whipped cream. I shake the can and spray some directly into my mouth. Vic turns around at the sound and I spray whipped cream onto her head as she watches with wide eyes and a gaping mouth.

I laugh out loud and spray some into her mouth. She closes it immediately and grab the bottle from my hand, spraying me right back. She grabs the whipped cream pile from atop her head, licks it, and throws it into my face with a laugh.

"You little devil." I whisper, lowly.

"You started it!" She proclaims, her laughter still fluttering through the air.

"Ya well I'm gonna finish it." I whisper almost inaudibly. Her eyes widen and I scoop her up and start to tickle her. I place her down on the ground and tickle her more with one hand, the other reaching for the whipped cream. I spray the rest of what is in the container and spray it into her mouth as she laughs. She swallows and I stop tickling her. I prop myself up on my elbow against the floor.

Vic looks at me with a glare and shakes her head. I stand and pull her up with me. She sighs. I pull out my phone and open up snapchat, I start to take a video and start to tease.

"Aw is my little Vic angry?" I ask, the camera pointed at her.

"It's a good thing I love you, you'd be dead right now I swear." She says laying out cookies. She looks up to me and sees the camera and erupts into a blush. "Stoooop." She whines and I put the phone away.

"Aww you love me?" I ask, my heart beating hard in my chest, even though she means love in a friend way.

"Of course I do." She says, preheating the oven. "It'd be hard not to love you, you're kind, sweet, funny and one of the best people I've ever met." She smiles, her eyes studying my face.

"I love you too." I walk towards her and outstretched my arms. She walks into them, pressing her face my chest. "Isn't it funny how we've only known each other for a short time, but we are already the best of friends." I say, closing my eyes.

"Ya, but when someone special enters your life and makes you truly happy, you can't let them go. Even if theres only a tiny chance that that person will love you and accept you back, you have to hold onto them with both hands. Givin my situation I wouldn't trade you for anything really, because you make me happy, and happiness is the biggest thing for me right now." She preaches into my shirt, the warmth of her body envelopes me, making me truly feel at home. If only I could freeze time right here, where everything is perfect. Forever, I want to feel her chest gently rising and falling against mine, I want to feel her warmth against my body.

The oven starts to beap, Vic sighs and looks up at me, resting her chin on my chest. "I'm gonna get that." She smiles. I squeeze her body in close one last time, then let her go. Feeling a cold breeze hit my body where she stood. I watch as she slides the cookies into the oven. She turns to look at me again and laughs.

"You need to wash your face."

A/N:   Hello my lovelies! Comment your thought and suggestions! Yet again I'm very sorry that this is late! There's a lot going into these chapters!

STAY SAFE! STAY BEAUTIFUL! STAY YOU!