I opened the front door and froze in my tracks when I saw Dylan sitting on the stairs, tears streaming down his cheeks. I felt my bag slip off my shoulder and fall to the floor.
"Y/N."
The way he said my name and the tears on his face gave me all the confirmation I needed.
"No," I gasped. My phone and keys fell out of my hands as I reached up to cover my mouth. Dylan jumped up and wrapped his arms tightly around me. He kept one hand on the small of my back and the other on the back of my head.
I gripped his shirt in my hands and sobbed into his shoulder. Suddenly my knees gave out, but Dylan easily caught me. He slowly lowered us to the ground and pulled me into his lap.
I don't know how long we sat like that in the doorway with me on his lap, both of us with tears streaming down our cheeks.
"I'm not ready for this," I sobbed into his chest. I felt his grip on me tighten as he started to rock us back and forth. "I'm not strong enough."
"Yes you are," he said softly. I knew how broken Dylan was. He's loved my mom since the day he met her.
Five years ago, my mother was diagnosed with stage three breast cancer. The cancer went away after her radiation but it came back a year later. This time, the doctors couldn't get rid of it.
Four years after they told us she had six months to a year to live, the cancer finally took her. Part of me was okay because I knew how much pain she was in, but the other part wasn't ready for her to be gone.
After my mother was diagnosed, my father checked out mentally. He started drinking and one day I woke up in the middle of the night and he was gone. I haven't seen him since. My father was never there for me, but Dylan always has been.
We started dating about a year before she was diagnosed. The minute Dylan met my mother he loved her. They became really close which made me love him even more.
Last year, on my birthday, Dylan planned a romantic picnic. We took it to the hospital so we could eat dinner and spend time with my mom.
In the middle of dinner, he made me stand up, and in front of my mother, he asked me to marry him. We may not have had the big romantic wedding that I had always wanted, but I didn't care as long as my mother was there. I didn't care that I got married in the hospital chapel two months later. I just cared that my mom saw me walk down the isle and marry my best friend. It was romantic and it was perfect.
After we sat in the doorway for a few more minutes, Dylan helped me stand up. He wrapped his arms around my waist and led me to the couch.
He sat down and pulled me onto the couch. I leaned my head on his shoulder as he rubbed circles on the top of my hand, playing with my wedding ring.
"I know how much you love your mother," Dylan said softly, his voice scratchy from crying. "And I want you to know that everything is going to be okay. I'll do all the planning, I'll take some time off from work before and after the funeral. I promise I will spend every day right by your side."
I sat up and looked at him. "I don't think I would be able to get through anything that has happened if it wasn't for you," I said, my voice breaking.
"I love you," he said softly. I reached up and caught a tear with my thumb.
"I love you too."