Camila's POV
It's been a few days since the party. I was able to see wello the day after I scrambled to clean up my house. Thankfully, the house and wello were both okay, for now. Wello hasn't been getting better but he hasn't been getting worse either. And in an odd and circumstantial way, I guess that was good news. The time I was there beside his bedside, he had not spoken to me. It wasn't because he didn't want to but because he couldn't. He seemed as if he was really weak. He had refused to eat for the last few months due to the pains in his chest, but lately he has accepted to eat a nibble of things. Seeing him in this state hurt me in every way that it could. He had always been a cheerful man. He was the best grandpa a girl could ever have. He used to be the one who would sing me goodnight along side with wella and now I had been doing the one doing it for him.
Wello had always loved hearing me sing. He knew I had a passion for it and that it was what I wanted to do more in the world. He himself was a singer back in his days but nothing big. He would occasionally have gigs here and there until he hit 50 and decided to call it quits. He didn't want that for me though. No matter how old I got, he kept encouraging me to peruse my dreams. He wanted me to be just like him, but even better. But he was also the reason why I wanted to be a cardiologist. And it was my way of helping others and hopefully someday even him through the implications that the heart puts on it's owner. Although my heart had not been in a good place lately, I didn't let that stop me from spending time with my wello when I still had the chance. I remember asking him while I was there what I was meant to be. College was right around the corner and I had been mentally contemplating with myself on the matter. At first he laughed at my question but it soon hurt him and caused him to cough. I immediately felt bad for asking such a stupid question that I already knew the answer too. But he held my hand to assure me that it was okay. He tried to open his mouth to speak but each word was a struggle, luckily though he managed to ask, "What do you love more?"
At the moment the answer was clear, "You wello. I love you more."
He chuckled again and soon after regretted it. He coughed a bit before he spoke again, "No Mija, I don't have much time left and you know that. As stubborn as I am, I don't think I'm going to make it. Don't direct your future based on me and my health, do what you love."
"But I love you wello. And I'm not going to let you die. "
"By the time your done with school, I might already be gone. I don't want you to do it for me. I want you to do it for you."
"Wello...-" I began to say until he interrupted me.
"You already know that singing makes me happy. And singing makes you happy. I want you to sing Mija. Not because I love too sing, but because you love too."
I half smiled, "Okay wello. Okay." I simply said before I started to tear up.
He wiped a few of my tears away with his shaky hand then asked me, "What else is going on with you Mija, te ves muy tensa."
I shrugged.
"Don't give me that shrug. When a women says she doesn't know what's wrong, she's lying. Don't lie to your wello Mija. I can tell something is up." He managed to say before he started coughing again.
In that moment I wanted to tell him everything. But he was yet another person in my life that was important to me and didn't want to disappoint. But in a few seconds of mental contemplation, I looked back into my wello's weary eyes. The same eyes that I looked at with admiration and love. In that second, I knew that I could trust him. That a man like my grandfather would never judge me, because he loved and knew me too well. I ended up telling him everything. I was fortunate that no one walked into the room while I finished explaining my story. And when I did, my wello's facial expression was unreadable.
And before I knew it I started to cry again. The mere fact that I was wrong and that I had disappointed him crushed me, but as I looked back at him with my teary blurry eyes, he smiled back at me. He squeezed my hand and reassured me that he understood. But my unresolved predicament still remained.
"I don't know what to do wello. I really don't."
"Shh." He shushed me. "Stop your crying. Sabes que no me gusta ver te llorar."
"Sorry wello." I sniffled.
"Es okay Mija. Just like everything you just told me."
I looked back at him in complete surprise. Was all of that really okay?
"Being gay, loving another girl, es okay. As long as your happy." He started to cough uncontrollably again and spoke after he was able to contain it. "All I ever wanted was for you to be happy. That's all we ever wanted. But as for the whole novella, I think that you need to choose the person who consumes you. There is many types of loves in this world Mija, and that is simply because everyone interprets it differently. But at the end of the day, you must choose the love that consumes you the most. It is always that love that prevails."
I didn't know what to say to him because I kind of felt like he was right. And based on his response the answer was clear. It had always been Lauren and it always will be her. And I knew that, I just needed to give Ariana a chance. How fucked up would it be if I didn't? I had to give her a chance because she was worth it. The only difference now though, is if her love does not consume me with time, then it never will. And wello would have been right. The love that consumes me is the love that I want and it was standing right in front of me.
"Mija..." Wello interrupted my thoughts. "Sabes que you don't have to choose now. You will need to make the decision soon, pero if you need time to think about it. Do so."
I half smile again and squeezed his hand, "Gracias, wello. For every thing."
"No problema Mija. Te quiero, always remember that. I will always love you no matter what happens."
"I will always love you too wello." I said before I placed a chaste kiss on his cheek.
And before I knew it, he had fallen asleep and days later he passed. His heart had stopped one night in his sleep. He had gone in a both easy and terrible way. Terrible because he was unconscious of his death. But easy because he had not been able to feel the pain that led him to his certain eternal sleep.
--
The days after my wello's passing were not easy. The funeral had been the longest few hours of my life. Some of my close friends had been with me through it but in reality it did not help at all. My family was not in a good place right now and neither was I. At the time I wished I had said more to my wello. I wish I had told him that I had loved him very much and plaster him with hugs and kisses but I had not and the simple idea that I had the chance and did not act on it because of my stupid teenage problems killed me. But I knew that my wella had probably been in a worser place that I or anyone couldn't even begin to imagine. She had lost the love of her life. Not in the way that most lose theirs but eternally. Perhaps one day, they will meet again. Just like others do on the earth, but in her case, I truly believe that they will meet each other again in one of my grandfather's gigs in the sky.
--
After my wello's funeral, I had not yet fully recovered and neither had my family. Luckily though, my friends got me through the days and my awesome girlfriend comforted me and saw me as much as she could. As for Lauren though, I hadn't seen her in a few days, maybe even a week. She had been absent for the past few days since I had chosen Ariana over her. Apart from my constant grieving, it really began to worry me. I thought that I had perhaps hurt her more that I thought. And I didn't want that. I didn't want to imagine a hurting Lauren because of me. And before I knew it I was standing at her doorstep. My finger was hovering over her bell and had been like that for the past five minutes. Curiosity was getting the better of me but it was not enough to persuade me to ring the bell and face my doom of a love. In the end though, I decided not to ring the bell. I was back where I didn't want to be. I was coming back to her, literately. And if I wanted follow my wello's advice and even some of my own, I couldn't see her yet. I wasn't in the mood to be consumed all over again.
Later at home, Ally came by to fulfill her shift of checking up on me.
"Hey Mila, how you doing?" Ally asked sitting next to me on my bed.
"I feel like shit but other wise then that I'm good."
"Oh Mila." Ally slapped my arm playfully. "Seriously though, do you want to talk about it."
"Nah. I'm sick of talking about myself. What about you Alls, what's up with you?"
"Not much..."
I wiggled my eyebrows. "That's not what a little birdie told me."
"What did Darren tell you?" She asked immediately knowing who the big mouth of the group was.
"I heard that after my party, you went over to Troyes and-"
"-Talked." She interrupted.
"You talked? Are you sure things didn't go bump in the night?"
"Mila!" Ally exclaimed and slapped me in the arm again.
"Easy Allycat,it's just what I heard."
"Well you heard wrong. We just talked."
"About?"
"About the note."
"Really?"
"Yeah." She half smiled.
"Dude that's great. I'm happy that you finally talked to him about it. What did he say?"
"After I explained, he didn't say anything. He... he just kissed me."
I jumped up and danced a bit as I squealed in utter joy.
"Mila..." Ally said as her cheeks reddened. "Stop it."
"Ally do you know how long you've been waiting for that to happen?! You've almost been infatuated with Troye as long as I have been with Lauren. This is big."
Ally smiled, "Yeah I guess."
"And what else happened?
"He told me that he knew. And that he was never ashamed of me. In fact, he'd been dying to ask me out for a while now, but after what happened he had been afraid that the preps had scared me away from wanting too."
"Aww... Alls..." I began.
"And it gets better, he asked me out. We are going to six flags."
"Six flags?"
"I know right."
"Ally keep him. Oh my god."
"I'm planning on too." Ally winked.
I smiled and gave her a hug, "I'm so happy for you Alls. And I'm proud of you for talking to him."
"Thanks Mila. That means a lot. But apart from my boring life, I've been meaning to ask you..."
"Ask me what?"
"Are you ready to tell me what's been going on between you and Lauren?"
Her question caught me fully off guard. I thought she had let that go already? Had she been waiting for me to tell her? Has she been noticing since? Crap. Shit. Why am I getting so worked up about this? I have to tell her. I-
Tap.
Something hit against my window and brought me out of my deep thoughts. It had also caught Ally's attention and caused her to jump up in surprise. At first I thought that it was nothing maybe a bird that crashed into my window or something, maybe even a dope who has the wrong house and is trying to serenade me. Yeah I don't think the second theory is even a possibility. But even so, another rock tapped against my window. I turned to look at Ally in confusion and she did the same back. Slowly but surely, we both got up and approached my window, and when I was close enough I was able to see that the dope who was standing outside my window,was not actually a dope. It was Lauren.
--
A/N: I'm break guys, so that means more updates? I hope so. I will try my best to give you some.
Love you guys,
hoplessromantic143