ch22.page

"You want me to live with you?" Rose asked, in a state of complete shock.

Brian nodded. "I know I've only known you for a week. I know this seems sudden. I know it's crazy. But I know that I don't want to leave this building without you. I don't want to do anything with out, Rose, ever again."

She just looked at him. "Brian." She began, softly. "You don't know what you're getting yourself into. If I said I'd move in with you, I'd be asking you to pay for every medical bill I've got stacked up. I'd be asking you to take care of me when I'm sick, or weak. I'd be asking you to change your whole, entire life. I'd be asking you to give your entire life to me." Brian opened his mouth, but she didn't let him talk. "And what would happen if we lived together? Do you know what it's going to be like for you when I die? You've said you can't think about living when I'm mad at you. Think about what's it's going to be like when you give so much of yourself to me, and then I die. I can't ask that of you."

Brian was silent for a moment. "I know. I know all that. But it doesn't matter to me. I've got the money to pay your bills. And there's nothing in my life that I want to do more than take care of you. You're right, I can't even think about you're dying. But I feel the way I feel about you, Rose. Even if I never saw you again, I'd feel this way until the end of time. You might not have a million years ahead of you. But I want to share what you do have. Please."

Rose shook her head. "You'd regret it. I know you would. This will be the hardest thing you've ever done."

"No!" Brian's voice was growing in volume and emotion. "Walking away from you would be that hardest thing I've ever done. Rose. Do you care about me?" He looked deep into her eyes.

Rose nodded. "You're the only person I've ever cared about, Brian. You don't understand how hard it is for me to tell you that you're better off without me, but I don't want to hurt you. And I will. We both know that. You deserve a girl who can promise you forever. Not one who can barely promise you tomorrow."

"I don't care! Don't you understand Rose? I need you! I'm not doing you a favor, asking you to live with me. I'm begging you for this." He reached up, and pulled her wig from her head. "You're the most beautiful person I've ever laid eyes on. I can't walk away from you."

A single tear fell from the corner of her eye. "I can't let you walk away." She whispered. "But I can't hurt you."

"Then stop hurting me!" He cried. "Stop refusing to let me take care of you! Stop pretending that you don't care about me as much as I do about you!"

And then, Brian was crying. Rose hadn't seen him cry before. Come to think of it, she'd never seen any man cry before. "Don't." She whispered, urgently, wiping his tears gently away as they fell. The water in her own eyes spilled over her cheeks, and she burried her head in his shoulder. Brian laid his down on her shoulder, and soaked the sleeve of her shirt through with tears. "I don't want you to leave by yourself." Rose choked out through her sobs. Brian raised his head slowly.

"Then will you come with me?"

Slowly, hesititantly, she looked up, and met his eyes. They sat there like that, looking deep into each other, for what seemed like an eternity. Finally, a new batch of tears welling up in her eyes, Rose nodded.

Brian wrapped his arms around her, and hugged her so tightly she thought she would burst. A tiny laugh erupted from her, and Brian laughed, too. "Thank you." He whispered into her hair.

"Thank you." Rose whispered back, and kissed him softly on the cheek.

Back in his own room, after Rose had gone to see her doctor, Brian called Nick's house. "Hello?" His friend answered.

"Hey, Frack." Brian said.

"Hey, man! What's up? You feeling better?"

Brian smiled. "I'm feeling better than I've ever felt before, man." He told him.

Nick laughed. "Is this about Rose."

"Yeah, it is. She's amazing." Brian said. "I've never met anyone like her before. No one's ever made me feel like she does." He took a deep breath, knowing that Nick wouldn't approve of what he was about to tell him. "I asked her to move in with me."

Silence on the other line for a minute. "Dude. You did what? She's dying, man. Are you forgetting that? You're setting yourself up to love someone who could die any day now."

"I know. I know. But I love her, Nick. I love her in a way that I could never love anyone else. I'll never find this kind of love again, I'm sure of it. And I'm not letting her slip away. I know we won't have very long together, but I don't want to live one day with out her. If I have to walk out of here and leave her, I won't be able to breathe. She's what I've been looking for my entire life. You have to understand."

"Okay." Nick said, somewhat unsurely. "I guess you know what you're getting yourself into. And I can't talk you out of it." He sighed. "Try not to love her too much."

Brian's smile widened. "Too late."

Nick was silent again. "Good luck, Bri. I'll talk to you later." But, before he hung up the phone, he said, "Brian. Congradulations." And Brian knew that was all the approval he was going to get.