I nearly, almost, close to tears while writing this chapter! Plus, I want to thank you guys for voting and commenting so much on the last chapter! Sorry for the cliffhanger, it's a bad habit of mine :P 

Hope that you guys will enjoy this chapter! 

P.S: Put #survivorJoel if you want Joel to survive like I do! 

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Chapter 13- Know My Heart By Heart

“Joel..,he's umm,..” When the doctor mentioned Joel's name, Niall's eyes immediately widened “He's diagnosed with a stage two gastric cancer,”

Stage two gastric cancer.

Niall covered his mouth when a huge gasp escape from it; he didn't want Liam to see him here yet. As for Liam, his body went rigid, like a statue. His body seemed to have shut down, but his brain didn't. He wanted to move, to scream, to yell, to cry, to punch someone, but his body wouldn't move. Hot fat tears were cascading down his face, but he couldn't be bothered to wipe it. Why? Why did it have to be Joel? What did he do to deserve such cruel fate? It's bad enough that something so beautiful and innocent as Joel ended up with an asshole of a father, and a freak of a brother. He doesn't need this, he doesn't deserve this. By now, Liam's muscular body was trembling with anger, sadness and fear. Fear that he will lose his little brother, his sanity.

“Liam?” The doctor spoke, causing Liam to snap. He let out a loud scream and punched the first thing on his right which was a picture frame of a bouquet of flower hung on the wall. The impact creates a loud thump and the glass of the frame cracked around Liam's huge fist with blood running through the cracks and Liam's knuckles. Liam didn't bother acknowledging the searing pain running through his arms right now, but instead, he choked out a sob, fell down onto his knees, and cried.

Cried like a little boy lost in the mall.

The sight in front of Niall broke his heart, shattering it to pieces. He himself was crying because to see his strong, though Tattooed Angel broke down crying like that was much more devastating than watching the lion catches its prey on the neck. Not able to control himself anymore, he ran towards Liam, crouching down and engulfing him in a hug. Niall placed Liam's head into the crook of his neck, letting him cry there, wetting it with his tears. Liam was sobbing and choking uncontrollably, as Niall rubs soothing circles on his back. Liam didn't knew who was the person hugging him, but the warmth, scent and the constant “Shh, it's alright,” and “Please, please stop crying,”, Liam knew all too well who it was. He didn't bother pushing him away because, even though he won't admit it, he needed some human contact. And Niall seemed to be the perfect person for it at the moment.

Liam's body seemed to be moving on auto-pilot; Niall had to pull him up and helped him sat on one of the plastic chairs attached to the wall at the waiting area as Dr. Lawson personally cleaned the wound on his knuckle. Luckily, his knuckles weren't broken, just a few deep cuts and bruises. Niall was by his side all the time, with his arms wrapped around Liam's shoulder.

It was when the doctor lead Liam and Niall to Joel's ward that Liam gained his consciousness back. At the sight of his brother sitting on the bed with tear tracks on his face, Liam immediately pushed Niall away and ran up to his brother. Niall felt empty and cold once Liam was out of his grasp, and it felt like someone had took a small knife, prodding his heart repeatedly.

“Li-li!” Joel's choked out a sob at the sight of his big brother, holding his arms out. Liam didn't hesitate to engulf his brother in a tight hug. He let his autistic-now-cancerous little brother cry into his chest, knowing that Joel doesn't understand what was happening to his small fragile body.

“Shh Batman,...don't c-cry,..I'm right here,” Liam attempted to calm down his crying brother.

“M-M-My......tummy......... h-hurts,” Joel cried helplessly. Liam didn't know what to do other than placing a long gentle kiss on Joel's head, hoping that the pain will magically go away.

“It's the meds we gave him, it'll help him with his appetite and vomiting,” Dr. Lawson explained.

“Li-li? Am...Am I going to die?” Joel asked his brother helplessly, causing Liam to choke on his own spit, trying hard to swallow the lump in his throat.

“No. You're not Batman. You're just a little sick,...the doctor is going to fix you up and you'll be good as new. Then we're gonna play every single game that you want,..Is that okay?” Liam managed to say despite the fact that he wants to bawl his eyes out, but he couldn't show that he is weak in front of his brother. Joel only nodded at his brother's promise, believing every single word.

“N-Neil can join too r-right? And M-Mumma?” Joel asked.

“Anything you want Batman. Anything you want,” Liam kissed Joel's head once more, but this time, it was to reassure himself that everything will be alright “W-What can we do? I-I mean, how can we cure-” Liam asked Dr. Lawson.

“Well, there's three option; chemotherapy, radiation therapy and surgery,” Dr Lawson explained professionally. “The most effective method is multimodality therapy, which combines chemotherapy, radiotherapy and surgery altogether,”

“Then go with the m-multimodality therapy,” Liam spoke in an authoritative manner.

“But Liam, you have to understand that multimodality therapy is extremely expensive,” Dr. Lawson spoke in the most polite way, not wanting to offend the tattooed boy. “Based on your current bills with the hospital, I don't think-”

“I'll pay,” Niall spoke timidly, testing the waters. “I'll pay for Joel's treatment. I don't care how much is it,...just do it. I'll pay for everything, just help him,”

“I'll get the paper work and the schedule for Joel's treatment ready then,” Dr. Lawson announced, smiling proudly at Niall. He was happy that Niall grew up to be a fine kind generous young lad even though he's from a wealthy family. He gave a reassuring squeeze on Liam's shoulder and left the room.

The room was eerily quite with Joel's occasional sobs and Liam's comforting whispers to calm down his crying brother. After nearly five minutes later, Joel managed to cry himself to sleep. Liam carefully tucked his brother in the uncomfortable bed, making sure that he is warm enough. He wiped away the tear tracks on his brother's cheeks. He kissed Joel's temple softly and turned to face the pale boy, who has been observing for quite a while. Niall was slightly surprise to see the anger etched on Liam's face; Did he do something wrong? Before he could open his mouth, Liam marched over to him, grabbed his wrist quite harshly and dragged him out of the ward room. Once they were in the hallways of the hospital, just outside Joel's ward, Liam pinned Niall on the nearest wall by his collar.

“You think you're fucking rich huh? I don't need your fucking money!” Liam spat at him harshly, causing Niall to whimper. What happened to the vulnerable cute Liam? “I don't need you make decisions for MY family,”

“But-t,” Niall stuttered, trying to find something to back him up.

“No! I don't want to hear one more word from your filthy mouth. Just fucking leave okay?” Liam pushed him further to the wall, adding more pressure to Niall's chest. “I can pay for Joel's treatment myself. He's my fucking brother, and I want you out of his life,”

“But that's not fair,..” Niall managed to say timidly, afraid that he might ticked off the lad he has a huge crush on.

“What?” Liam asked in confusion. To Liam's surprise, tears started to roll down from Niall bright blue eyes, down his pale slightly pinkish cheeks.

“I-It's not fair for Joel,.....You love him and you want to save him. But it's unfair to him that you don't w—want my help because you hate me. It's unfair for him. You can h-hate me all you want but I just, I want to h-help him Liam. Please, just let me help him,..” Niall sobbed, thinking how painful it was to say that his Tattooed Angel hated him. “I really want to help him,”

Liam was taken aback by Niall's little speech. The sincerity etched on Niall's voice makes his spine shiver. He stared at the blue eyes intently, contemplating and processing his next move. Will he let Niall help them? But that means he will be owing money to one of the richest family here, and can he pay them back? They're barely surviving with the money he earned from the underground fighting and his mother's salary. Slowly, he released his hold on Niall's collar, and took a step back. He was lost; he didn't expect for something like this to happen, something so cruel considering that Joel had never done anything bad in his life. If anyone deserves cancer, it's Liam, because he blamed himself for what had happen to Joel, and he was sure that it was his fault that their father took all their money and disappeared from the face of the earth.

“But-but I can't take your money,...I might not be able to pay them back,”

“I-I know a way that you can pay me b-back,” Niall said, twirling his thumbs together. He didn't even care if Liam couldn't pay him back. Joel is his first priority right now, and gaining Liam's trust.

“How?” Liam said through gritted teeth, thinking that Niall might have some sick idea in his head, even though the only thing radiating from the boy in front of him are innocence and sincerity.

“By joining the school's boxing team, and w-win the state championship,” Niall stated, looking into Liam's deep brown eyes that he adores so much.

“B-boxing team?”

***

Harry knew that he should have tell someone about checking out early from the hospital, but desperate times calls for desperate moves. And even though he is still underage, he managed to bribe the nurse into checking out without any permission from his guardians because he's still seventeen years old. His body was still aching from the after math of Louis' outburst, but it was still bearable. Bearable because the person who did this to him is the love of his life. Taking a cab, Harry gave direction to the cab driver to the place where he hoped and sure Louis is. The place where they share many memories together, the place where they said 'I Love You' to each other for the first time, and the place where Harry and Louis made love for the first time.

When Harry arrived at the apartment building just outside of town, he immediately saw Louis' super bike parked at the usual spot. He paid the cab driver and limped towards the building. It was hard enough limping on the flat surface of the floor, but having to walked up nearly ten flights of stairs was excruciating for Harry, thanks to the broken lift. Upon reaching the apartment that Louis and Harry shared together, their sweet escape, their very own sanctuary, Harry could hear thumping sound coming from the other side of the door. He quickly fished out the key from his back pocket and unlocked the red door. The apartment looked like it had been hit by the Katrina hurricane, or the tsunami and the it smelled like some had died in it. Harry followed the thumping sound that led him to one of the room that Harry had changed into their won personal mini-gym. When he entered the sweat smelling room, he was shocked and relieved at the same time to find his boyfriend punching the large mirror on the wall, with tears rolling down his bloodshot eyes, his fist red with blood and his shirtless muscular body drenched in sweat.

“Boo?” Harry spoke, startling Louis. Louis turned to face the familiar, lovely face of his boyfriend.

“H-Harry,” Louis breathed, thinking that his eyes were lying to him. But there he stood, in the flesh, the person he claimed to love so much, battered, bruised and scarred.

“Hey,” Harry smiled, moving closer to Louis. He then cups Louis's sweaty cheeks, and bring their lips closer. When their lips met, Louis couldn't help but to melt in Harry's arms; he puts his hands on Harry's hips and pulled their bodies closer, ignoring the fact that his hands were bleeding. The kiss only lasted for nearly a minute because when Harry yelped in pain due to the pressure he was applying on Harry's hips, Louis immediately pulled away as the flashes of the fateful night flooded his head.

“Lou-are you okay?” Harry asked worriedly, as Louis backed away from Harry like he was some sort of disease.

“S-Stay away from me Harry,...” Louis sobbed, “I d-don't want to h-hurt you,”

Seeing how broken and scared his boyfriend is, Harry hold back his tears and moved steadily forward. He took Louis' right hand and kissed the half-dried blood on his knuckles. Louis was trembling and was on the verge of having a panic attack.

“Do you trust me Boo?” Harry asked.

“Y-Y-Yes,” Louis stuttered out an answer.

“I trust you too,” Harry spoke ever-so-softly, kissing the bloody knuckles again.

“You shouldn't Harry,....I-I don't want to hurt you a-anymore,”

“You want to know something Lou?” Harry asked again but didn't wait for Louis to answer him “Do you know that I love you? Do you know that I won't leave you because I love you? I'm nothing like your family Boo,... You can beat me up but at the end of the day, I will still be by your side, because I love you. And that's what people that love each other do, they stay by their side,”

“But H-Harry,...I-I nearly killed you,” Louis broke down sobbing “You're not safe with me. I-I don't deserve you. I don't deserve anyone. My family is right for l-leaving me,”

“Don't you fucking dare say that Louis,” Harry spat as one drop of tear rolled down his cheeks. “They left you because they're a bunch of idiot. They didn't manage to see the beautiful side of you. The side of you that I fell in love with, the funny, sincere, protective, loving and beautiful side of you. They didn't manage to see your talent in writing songs and your beautiful voice when you sang them,...they're wrong about you Louis,”

Harry small speech had cause Louis to broke down crying even harder. Harry brought their bodies together, not caring if Louis was drenched in sweat. Truthfully said, Louis look extremely sexy with his muscles glistering with sweat, it was a huge turn on.

“I-I need help Harry,” Louis sobbed into Harry's shoulder “Please,...please help me,”

“I will Lou,....I will help you, and never leave you. We're gonna get you through this together, whatever it takes,...because I love you,”

“I-I love you too Harry,...so fucking much,” Louis cried. “I'm so sorry, I'm so so so sorry,”

“There's nothing for you to apologize love,” Harry kissed Louis sweaty hair “I'm gonna take you away. We're gonna escape, just the two of us,...”

“E-escape? Where to?”

“Whenever you want, someplace that can help you calm down,” Harry spoke softly,

“Because I love you,” 

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Whoah that was intense! 

Remember to put #survivorJoel if you want Joel to survive like I do! :D 

And for N1D readers, the first one shot for No.1 Family is up! Make sure to check it out! ;) 

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ILYSM FAIRIES <3