Music - Too Afraid by MARINA

•••

Todd

"We'll be on our way," Bryce announced as both Cole and him stood from their stools, preparing to leave. Gray acknowledged them with an almost unnoticeable nod. "Aren't you gonna go home yet , Hitcher?"

"Yeah, I'll stay here for a while," I told them and soon they left the room. When I looked at Gray, he was staring at the ceiling, his face not showing any signs of emotion. His injuries were serious enough to get him sent to the hospital. "Aunt Tessie should be here anytime soon."

"The entire school now probably knows I'm gay," Gray said and sighed. He snickered and added, "I'm fucking up my life so hard right now, it's almost funny."

"Just don't think about it too much," I told him as I tapped on his arm. "Bryce and Cole seemed fine with it. Maybe it wouldn't be too bad. Maybe people aren't so bad after all."

"Thank god, you're here," He let out a soft chuckle but was unable to turn because of his neck brace. "I need that kind of positivity in my life."

"I got you, man. Don't worry about it."

"We haven't really been communicating these past few weeks because I was so busy with Gio," Gray spoke. He then asked, "Let's catch up. How have you been?"

"I'm doing pretty good actually," I replied. Then I continued, "I'm not exactly sure if it is what it is, but I'm courting Tony."

"Tony? Jo's bro?" He asked and I nodded, not realizing Gray wasn't able to see me. He stifled a laugh and added, "he must've really impressed you at ROY G'BIV, huh?"

I let out a giggle and shook my head. "We've already met before so I wouldn't say that was the sole reason why I'm attracted to him," I explained. "I can't really explain how, but I just really, really like him."

"I wouldn't blame you. Tony seems like a nice guy," said Gray. He continued, "and hot too."

"Yeah, he's amazing." I found myself daydreaming about last night and this morning. Discovering that Tony also had feelings for me felt like I was back to being a kid again, unwrapping presents on Christmas morning and finding out they were exactly what I wished for. "I can't wait to see him on Thanksgiving."

My eyes landed on Gray's closed eyes, a small smile painted on his face. The bags under his eyes seemed to tell me that they haven't had enough rest these past two days. "How about I invite you and Aunt Tessie for Thanksgiving?"

He heaved a sigh before replying, "I have to ask Aunt Tessie about that first, but I would love to."

"You are always welcome at home, Gray." I let him know before someone knocked on the door. As I went to get the door, I told him, "I'm planning on getting my hands on the new Sonic game tomorrow night. We'll play lots of it on Thursday night."

When I opened the door, I was met by an unfamiliar face who was just as equally confused as I was. "Is this Gray Parker's room?" asked the guy whose voice reminded me of Tony, but a lot sharper.

I nodded and said, "Yes, this is his room. And you are?"

"I'm his... I'm a friend of his," He replied and looked behind me to take a peek at Gray. "I'm Giorgio."

My eyes were fixated on his face as soon as I realized that he was the guy who convinced Gray to come out to his parents. The guy who promised him everything but gave him nothing. "I know you," I said not breaking eye contact with him. I then asked, "Can we talk?"

He quirked his brow and tilted his head to the side. "I came here to see Gray," he responded and was about to force himself inside, leaving me with no option but to shove him out before Gray notices.

I shut the door closed and cleared my throat.

"Who was that?" Gray asked.

"Just some guy who knocked on the wrong room," I replied and let out a sigh. "Aunt Tessa's gonna be here any minute now. I'm just gonna go grab a drink, I'll be back."

When I got out of the room, I signaled Giorgio, who was waiting by the side, to follow me.

•••

"How'd you know he's here?" I asked as I popped open a can of soda, my gaze not leaving him while my back rested on the wall. "Name's Todd, by the way."

"I went to your school, but he wasn't there," Giorgio replied and I had just noticed how thick his Italian accent was. He pulled a pack of cigarettes from his pocket and lit a stick up before saying,"I asked his teammates and when I found out he was hospitalized, I knew I had to really see him."

As he took a puff, he offered me a stick and asked, "You smoke?"

It hadn't been that long since I last smoked but I did miss the calming sensation it gave me. However, I was still grounded and dad was still monitoring my actions.

"You hurt him," I snickered under my breath, annoyed by the fact that he had the nerve to show his face to Gray after breaking his promise. It would only hurt Gray again. "Why weren't you there?"

Giorgio heaved a sigh and leaned his back on the wall. "I didn't think things through," he explained as he turned to look at me. "He never told me he was a millionaire's son. I was scared that he'd regret running away with me, that I wouldn't be able to make him happy after all."

A scoff left my mouth as I raised my brow in disbelief. "You should've never promised him anything then," I told him as I wiped away the beading sweat on my forehead. "Do you know how much of a damage your promise has caused?"

"His parents disowned him," I revealed to him, making him stop midway from taking another puff as his grew wide in shock. I added, "and he thought you'd be there for him."

"He waited for you for hours, but he ended up knocking on my door drenched in the rain," I continued through gritted teeth. "I had never seen him so vulnerable before."

Giorgio's gaze fell to the ground as he pursed his trembling lips.

I said, "it may seem like I'm tryin' to guilt trip you, and honestly, I kinda am, but I just thought you should know."

He let out a sigh and said, "I gotta talk to him, Todd," He looked me dead in the eyes with his eyebrows quirked and forehead wrinkled. "He had a bright future ahead of him and I didn't want him to give all that up for me. I didn't mean for any of this to happen."

•••

Tony

I got on my feet and stretched my limbs out as I stared outside the window, realizing that I had been reading the entire day. It was around 10:00 am when I started reading my script for Inside the Outsider, and now that I had just finished the last episode, the clock was already pointing at a quarter to seven.

It didn't matter though, it was nine hours of time not wasted. Inside the Outsider seemed like the type of project I could see myself being a part of. It was about a teenager living with a bunch of thirty-year-old drug dealers in downtown New York.

While I didn't originally auditioned for the role I was cast as, I realized Harrison's character and I had a lot in common personality-wise. Except for the fact that he was a drug dealing protege.

Joanne would usually be home at around five from her job but she still wasn't around and I couldn't help but worry. It wasn't unusual as this wasn't the first time that she was out late but it also wasn't unusual for me to worry for the hundredth time. Honestly, I knew I would be worrying a lot more by the time I had to leave Los Angeles.

I ran my palm over the back of my neck as I rotated my head, my neck cracking from looking down my script for hours. My hand then felt a tender spot on the side of my neck, making my cheeks flare when I was reminded of this morning's raunchy start. Todd bit a little too hard on that part and I flinched everytime I touch it. He got a little too excited. I couldn't say it was different in my part. I still had every detail of that gorgeous boy all over me engraved in my mind.

I hated the fact that I already missed him, but I wouldn't tell him that. I wasn't this clingy before. Whatever that guy did to get me to feel like this, it sure was working.

I jumped in my place when the phone started ringing, breaking the silence across the room. I placed the script on the table and went to answer the call. "Tony Summer here," I said as I put the phone beside my ear.

"T, this is Jo," My sister spoke silently over the phone. "I-I-I'm at the hospi-hospital."

"What?!" I held the phone tightly as I realized how loud I was. I took a deep breath and continued, "What are you doing in there, Jo? Are you alright?"

"I'm okay, T. Don't worry," She assured calming me a little. "But I need you to come here now."

"I'll be on my way, Jo."

•••

I had just entered the doctor's office and Joanne was sitting alone by the table. "What happened, why are we here?" I asked as I sat next to her. The doctor wasn't around the room yet.

"I-I scheduled an early ap-appointment with Doctor Jones. " She said. "It's been bugging m-me for days. I just wa-wanna know what's wr-wrong... what's wrong with me."

Finally, Doctor Jones entered his office with a brown envelope in his hand. As he placed the envelope on his desk, he offered his hand for a handshake, "Mr. Summer, I'm glad you're here. How are you doing?"

"I'm good, doctor." I replied.

"Joanne's test results have come in," He started as he signaled me to sit down. He then continued and asked, "how have you been feeling these past few days, Joanne?"

"I've been having head- headaches these past few... these p-past few days," Joanne answered, surprising me with the newly found information. She seemed fine and I didn't notice anything unusual aside from her slurred speech.

"Jo, why didn't you tell me this?" I asked, but she didn't answer my question.

"Doctor, what did the tests find?" She asked, not really looking at anyone in the room.

Doctor Jones let out a sigh as he settled on his chair. He then pulled out a brain scan out of the envelope and pointed his finger near the brain stem. "We have found that there was a shrinkage in your cerebellum and based on the blood tests and neurological evaluation, unfortunately the results didn't turn out as well as we would have liked."

I pursed my lips as I felt my heart beat faster with every second passing. I transfered to the chair next to my sister and held her hand as Doctor Jones continued to deliver the news.

"Ms. Summer has FRDA, or Friedreich's Ataxia," Doctor Jones announced and upon hearing the news, both Joanne and I were confused as we haven't heard about Friedreich's Ataxia before. I was hoping it wasn't cancer and now that we found out it wasn't, I could only hope it wasn't worse.

"What is Friedreich's Ataxia, doc?" I asked.

"It's a neurological disease that affects the person's movement and body coordination, Mr. Summer," he said. "this disease is progressive and it will only get worse with time."

I looked at my sister and found her wiping the brim of her eyes, fighting back the tears. Seeing her cry was my weakness but I didn't want to appear weak in front of her. I needed to be firm at a time like this.

"Doctor Jones, I wanna know n-n-now what's go-gonna happen to me in the...in the future." Joanne asked calmly but I could tell from the way her body was quivering and her firm grip on my hands, that she was anxious. "Please be brutally honest with me, am I going to d-die soon?"

"Joanne,"

"Tony, please."

"As the disease worsens, you will lose the ability to talk, walk, there will be a loss of sensation in your arms and legs," I felt my heart sank as the doctor enumerated the causes of the disease. I wanted to cry, but I couldn't. "You will also lose your sense of sight and hearing."

Joanne didn't say a word anymore and stayed in her place, speechless with her eyes closed and eyebrows quirked.

"Is... is there a cure for Ataxia, Doctor Jones?" I asked, impatiently wanting to know as soon as possible what I could do to make Joanne well again.

"Unfortunately, Friedreich's Ataxia has no cure."

--- End of Chapter 24 ---

Author's Note:

I'm still alive ya'll. I'm so sorry for the very late update. I have been very busy with some stuff (I'll be dropping an EP soon!) these past few months and I guess I was also stuck writing this chapter. I didn't have the motivation to write it as it was one of those sad chapters that writers dread to write. My vocabulary has gotten worse so I really need to work on that. Please let me know what you think about this chapter. Drop your thoughts on the comments below!