Requested by bellaboo123456: Y/N is diagnosed with a brain condition, and Tom is there to support her through the diagnosis and through surgery.

I stared blankly at the doctor, a sense of numbness creeping over my entire body as my mind tried to process what she had just said. I knew that it wasn't the end of the world, but it also felt like it was. One minute, I'd booked a doctor's appointment because of persistent headaches that I'd been having for a few weeks now, and the next, I was being told that I'd need surgery. Again, sure, it was nothing insanely serious, but it was enough for me to feel like my life was changing forever.

"Darling? Did you hear her?" Tom's voice sounded like it was miles away, telling me that I was more out of it than I had realised as I felt him take my hand. I gulped and looked at my boyfriend of two years. He returned the gulp, a look of concern etched onto his face as his eyes flicked over mine.

"I-I, um...I don't know." I mumbled and shook my head as I looked back at the doctor.

"What did you hear me say, Miss Y/L/N?" She asked. I bit my lip, tears pricking my eyes.

"I heard you say...Chiari Malformation...type one." I nodded. The doctor sighed and gave me a small smile.

"Then yes. You heard me." She confirmed.

"Sorry, um...I heard you too, but can you explain exactly what it is? I'd never heard of that condition until five minutes ago." Tom chuckled nervously as he continued to grip my hand in attempted reassurance.

"I know that it sounds scary, but I promise you that it sounds a lot scarier than it actually is. Chiari Malformation type one is where the lower part of the brain pushes into the spinal canal. That's what's been causing your headaches, Miss Y/L/N. Had your headaches not been getting worse, I would have recommended that painkillers were enough to keep this at bay, but given your worsening pain, surgery is the best way forward for this." She explained.

"What if I don't want surgery?" I gulped and shook my head. The doctor sighed again.

"If you don't have surgery, the pain will get steadily worse. Your condition is not life-threatening, but I can guarantee you that worsening pain will affect your quality of life, more so than your current pain already does. I suggest that you opt for the surgery." She spoke.

"Sweetheart, I agree. I've seen you in awful pain for weeks now, what happens over the next few years with it getting worse? You can't live like that." Tom sighed and shook his head. I returned it and bit my lip as I looked at him. I couldn't lie, the diagnosis wasn't the part that scared me about all of this, nor was the surgery. What scared me about this...was the thought of losing Tom. I knew that it wasn't the end of the world that I'd been diagnosed with this, especially considering that in most cases, it wasn't life-threatening, but this wasn't what Tom had signed up for. Tom had signed up for a real relationship, an equal partner, not someone who would have to have surgery every few years to manage an incurable brain condition. That was what terrified me. And boy did it really terrify me.

"If you want to go ahead with the surgery, Miss Y/L/N, I'll book you in for next week. There's no point in making you wait for months longer in pain when you don't need to be experiencing that pain. That's if you want the surgery, that is." She nodded. I gulped and looked at Tom again, my heart racing at the prospect of going under the knife. But when I looked at him, that idea felt a little less scary. He gave me a small nod, his gorgeous chocolate eyes flicking over my face as they stared at me with love in them. Love that I couldn't fully reciprocate right now because of the pain that I had been in. Love that I didn't want to forget just because of migraines, especially migraines that could be helped, or even fixed. The longer that I looked at him, the love of my life, the clearer my decision became.

"I'll do it. I'll have the surgery." I stated. Tom breathed a sigh of relief, making me give him a small smile as he squeezed my hand.

"Okay, then. I'll book you in for next week. See you then, Miss Y/L/N." She nodded. I returned it and bit my lip as Tom and I stood up, my boyfriend once again taking my hand and intertwining our fingers as we left the office.

Tom's P.O.V

Tom sat by Y/N's hospital bed, his girlfriend lying on her side and looking at him as he gently ran his fingers through her hair. He gave her a small smile as they just gazed at each other, the tears in Y/N's eyes breaking Tom's heart as he looked into the stunning orbs. After all, Y/N was only minutes away from having surgery now, and he knew that she was fucking terrified. When the pair of them had gone to the doctor's a week ago, and Y/N had been diagnosed with Chiari Malformation type one, Tom couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. After all, with her symptoms, he had been petrified to his core that it would have been something a lot more sinister and deadly, like cancer or an incurable aneurysm. Y/N, though, hadn't had the same reaction, she had been fucking terrified from the second that the doctor had told her what the problem was. But then, it wasn't until they had gotten home when Tom found out what she was really scared of. She had opened up to him about the fact that she was petrified to lose him through this, that he had signed up for a normal relationship, not a relationship with a sick girl. In the second that she'd said that, Tom had felt his heart break into a million pieces at her clear distress. He had reassured her the best that he could that it didn't matter to him that she was sick, that he loved her unconditionally and that he was going to stick by her side through this, no matter how it turned out. He'd been trying to reassure her of that all week, but now, it was time to prove it.

"I'm scared, Tommy." Y/N whispered, making Tom snap out of his thoughts as she spoke. He sighed and gave her a gentle smile as his fingers continued to move through her curls.

"I know that you are, love, and that's okay. But you've got nothing to worry about. The surgeon has done this procedure a million times, he said so himself, and it's the least invasive thing that they can do. You're going to be fine, I promise." He nodded.

"And you'll be here when I wake up?" She asked hopefully.

"Trust me, sweetheart, from the second that you come back to this room, to the second that you wake up, I'm not leaving your side." He shook his head. She smiled and bit her lip at his words, making his lips also curl in response. That was the first smile that he'd seen from his beautiful girlfriend since she'd been diagnosed, and he'd missed it. He'd missed her being happy, not being in pain, being carefree. But he would never dream of leaving her, especially not when she needed him the most. Her pain would be over soon, things would go back to normal, and that was what he was holding onto.

"Miss Y/L/N?" Tom looked up, Y/N also looking over her shoulder to the door. The boy's heart broke slightly, his eyes wavering as the nurse stood there. Meaning that it was time for Y/N to go into surgery.

"We're ready to take you up." She nodded. Y/N gulped harshly and looked back at Tom, tears pricking his eyes as he saw the tears in her gaze too.

"It's going to be okay. You're going to be fine, I promise." He reassured. She gulped again and nodded, making Tom sigh as he stood up and the nurses walked in to start moving Y/N's bed. They started to wheel it out of the room, Y/N's hand gripped tightly into Tom's larger one as he walked along the corridor with her.

"Sorry, Mr. Holland, this is as far as family is allowed." The nurse spoke as the double doors in front of them opened. Tom sighed and looked down at Y/N, the boy desperately trying not to cry for her sake. After all, he knew that she'd be okay, he knew that it was a relatively low-risk procedure, but he still couldn't help and worry a little bit.

"I'm going to be right by your side when you wake up, okay, my darling? I love you so much." He shook his head as he leant down and pressed their lips together.

"I love you too, Tommy. So much." Y/N choked quietly into the kiss. After a second, he reluctantly broke it, Y/N's hand gradually slipping out of his as her bed was pushed through the double doors, and out of sight. The boy coughed and cleared his throat, his heart beating slightly harsher than usual and a tear leaving his eye at the ever-so-slight, but still-there anxiety that Y/N wouldn't be okay. Surely, though, she had to be. She had to be.

Y/N's P.O.V

Beep. Beep. Beep. The monotonous droning of the heart monitor rang through my head like a shitty song, the excruciatingly repetitive sound bouncing around my brain relentlessly. But...it meant that I was alive. I groaned quietly as I started to lull my head slightly, my eyebrows furrowing and my eyes squeezing more tightly together as the anesthesia started to wear off, and I slowly but surely woke up.

"Y/N? Sweetheart? Are you with me?" I heard Tom's soft voice, my mind only just clocking the feeling of my hand wrapped in his as he spoke.

"Mhm...I...I'm with you." I whispered quietly, my eyes still shut as I eased myself into consciousness again.

"You sound coarse, love. Do you need water?" He asked again. I nodded slowly, the action prompting the shifting of both sounds and the weight of Tom's hand as he moved. I felt the tip of a straw press to my lips, making me gently part them so that the straw entered my mouth. I sucked slightly, a sigh of relief sounding from me as water filled my mouth and flowed down my throat.

"Is that better?" Tom asked as the straw left my mouth.

"Mhm." I nodded slowly, my eyes finally peeling open as I did. They immediately fell on Tom, my heart fluttering at the sight of my perfect boyfriend sitting on the chair next to my bed with my hand grasped in his and rested against my thigh.

"Hey." I whispered with a smile, making him chuckle and raise my hand to his lips.

"Hey. How are you feeling?" He asked.

"I feel okay. A little groggy and dehydrated, but I guess that that's to be expected. How long have I been out for?" I asked again quietly.

"Only a couple of hours. The surgeon said that your surgery went off without a hitch, and he's expecting you to make a full recovery. You did amazing, darling." He smiled and shook his head.

"That's good, then." I returned the smile weakly, making Tom chuckle as he kissed my hand again. I bit my lip and looked at him.

"I'm sorry for having doubts about whether or not you'd stay because of this. We've been together for two years, I definitely know you well enough by now to know that you wouldn't leave me that easily, or because of something like this. I'm sorry for doubting you." I whispered. He sighed and gave me a small smile.

"It's okay, darling, I completely understand the worry. But you're right. I love you so fucking much, you're truly the love of my life, so I'd never leave you because you got sick, especially when it's something that can be managed. When I say that I will stay by your side throughout any challenges that we may face, I mean it. I'm in this relationship for life, sweetheart. I'm not going anywhere." He reassured with a shake of his head. I bit my lip, tears pricking my eyes at his insanely sweet words. Because I knew that he was telling the truth. I knew that he loved me too much to leave me over being sick, I knew that he truly would stick by me no matter what. He'd proven that here, and I only loved him more for that.

"Thank you, Tommy. I'm in this relationship for life too. I love you so much, so why wouldn't I be?" I smiled weakly.

"I love you so much too, darling. And I'm never leaving your side." He promised before standing from his chair and leaning in. He gently pressed our lips together, my eyes fluttering shut and his hand holding my face as we kissed. I broke the kiss and looked at him.

"Cuddle with me." I whispered. His eyebrows furrowed as his lips threatened to curl into a smirk.

"Darling, you've just had brain surgery, for once, I don't mind you hogging the bed-."

"I don't care, I want cuddles." I replied, making him chuckle and shake his head as I moved over slightly, and he climbed in. He pulled me back against his body, my back resting against his chest as his arm curled around my waist. I sighed and rested my bandaged head against him, his gentle heartbeat soothing me back into sleep as he cuddled me. That was where I would always feel safest, after all. In the loving and protective arms of the love of my life.