Jaren's POV

I was scared. Not for me, but for him.

He was content with dying, he had already made his peace with the fact.

"I just want to live the rest of my life the best I can. I want to be happy, I want to finish high school, I want to be remembered by my friends and peers as a cool person. Someone who's chill, but also popular." John rants, as I pace in front of him.

"So you're not worried about dying?" I whisper, my eyes trailing up to his face as I come to a halt in front of him.

"Everyone dies eventually, Jaren." He points out, but that's not the point!

"Nobody should die this young!" I hiss, my eyes watering at the thought of Johns funeral. He'd probably ask to be buried with his vape in his will, because the motherfucker would want to go out funny.

I hated the thought. No, I despised it.

"Jaren? Don't cry, please." John whispers, standing up and wrapping his arms around me. "I'm not in any pain yet and I've still got a few months left. Don't cry because of this, please?" He whispers into my hair, his arms wrapped around me tightly.

"Why does your dad beat you?" I ask quietly, still trying to piece together what he's told me before now and now with this new information.

"My dad loved me. But as soon as I rejected chemo and he found out I was going to die, he lost his shit. A month before he had found out my mother was sleeping around for the hell of it, so he only has me left. He turned to drinking, like I did, but my fathers rage only increased the more he drank. Eventually he stopped calling me son, instead he calls me corpse and says that if I'm going to die I might as well look like I should die." John explains, and I feel a few hot tears stream down my face.

"Stay with me, John. Please. You can come live with me and Eri and Josh." I whisper, hugging him tighter.

"I don't want to trouble y—."

"Shut up. Lets go get your things, you can even bring your guard turtle." I whisper, burying my head in his chest.

"You really mean it?" John whispers, and for the first time I can actually tell that he's super relieved.

"Yes. Eri and Josh won't mind. Just, please. Please, I can't watch you live the rest of your life in an abusive household." I whisper, finally pulling away from him.

That's when he kisses me. Right then and there, his lips press to mine. And even though I feel like I'm being stabbed because of his revelation, I kiss him back.

And so we stand there, our arms around each other as we kiss, our lips moving against each other softly as I let a few more tears fall.

When he finally pulls away, I see the tears on his own face.

"YOLO." He whispers, causing me to laugh sadly and nod my head.

"You only live once. What a 2015 thing to say." I joke, sniffling as I wipe my eyes and move back from him.

"Come on, lets go grab my stuff while my dads still out." He whispers, grabbing my hand and leading me outside.

As soon as I get in the car, I pull out my phone and text Eri the news. Eri texts back and says that she's already on her way to the police station to file a report for John, and that neither of us can stop her.

She gives the all clear for John to move in and I find myself smiling at the text.

"So, is she ok with it?" He whispers, sounding nervous.

"Yeah, she's 100% down with it. Don't worry. I swear to god, if your turtle bites me—."

"Mr. Pods is a great turtle, he won't bite you. Hard." He whispers the last part and I smack his shoulder lightly as he drives down the road.

We sit in a casual silence as we near his house, I can tell that he's somewhat tensed.

"Fuck. Why's he home?" John mutters, his eyes on a car parked in the driveway of a house he pulled up at. "Stay here." He says, turning to me with a serious look.

"No John—."

"Stay. Here." He mumbles, his eyes full of concern.

I meekly nod my head and watch John climb out and head to the house. He hesitantly opens the door and walks in, making sure to leave the door open.

I watch as he disappears inside the house, and I wait in a tense silence.

John: Hey, dad is asleep so imma get my shit stay there

I let out a breath of been holding in and slumped back in the chair a bit.

My thoughts moved back to the kiss. It felt normal, natural, as if it were supposed to happen.

I bring my fingers up to my lips, memories springing to life as I thought about the kiss.

I've known him for less than a week and I'm already head over heels for him. Is this what love feels like?

I've never really thought of love before. I mean, I love Eri and Josh for saving and caring for me, of course, but I've never actually felt love.

It's a foreign feeling to me, but if I had to guess, I have a feeling it would be like this.

Am I already in love with John Keyes?

Is that a bad thing? Am I moving too fast, maybe?

"YOLO." I remember John saying that earlier. You only live once.

Never have I ever thought about that statement so deeply before. But I guess time is really against John here.

I want him to live. So I'm going to talk to Eri about it later. I'm going to talk to Josh as well, he'd probably know more.

I'm going to do everything in my power to save John, because for the first time ever, I feel loved. And I love him.

I think I love him.

"Meet Mr. Pods." John says, scaring me out of my thoughts as he holds a turtle in his hands. I grin at the turtle, admiring the cute patterns of its shell.

It's not a snapping turtle, thank god.

"He's adorable, come here." I coo, putting the turtle in my lap.

"I'll be back." John whispers, once again a leaving towards his house.

John run back and forth, one time carrying out a giant tank for Mr. Pods. We put it in the back seat and then he was off again.

Eventually he had packed a few bags and got all his valuables together, and then he left a note for his father.

Dear dad,

I'm staying at a friends house for a while because I don't want to be around you in your unstable state. Goodbye for now.

It was simple, but John was pleased.

Then we headed to my house, and John was right, his turtle didn't bite me. It stayed in its shell most of the ride though.

Shame.

When we pulled up at my house, Josh was waiting at the front steps. He hopped off and cane running over to us, a grin on his face.

"Hello again John. Nice to see you." Josh says with a slight grin as he pulls him in for a hug. John gives me a startled look but I just shake my head at him.

"Can you help us unload?" I ask Josh, finally getting him to let go of John.

"I don't swing that way." He jokes, making John burst out into laughter. My face goes bright red and I curse Josh mentally. "I'll grab the tank and set it up in the living room." Josh says with a chuckle as he moves past John and picks up the tank from the backseat.

Josh is the type of guys you'd see every day at the gym working out with bicep curls. He's ripped, has long hair that goes down past his neck and a grin that's almost as contagious as Marcel's.

That's probably why John got startled when he was pulled in for a hug by my teddy bear of a dad.

Me and John carry in his bags and set them in the spare room, before I leave to get sheets and stuff for him.

I open the closet and grab out my old sheets and smile slightly at the cute little dogs printed on them. Yes, I was giving John my childhood covers, so what?

Knowing him, he'd love them.

And I was right.

"Oh my god, I'm the luckiest dude alive." He states, slapping his hands to either side of his face as his mouth hangs open in fake shock. "I get to sleep on puppies?" He asks, thinking the moment.

"Jesus." I whisper, making both of us laugh. He helps make the bed and then I leave to give him some privacy so he can get settled in.

I head downstairs and see my dad frowning at the carpet. Mr. Pods is sat there staring up at him.

"Stupid turtle, I'm helping you." Josh whines, hands on his hips. I brush past him with an eye roll and pick up the turtle, placing him in his newly moved enclosure.

He instantly moves to the water and floats there, peering up at us with those porch black eyes.

"You're harbouring a demon." Josh jokes, showing me his bleeding finger.

"You scared a turtle, congrats." I reply, causing him to scoff.

"First it was a child, then a cat, then a horse and now it's a turtle!? Why am I so scary!" He whines, plopping down on the couch.

"Probably all the muscles and hair." I reply, making him groan slightly. "Maybe You should cut your hair." I tease, causing him to laugh dryly.

"Funny, Smitt." He grumbles.

"Never gonna forget that nickname, huh?" I ask, sitting down next to him.

"What the fuck does SMii7y even mean?" He grumbles, looking over at me.

"Dude, it was just an Xbox gamer tag. It's not some philosophical shit." I state, making him hum slightly.

"So what, you just happened to think of it?" He asks, making me nod.

"My first ever friend was Jayy Smitt. But he moved away in middle school." I reply, smiling fondly at the memories of me and Jayy.

"Maybe we can track him down or something."

"And scare home with your buffness?" I joke, causing him to laugh.

"Hey Jaren, come here!" John yells from upstairs.

"Talk in a bit." I whisper, before finally getting up and heading up the stairs. I open the door to his room and instantly cover my eyes at the sight of a half naked John.

"Put on a shirt, I might get hard." I joke, leaning against the wall as he moves around to pull on a shirt.

"Jaren, I want to kiss you again." John states plainly, watching me for my reaction. I'm actually surprised he would say that and not just go for it.

I shut the door and walk over to him before carefully leaning up and pressing my lips to his. He lets out a small sigh through his nose and wraps his arms around my waist as mine circle around his shoulders.

I was shorter than him by like five inches. Stupid giant.

He wasn't trying to go fast with me though, the kiss was simple and slow, not fast and demanding. He was taking it slow with me, and I appreciated it.

He hesitated for a second before letting his lips part slightly, I almost smiled at this and followed his lead, letting him show me the way.

Yeah, he stole my tongue virginity, Shut up.

John pulls away after a while and smiles down at me, the grin is so wide and heartfelt that it almost makes me forget about his impending doom and his torturous bastard of a father.

Right there in that moment, all the pieces of the puzzle fell in line. Right then and there, I knew everything was going to be ok.

I knew that I had John, and if he was going to be living here, he would be getting help.

Because I'm not going to watch someone I love die.

Not again. Not ever.

John will survive.

||.:.||