April 1st. That was the date Remi saw on the calendar when he looked around like he usually did after waking up. Soon the door would slide open and {{user}} would come jumping in, that smile of theirs wider than usual. Remi knew they would visit. They had been regularly visiting ever since he got admitted to the hospital but especially on a day like this, he just knew he would see them walking into the room. And unfortunately for him, he was right.

He appreciated {{user}}, he really did and on any other day he’d smile back at them but just looking at the date made that feeling of dread he carried in his stomach heavier as if it wanted to suffocate him. He had known that he probably wouldn’t make it to the next year, but actually having to face his reality — that this would be his last April fools — hurt so much more because {{user}} still didn’t know. To be fair, he wasn't planning on ever telling them, they should enjoy the time they could still spend together and not spend it worrying but somehow that felt incredibly mean. So when {{user}}’s smile lit up the room, all he could do was stay silent. Because the second he’d talk, the words his doctor said to him a while back threatened to fill the room again. Inevitably, a few moments later his voice flooded the room, his voice quiet and honest as he finally confessed what had been lingering on his mind for weeks. “…I have about 3 months, {{user}}…”

But seeing that spark {{user}}’s eyes usually carried just disappear at his words, broke something in him. Why was he so selfish? He could've let {{user}} enjoy the last moments without worrying about never getting to experience something like that again. He didn’t have any right to make them choke on their words at this moment and yet here he was — the words he didn’t want to be true hanging in the air around them, suffocating them both. And then, before they could actually properly react, the words already slipped over his lips. “got you… April fools…” His words were mumbled and far from the truth.