Gold Forever

Chapter 2 - He's Gone.

Cassidy's P.O.V.

11:30 pm.

Murphy's Bar.

"But when I get where I'm going and I see my maker's face, I'll stand forever in the light of his amazing grace, yeah, when I get where I'm going, oh, when I get where I'm going, there'll be only happy tears, hallelujah, I will love and have no fear, ah-woo, when I get where I'm going, yeah, when I get where I'm going"

The song finished and everyone clapped and cheered for Willy.

"Oh Tommy boy...I've known you ever since you were in diapers son, I remember your momma and daddy bringing you to our local bar, back when it was normal and folk weren't shamed for bringing kiddies into the damn thing"

Willy said and we all chuckled.

"The world sure has changed in the past twenty-plus years and I'm not exactly sure if it's a good or bad thing"

Willy says before knocking back his drink.

"I always thought I'd die before all of you younguns...I never thought I'd see the day when I would outlive a young man with his entire life ahead of him...Tommy boy, I love you and my prayers go out to you and your little family young man...I hope and pray every day for god to give you a miracle, son"

He says with a shaky voice.

"Give it up for Willy everybody, he was amazing as always"

Patrick, the owner of Murphy's bar says as he claps his hands.

We all clapped and cheered for a clearly distraught Willy who was shaking hands with Patrick, he then left the stage and headed over to the bar where his wife Lila was waiting for him with a fresh glass of whiskey.

Willy is a local legend here in Cameron because of his crazy behaviour and his eccentric and very bizarre stories.

He's always got a crazy story to tell us and it seems he's lived a very colourful life if his stories are to be believed.

It doesn't matter if he's telling you a story from his college days, his marine days, his career in the music business or the thirty-plus years he lived in his hometown San Antonio before moving to North Carolina, his stories are always out there and they always draw you in whether they're true or not.

Many of the town's residents often refer to Willy as the town drunk but he hardly ever drinks or at least that's what he tells everybody.

"Next up on the karaoke tonight ladies and gents, singing the Queen classic We Are The Champions, please give a warm welcome to one of Murphy's karaoke legends, Mr Ben Williams"

We all cheered for my brother who was smiling a Cheshire cat grin as he made his way to the stage.

Ben gets up on stage and grabs the microphone from Patrick as they do a bro handshake.

"Good evening everyone...as you all know, today is the twenty-eighth birthday of our beloved friend and brother Tommy Logan"

Ben said and all of the patrons in the bar started wishing Tommy happy birthday out loud.

It filled my heart with so much warmth and joy to see how much my wonderful best friend is loved, adored and cared for in this community.

"Today myself, my baby sister Cassie and our friends spent the day together with Tommy and his family and it was a lovely little outing, Tommy had the time of his life and there wasn't a single moment where he wasn't smiling or laughing and he also never complained or moaned...even when he was starting to feel tired or feel some pain and discomfort...he never once complained"

Ben told everyone about our day out and even though he was smiling and looked happy, it was clearly obvious from his voice and how shaky it got that he was upset which isn't surprising at all considering he's talking about one of our oldest and dearest friends who is dying from cancer.

"Tommy was always smiling and laughing, especially when we found an abandoned wheelchair and we had a race between Tommy and his partner in crime Cassidy, erm..."

Ben stopped talking and looked down as he held onto the mic stand for support.

"Come on, baby"

"Be strong, Benji"

"You can do this, brother"

We all encouraged my brother to continue even though he looked like he was about to break down from the sheer exhaustion from having to hold up his emotional walls for so long because in his mind, he had to be strong for everyone else.

Ben takes a deep breath and wipes away a few stray tears before continuing on.

"Tommy is my best friend, he's my brother and one day he's going to be my brother-in-law when I marry his beautiful sister Kylie...but unfortunately for all of us, Tommy won't live long enough to witness it because of this nasty, vile disease called cancer"

Ben stopped to take another deep breath in before slowly exhaling it.

Tommy's cancer diagnosis has really knocked us all for six and it's broken all of our hearts.

Just thinking that one day in the not-so-distant future, our friend and brother will no longer be with us anymore is a truly devastating thing and one we're all struggling to process.

I can't even say there's been one of us who has been more affected than the others because we've all been affected in the same way.

We've all got a very deep and strong connection with each other because we grew up together and have always been a very tight-knit group, there has never been a single day where we never saw or spoke to one another, well, there wasn't until my ex bastard boyfriend up and left but that's a whole other story.

"Despite this terrible diagnosis, Tommy has never given up and he's always fought this fucker with everything he's got"

"YEAH, HE HAS!!"

"GO, TOMMY!!"

The patrons shouted for Tommy.

"He's a fighter and he'll forever be a fighter to us, so for you Tommy boy, I'm going to sing in your honour, one of your favourite Queen songs...let's do this"

The music starts to play and an array of different memories and emotions instantly hit me just from hearing the initial beat and I know the same thing happened with my brother but he managed to control and compose himself so that he could pay tribute to our friend.

When it got to the chorus, everyone in the bar joined in and sang along with Ben.

A stray tear fell down my cheek when they did and I quickly wiped it away hoping nobody saw it but I wasn't that fortunate.

Patrick's wife Jade spotted me crying and I only realised she'd caught me when she gave my shoulder a comforting squeeze as she passed by me.

I look up at her and she gives me a sad smile as she looks at me with an expression which was saying 'it's ok to cry'.

I know it's ok to cry but I'd rather not cry just yet because my friend is still alive and I won't give up on my hope for a cure for him until he takes his final breath.

Ben finished his song and he received a standing ovation from everyone in the bar.

After receiving hugs, handshakes and comforting pats on the back from some of the patrons in the bar, Ben came back over to our table where he was embraced by all of us.

Several other people sang songs honouring both Tommy and his wife Layla.

Tommy's sister Kylie sang the song Story Of My Life by One Direction and Jade sang Thinking Out Loud by Ed Sheeran which was a bittersweet song for us because it was the song Tommy and Layla had danced to for their first dance at their wedding, so it's safe to say there wasn't a dry eye in the house when she was finished.

Finally, soon-to-be newlyweds Connor and Leah got up and sang The Way by Ariana Grande and Mac Miller which is Tommy and Layla's favourite song because it reminded them of when they first started dating many years ago.

"Now guys, you're all in for one hell of a treat because our next karaoke legend is also a legend in this town because she and Tommy are partners in crime, they're tag team partners and nobody stood a chance with these two standing side by side each other"

Jade said with a smirk and I chuckled.

She's not lying, we were both a force to be reckoned with not just in our younger years but also in our adult years as well.

"Singing a beautiful song which inspires everyone who hears it to live their life to the fullest with no regrets, please give it up for the one and only the mischief maker herself, the absolutely beautiful Miss Cassidy Williams"

Jade says and I smile.

I then stand up from my chair and head towards the stage as everyone cheers me on.

When I get to the stage, I step up onto it and take the microphone from Jade who once again gave me a sympathetic smile and a comforting squeeze on my arm.

She along with everyone else in this town knows how close Tommy and I are and they know how strong our bond is and how badly his illness and impending death has affected me even if I don't show it and always hide it behind my stoic and hard-headed exterior.

"Knock them dead, babe"

Jade says before leaving the stage.

I had to take a second to compose myself doing a quick deep inhale and slowly releasing it.

I then turned to face the crowd with a huge smile on my face.

"Don't listen to Jade, Tommy and I weren't half as bad as she's making us out to be"

I said earning quite a few chuckles as well as comments from the crowd such as 'yeah right, Cass' 'ok, Cassie' and my personal favourite 'no, you were worse' which made me chuckle.

"I don't know what to say that hasn't already been said about my amazing best friend and brother but I'll try and think of something"

I say as I put the microphone onto the stand.

"Let me tell you the story about a boy and a girl"

I tell them all about Tommy and Layla's love story from them growing up together and how they fought, played and got dirty together and how they played pranks on one another, then one day they grew up and started dating.

They quickly fell in love with each other and built a beautiful family and life together.

I got choked up when talking about Tommy's family because it pained my heart to think of my dear friend Layla losing the love of her life and my niece and nephew growing up without their father around them.

I could feel tears brimming in my eyes but I kept them at bay as I continued my story talking about Tommy wanting to make an honest woman of Layla and with the help of Klayton, he was able to find the perfect ring and plan the perfect proposal which she said yes to.

I then talked about their wedding which was a grand and beautiful event and it was a celebration which nobody could ever forget.

"On this day, I sat down with my best friend and I noticed he had this megawatt smile on his face, it was a smile of pure happiness and content, I asked Tommy why he was smiling like this and he turned to me and said Cassidy, I'm so happy and I've achieved so much in my young life, I've got a successful business, a beautiful wife and one day, we'll have many beautiful babies but if God were to take me now, I can honestly say I lived"

As soon as I said the last two words, the beat of the song I'm singing started and I prepared myself to sing this song for the birthday boy.

What I didn't know was that just as I was about to start singing, two people entered the bar with news which would change all of our lives forever.

"Hope when you take that jump you don't fear the fall, hope when the water rises you built a wall, hope when the crowd screams out it's screaming your name, hope if everybody runs you choose to stay, hope that you fall in love and it hurts so bad, the only way you can know, you give it all you have and I hope that you don't suffer but take the pain, hope when the moment comes you'll say, I, I did it all, I, I did it all, I owned every second that this world could give, I saw so many places, the things that I did, yeah, with every broken bone, I swear I lived"

This is one of Tommy's favourite songs.

I remember going to his house one day to ask him for a favour and when I got there Tommy was dancing and singing to this song and he was doing it like Tom Cruise in Risky Business and he was wearing only his Calvin Klein boxers.

It was so funny, especially the expression on his face when he realised that he'd been busted by me.

As the song came to an end, I thanked everyone and went to get off the stage when I noticed my parents were standing in the archway which connects the bar and games room together.

I walked off the stage and headed over to them.

My stomach immediately dropped when I saw the looks on their faces and I just knew there was something very wrong going on.

"Mom, dad, what's going on? why are you here?"

Ben asks as he comes over and stands next to me, he was followed by all of our friends.

"We've got some bad news for you, kids"

My dad said in an emotionless tone.

The entire bar fell silent upon hearing my father's words and we all waited with bated breath to hear what this bad news was.

"It's Tommy kids, he's erm...he's..."

"WHAT? NO!!, NO!!, NO!!, NO!!"

Kylie screamed as she fell to her knees clutching her phone.

Ben quickly embraced Kylie who looked deeply distressed and pained.

"What the hell is going on?"

I ask even though deep down inside of me I knew what was going on, I just didn't want to believe it.

"It's Tommy, baby girl"

My mom says as she grabs hold of my hand.

"What about him? is he ok?"

"No, baby"

My mom says whilst looking at me with a hurt look.

"He's gone Cass, he died twenty minutes ago"

"What?"

I said barely above a whisper as I stood there in shock not wanting to believe my mother's words.

"Are you ok, sweetheart?"

My dad asks me.

"He had six months...they gave him six months"

"I know baby, I'm sorry"

Oh my god, no.

He can't be gone, he just can't.