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There was nothing that Parker could do. Nothing to stop the spreading pain in his chest. No medicine could cure him and surgery was out of the question.
Hanahaki disease.
He knew it before he coughed the petals.
He knew it before the flowers bloomed in his chest. He knew it when he looked at Sharpness and Jude bickering. He knew it when his heart ached the night he saw them kissing in the silence of the moon. He knew it the moment Jude and Sharpness spent more time staring at each other than fighting.
No.
He knew it from the start.
He never had a chance with Jude, because from the start Jude only viewed him as a friend. And he was fine with that. To live the rest of his days suffocating in unspoken feelings. As long as he remained by Jude’s side he would be fine. At least that’s what he thought.
He couldn’t have been more wrong.
“Ah, fuck.” Parker groaned as he felt another wave of nausea. The flowers sprouted from his mouth, purple petals spilling onto the floor, and thorns cutting through his throat.
“Fuck.” He managed to gasp between coughs. He could barely breathe. He was barely alive.
Parker hurried, grabbing whatever paper and pen he could.
He was dying.
The paper he managed to grab were blueprints, plans for their next trap. It would’ve been the first trap they worked on in ages. A trap that would never come to fruition, not when his last words etched on its surface.
Another cough. More petals. More columbine flowers choking him.
They were beautiful flowers. Small and bell-shaped when they grew from their stem. But right now those flowers, forsaken purple flowers, were killing him.
He gripped the pen, finally writing down what he should’ve said to Jude when he had the chance.
Dear Jude,
My dearest friend, I died because you could never love me. I don’t blame you. It’s not your fault that my own feelings grew from my lungs and suffocated me.
Another cough. More flowers. More blood.
I love you. I truly do did. I know you love Sharpness, yes I knew. I know you can never love another like you do Sharpness. You two are meant to be together.
His vision was starting to get blurry, from coughing or crying, Parker wasn’t sure.
I wish you the best, and please please, don’t blame yourself. You are one of my best friends and I wouldn’t trade our friendship for anything in the world. Not even my stupid feelings.
“Fu-.” Parker couldn’t even finish cursing before he coughed more flowers. It wasn’t just flowers, he could feel the stem of the flowers down his throat, he didn’t have much time left.
Ignoring his coughing, he cleared the fallen petals, finishing his last words.
I wish you all the happiness in the world Jude, and you too Sharpness. I just wished I was there to witness your blooming love.
I love loved you.
Yours truly, Parker
Almost on cue he started coughing again, he clawed at his throat but there was nothing he could do about the flowers. Or his wretched feelings.
His eyes filled with tears as he struggled with breathing. He couldn’t breathe, he barely could.
His head hit the table, the blueprints beneath him. Well that’d be awkward, to have to move his dead body to access his last will. It didn’t matter, he was dying.
He could no longer cough, the flowers and thorns making it impossible to. He could feel his throat bleeding, his lips dried, and his body starting to get colder.
In the distance he heard footsteps.
Jude and Sharpness. He didn’t blame Jude for loving Sharp, it was natural that he’d fall for him. He truly did wish it was him who could challenge him like that. A shame, truly.
The last thing he saw were the purple petals laying right by his head. Purple columbines, just as enduring and noble as Jude.
He smiled, his body growing colder.