Ophelia wrapped herself up in a large, warm housecoat, cinched the waist belt tightly and stormed out of the bathroom to have a few words with the interfering Nathaniel Spade Vega. He was sitting on her bed, waiting as if he was expecting this reaction and in his hands was the empty bottle of sleeping pills. “You have no right to try and control my actions!” Ophelia hissed at him, the intensity of her emotions seeming not to surprise the younger man at all. 
                              
Nate looked up at her and the heartbreak in his eyes stopped the rest of her tirade. “I know. And you can hate me for it all you want. I just…” he looked down at the bottle in his hands. 
                              
“I have the right to die with a little dignity Nathaniel.” Ophelia tried to reason with him, knowing that this would be a hard concept for him to accept. But it was her body, her life and she had the right to deem when she stopped fighting to stay alive.
                              
“You can live with dignity. Death… it’s simply an ending.” Nate replied. Ophelia pursed her mouth over a retort, realizing that this was a quote they had discussed in class once upon a time. The irony was that it had been her argument at the time. Before she’d learned that she was dying. Nathaniel sat in the silence of the room for a little longer. 
                              
“It’s my choice Nathaniel. I’m not content to be trapped in a body that is rotting around me, erasing all traces of who I really am.” Ophelia was surprised that she was even explaining herself to him. But somehow it seemed important, that at least one person knew before she did it. 
                              
“Can I make you a deal?” Nathaniel asked, looking up from the bottle in his hands. His eyes were glossy with unshed tears and a motley of emotional turmoil in his eyes. “Let us say goodbye. I’ll even stay here and hold your hand until you go on the day that you choose, but give us time to say goodbye.” 
                              
It surprised Ophelia that he wasn’t condemning her decision or begging her to reconsider. He was just instead asking for a little more time than today. It wasn’t what she wanted though. She knew that if she agreed, the others would hear about her condition and the pity and sadness she was trying to spare them all would descend anyways. She couldn’t deal with that indefinitely. But his request wasn’t unreasonable. And it would be somehow…comforting to not die alone. “You cannot tell anyone about this.” She stated firmly, a pang of guilt flaring up as part of her recognized the terrible burden she was putting on his shoulders. “And you have until the night of the Fall Ball. Everyone will be… distracted by then and it will be early enough that I won’t ruin anyone’s Christmas.” She decided, having a specific date in mind helped her feel more at ease. And scared, but her fear of death was not as big as her fear of living in a decaying body, of knowing that she was losing everything that had made her Ophelia James until she was nothing more than a meat husk of pain and sickness. 
                              
“Do you want a living wake?” Nathaniel asked, his tone saying that he accepted her conditions even if he didn’t outright say it. 
                              
“Do you think it would be easier on everyone or would it just… add to the emotional burden?” Ophelia asked, a little weirded out by discussing her own funeral. Joking about it earlier had been one thing but now it suddenly felt more real.
                              
“I think it’s a fair chance to give everyone who matters a chance to say goodbye. It’s what, nine days left before you get these back?” Nathaniel retorted, shaking the pill bottle with a trace of anger in his voice. “You leave the details to me and I’ll get everyone there. It’ll be respectful, tasteful and I’ll try and make sure it’s not too depressing. But Ophelia, just because I… won’t fight with you on this and I won’t tell anyone of this little arrangement here and now, does not mean I will not try and convince you to keep living.” 
                              
Nathaniel stood up from the bed and walked over to Ophelia, the angry tension in his body almost keeping her rooted to the spot. She wasn’t afraid of him, Ophelia knew Nathaniel, she’d been there for every moment of his life in a way. Their ages were close enough that they’d always been close but far enough that she had never really seen him as a man. Until he was stalking towards her with an almost predatory aura around him. “There’s not much you can do to convince me to endure the coming months.” Ophelia felt obliged to say, a little caught off balance by his proximity as he loomed over her. What happened to the baby she had had so much trouble with? The little boy that had skinned his knees and cried?
                              
“I will find a way to show you that living longer than the next nine days is worth it.” Nathaniel promised. “And I am starting right now. I need you to get on the bed.” 
                              
Ophelia felt her eyes go wide at his words and she felt a faint blush start to creep across her face. “Excuse me?” 
                              
“Ophelia. Get on the bed or I will carry you over there. Just trust me.” Nathaniel grinned down at her and despite her reservations, Ophelia found herself walking over to her bed. She just wasn’t entirely sure just what he had in mind and the unknown was making her heart race.