Title: Keep Holding On

Summary: After his divorce, Stan is finally moving on with his life but what happens when a diagnosis shatters his world? Who will he turn to?

Disclaimer: I do not own "Golden Girls" or any or the Cast members. They belong to the writers. I do however own my writing, so please don't steal Johanna-002©.

This is my first Golden Girls story. I hope I peak your interest. I have big plans for this story. So read, relax and leave me a little review letting me know what you think?

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Knock, Knock

Blanche strutted from the kitchen table into the living room, answering the door with Rose and Sophia tip-toeing behind her.

"Hi, it's me, Stan." Stanley Zbornak said with a small smile as Blanche opened the door.

"Hello Stan,' Blanche smiled, allowing him to enter her home.

Stanley walked solemnly into the Miami, Florida home. "Is Dorothy here?" he asked, a certain nervousness aching in his voice.

"I'll get her," Rose smiled, turning off towards Dorothy's bedroom.

"What brings you here Stan?" Sophia asked as Stan took a seat next to her.

Stan shrugged, "I just need to talk to Dorothy. It's… complicated."

Silence washed over the living room, but it didn't last long for Dorothy and Rose had reappeared.

"Babe, we need to talk." Stan said as he stood up.

With a roll of her eyes, Dorothy led the way out to the lanai.

"What's going on Stanley?" She asked taking a seat on one of the patio chairs.

Stanley paced around the lanai, running a tired hand over his face. Time seemed to freeze, and Dorothy seemed to find her self becoming irritable and slightly impatient, not meant a little cold. The Florida weather had seemed to take a chillier approach towards the normally warm and sunny climate.

"Let's go inside Stanley," Dorothy suggested. She led him by the hand into the house, past the living room, ignoring Sophie's hard-Italian stare, and into her room.

"What's wrong, Stanley?" she said, rubbing her hand up his arm once they were in the privacy of her bedroom. "Talk to me." He shook his head, three teardrops escaping as he did. Dorothy had seen him cry before, in fact she thought she'd seen every one of his emotions, but she'd never before seen him like this. Knowing she wasn't going to get any answer soon and knowing he had come to her for a reason, she changed tactics.

"What do you need from me, Stan?" she asked gently, her hands holding onto his.

"Hold me," he whimpered, as his brown eyes watered.

Dorothy wanted to protest, but seeing him so broken nearly killed her. She hated to admit it, but she still deeply cared for the yuts.

Dorothy moved from her position next to him on the bed, to on the floor, on her knees perched up in front of him. She moved in and ran her arms around his body. Her elbows sat at his sides as her arms cradled his back, her hands resting on his shoulder blades, drawing him closer and closer to her. His head came down to rest on her shoulder and she turned and gently kissed the side of his head.

Within a few moments she could feel his whole body trembling and instinctively pulled him closer still. One hand moved up to his head, cradling it to her. She tried to think of something, anything to say which would help the situation but she couldn't, so instead she kissed his head again.

Fifteen minutes later, Stanley finally let her go, missing her touch instantly.

"Sorry," he mumbled, brushing her shoulder where his tears had dampened her sweater.

"Don't worry about it," she replied, taking his hand and sitting next to him once again. When she was seated, Dorothy began to once again stroke his forearm.

Silence settled between them as Dorothy watched him, willing him to speak of his own accord, she didn't want this to turn into an interrogation but her self restraint was weakening as each minute past without dialogue.

"Stan," she said gently, resting her hand on his forearm. "Whenever you're ready, I'll be here to listen, okay?"

He nodded and smiled, then sighed deeply. His eyes glazed over as he sat and looked at her but still he said nothing.

"You hungry?" she asked, breaking the silence. "I'll bet you haven't have dinner."

"Not hungry," Stan said, lying back on her bed and closing his eyes.

"Stanley," she said gently. "Please tell me what's going on."

"Haven't been well," he said quietly. Dorothy nodded, she knew he'd had the flu last month and had been very run down in the last few weeks.

"And?" she asked when he offered nothing.

"I went to the doctors a few days ago, to get everything checked out, and he ran a lot of tests, trying to figure out the reason I was feeling like crap," Stanley said, sounding almost detached from the conversation.

"What did he have to say?" she asked, holding onto his hand to offer support.

He said nothing, but deeply inhaled, and that's when his eyes were once again pooling with tears.

"Bad news?" she prompted, and when he nodded her heart sank. "What?" she whispered.

Stanley sat up a little straighter; he took a deep breath and looked past her, his eyes fixed on nothing in particular.

"The doctor said…" he began, his voice unfamiliar, "Mr. Zbornak, the tests have come back and the results aren't too good, I'm afraid. The indications are you have Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma."

Author's note: So what do you think? I have read a few fics in the Golden Girls achieve, but nothing to this note has caught my eye between Stanley and Dorothy. I always hoped they would get back together, but seeing as though it never happened I decided to take matters into my own hands.

If you liked or didn't like this story, I'd still love review wanting to know what you think. :)