I was getting ready. Today was a very important day – one I knew I would remember for the rest of my life. I tried to concentrate on tying my tie, but my eyes kept getting drawn to a photo on my desk.

I looked at the photo for a moment – the boys in their looked happy, they were laughing at some long-forgotten joke. I – a cheesy grin plastered over my face - was hugging Kendall tightly, who was laughing happily as well, arms close to his chest, curled around one my arms. The other two were laughing at us from each side – James' arm frozen around my back and Logan leaning slightly on Kendall, a hockey stick held up in the air in his other hand.

It was only when he looked closer that he noticed how pale Kendall was. The other boys were red in the face from laughing, but although he was laughing as hard any of us, he still looked abnormally white. He was wearing a massive hockey jacket, but my arms around him pulled it close to his body and, although it wasn't immediately obvious – he was incredibly skinny. There were bags under his eyes as he screwed them up in mirth and on closer inspection - he did look tired.

Why hadn't they noticed before? It seemed so obvious, now – now that they knew and couldn't change anything. But they could have stopped this, so why didn't they? The photo was framed in their room – clear for anyone to see! If one of them had just stopped. Just stopped and looked at it – just looked at it a little closer; they might have noticed before. This might never have happened.

It was wrong. It was preventable. It shouldn't have happened.

But it did.

Kendall had been diagnosed less than an hour after he got into the hospital, but by that time they were too late.

The disease was treatable – just not at such a late stage.

Katie had cried. Mrs Knight had broken down. We had all broken down. Everyone but Kendall.

He had fallen down – and never gotten up.

We were in the studio when it happened – going over our new song. Kendall had looked tired, but so had the rest of us – we had been up since 5am coming up with the new song and it was no wonder we were all exhausted. Kelly had just about convinced Gustavo to let us go home and we were standing there outside the booth, then he just fell – there was no warning, he just fell.

At first I thought he had tripped. I laughed and bent down to help him up – as did the others. Then we saw him and I froze. It took James screaming his name to snap me out of it. He didn't even look like the living dead – he looked dead.

"Call an ambulance!" I heard Logan scream. Kelly ran for the phone as Logan rolled Kendall over and checked for a pulse. "It's weak and unsteady" he said, sounding unsteady himself.

"What do we do?" James yelled at him, clearly freaking out.

Logan said nothing.

By this point, I was shaking. I looked up at Gustavo – he had frozen. A look of utter disbelief was on his face, but I could see the fear taking over.

Just then, Kelly ran back in.

"What happened to him?" She asked quietly, as if afraid of the answer.

Logan, who had been examining him, stayed silent.

I had realised then that it was bad, but not as bad as I would soon find out.

Gustavo still hadn't moved when the paramedics came. Logan shuffled away to let them at Kendall, leaving him folded in the recovery position. As the paramedics started yelling jargan to each other, Logan just grew whiter.

Back in the bedroom, I put down the photo and continued to get ready, tears running silently down my cheek.

James knocked on the door, before peering in.

"It's time" He said, solemnly.

I nodded, but every part of my being denied it. It was time, but it never could be. The tears came faster.

It would never be time for Kendall Knights funeral, yet somehow, it was.