AN: This song, Last Kiss by Pearl Jam, is the only – ONLY – song that has ever made me cry (however, since I wrote that statement about two months ago – and yes, that's how long it's taken me to write this story – \ it has changed. There is another song that makes me cry...). I took that as a sign to write a story about it. And also, I have come to an agreement with myself that every songfic I write will be a non-Troyella. It will challenge me; whenever I'm like "I like this song, I'm gonna write a story for it" I will make myself write outside my comfort zone ;-).

And yes, I know, this is horribly short. Well, it's a horribly short song, so it's all good.

Oh, and I really hope I kept Sharpay and Chad in character. If you have any complaints, or better yet, praises, on that subject, let me know. I'm curious, because I've only written one story based around Chad (and frankly, he isn't that hard to write) but I've never written a Sharpay-esque story, so yeah. I'm anxious to get a response.

Title: Our Last Kiss
Rating: T
Author: MadiWillow
Summary: I'll never forget the sound that night. The screaming tires, the busting glass. The painful scream that I heard last. OneShot, SongFic.
Genre: Tragedy
Chapter: OneShot

"I never thought I'd admit this, Chad Danforth, but you really do know how to please a girl,"

A cool breeze drifted through the night in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The setting sun cast a warm glow over the city, making it feel comfortably like home. Even though it was May, the night was slightly chillier than normal, and most of the residents were bundled up in jackets. Except for two teenagers who had not counted on the cool weather and were inside the boy's car, the heat turned on full blast. Both had big hair; the girl's blonde mane looked as if she'd used just a little too much volumizer, and the boy had an afro twice the size of his head. A match made in heaven, one might say.

Oh where, oh where, can my baby be?
The Lord took her away from me.
She's gone to heaven so I got to be good,
So I can see my baby when I leave this world.

The boy, Chad, smirked over at his companion. "So you doubted me?"

Flipping her hair over her shoulder, the girl replied, "Well, yeah. I mean, you are a stupid, air-headed basketball player who can't dance or sing, so my hopes weren't set very high." Despite her words, she turned and flashed him a smile.

Chad raised an eyebrow. "Harsh, Sharpay. And this is coming ten minutes after you said you loved me?"

Sharpay's cheeks tinged pink but she held her head high. "Don't stick that over my head, Danforth. I could always take it back."

"But you won't." Chad took a hand off the steering wheel to rest it on Sharpay's knee. "I know you won't."

"Think you know me, do you?" asked Sharpay softly, all while resting her hand gently on top of his.

Chad laughed. "Yeah, I think I do. After all, I've been chasing after you for, what, almost two years now?"

"Something like that. But really, who can blame you?" said Sharpay matter-of-factly.

"No one." Chad looked over at her and smiled slightly, cupping her face in his hand.

We were out on a date in my daddy's car,
We hadn't driven very far.
There in the road, straight up ahead,
A car was stalled, the engine was dead.

Sharpay, her face glowing in a way that he had never seen it lit before, smiled serenely back at him. However, her smiled broke when she looked back ahead and was replaced with a look of fear. "Chad!" she gasped.

Whipping his head around so fast that his curls flew over his eyes, he saw a stopped car in front of them, flashing their emergency lights. Chad slammed on his brakes and he and Sharpay jerked forward, but they were too close to the car. He turned the wheel quickly to the right, hoping to God that they missed.

Sharpay's loud, piercing scream ripped through the otherwise quiet night as their car collided with the stalled one. Chad listened helplessly to the glass shattered around them as the two cars meshed together, and Sharpay's scream continued to penetrate the night. Chad felt himself ripped from the car and into the street, trying with all of his might to keep his eyes open; to find Sharpay. But before he could, darkness overtook him.

I couldn't stop, so I swerved to the right,
I'll never forget the sound that night.
The screaming tires, the busting glass.
The painful scream that I heard last.

With a pounding head, Chad opened his eyes. It was raining; a bad omen. He could feel hot, sticky blood flowing from his head and into his eyes. He stood up, an amazement to himself and all the people around him due to the severity of his injuries, and wiped the blood from his face.

"Sir, I'm going to need you to --"

Chad, limping from what he was sure was a broken leg, brushed past the police officer. His salty tears caught painfully in his throat at the sight of the two cars, which, unless he'd known better, almost looked like a solitary vehicle. There weren't many police cars on the scene, and after glancing quickly, he saw no ambulances.

"Sharpay," he breathed to himself. He ignored a couple other police officers telling him to step away from the accident and found himself crawling on the ground, searching. He could see blood steadily dripping from his face and arms onto the wet pavement below.

Finally, after what seemed like hours of vain searching, Chad found Sharpay on the edge of the road, some ten feet away from the cars. Running as fast as he could with an injured leg, he fell to the ground beside her and lifted her head to lay in his lap.

When I woke up, the rain was pouring down,
There were people standing all around.
Something warm flowing through my eyes.
But somehow I found my baby that night.

He didn't bother holding back his sobs any longer; they sight of Sharpay's bloodied face and mangled body was enough to send him over the edge like nothing had before. He lowered his head down and let the tears fall freely, blending with his blood and the rain from the night above. Holding Sharpay as tight as he could, he blinked through his tears to see that she was breathing ever so slightly.

Swallowing hard, he shook her lightly. "Sharpay... Sharpay, please, wake up... open your eyes, please..." he whispered, barely audible over the sound of the storm and their surroundings. "Please, I love you... don't leave me, I'm begging you..."

Sharpay suddenly started to cough violently. Flecks of blood sprayed from her mouth as she coughed, before she let her head collapse back onto his lap. Chad took his hand and let it hover over her cheek, staining with her blood after only a few seconds. She gave him a very small smile, although he wasn't sure how she managed it.

"Hey Chad," she said, ever so quietly.

Gulping, Chad answered, "Hi."

"Chad, I just want you to know, I love you."

"I love you too, Sharpay. Don't worry, you're going to be fine, just keep holding on --"

Letting her eyes flutter closed briefly, Sharpay whispered, "Chad, just stop talking for once."

Immediately Chad shut his mouth, but only for a moment. "I'll do anything you want."

I lifted her head, she looked at me and said,

Taking a deep, painful breath, Sharpay said, weaker than ever, "Hold me, darling, just a little while."

Chad complied. Holding her even tighter with the hopes that the more he gripped on to her the less likely it would be for her to leave him, he bent down and kissed her slowly, lovingly, gently, longingly. He held the kiss as long as he could, not caring about the bitter taste of blood, salt, and water mixed on her lips – just about those lips itself, the ones that tasted so sweet and sour at the same time that he used to dream about them. He could vaguely taste them behind everything else, and he savored the flavor until Sharpay slowly pulled back. Her head dropping slowly back onto his lap, he watched her eyes close one last time and her chest take one last breath.

I held her close, I kissed her our last kiss,
I found the love that I knew I have missed.
Well, now she's gone, even though I hold her tight,
I lost my love, my life, that night.