Chapter 2 is here! Sorry it took so long but I was having trouble finding the time to write it. I know it doesn't really progress the story but I just wanted to get Zacks thoughts down to show why he acted the way he did last chapter. Next chapter will take place on the ship and I'm thinking a multiple POV chapter, maybe Bailey and Zack. I don't know big a part Carey will play in this but since she's his Mum she will be in there. Anyway, on with the story!

It's weird finding out when you're going to die, we all know it's going to come sooner or later, death is supposed to be life's big mystery; we never really know when it will strike or what will happen afterwards. We all like to have our own versions of what happens after death, whether that being what was taught to us or what we tell ourselves or our loved ones to help ease the pain.

Zack wasn't the smartest, he knew that, well, he certainly wasn't book smart like Cody but he at least liked to consider himself reasonably intelligent, he just hated to show it. However, it didn't take a genius to know that something was up as soon as the doctor walked into the room with a guarded but solemn look on his face and slow steps as if trying to delay the inevitable.

So when the doctor told him he had cancer, he felt like he should have seen it coming and yet it still managed to floor him and make him feel like someone dropped a weight the size of a boulder on him. Luckily though, he managed to keep his outward reactions in check though, as the last thing he needed was to cause his mother more worry than necessary.

It was right here and now that he decided that no one else could know, the look of pure sadness and despair in his mother's eyes was more than he could take, he didn't think he would be able to handle that look reflected in his brother's eyes, it would kill him.

However, what he really wouldn't be able to handle would be the pity, he couldn't handle people offering their condolences, fake comfort or support, all this would do is cement the fact that soon he was dead and there was nothing he could do about it.

He didn't want to be treated like glass, he wanted to be treated like Zack, the prankster who doesn't do well at school and likes to hit on girls, not Zack, the terminal cancer patient who needed to be treated like porcelain lest he be sent reeling into a depression about the fact that he could very well die soon.

He needed to know his options, and as much as he loved her, he didn't want his mother to interfere with something that he needs to deal with. So when the doctor listed his options, his hope of keeping his condition quiet seemed to all but vanish. However there was still hope as he found out that there was a treatment option that meant he could both stay on the ship and keep his life normal, he knew it had some serious risks attached and that he would have to keep them from his mum, but he knew it was the only option he would consider.

Despite the kind of person he seems to be, Zack hates lying to his family, it hurts him to keep things from them and he knows the risks of not telling Cody about his cancer, but his bother has enough on his plate without needing to waste his time worrying about him. Zack doesn't need support through this, more so, he knows he doesn't deserve it, not from Cody, Woody nor London, and definitely not from Bailey, not after the way he's treated her, no matter how much he wants her to hold him, it wouldn't be in the way or for the reasons he wanted, it never would. They're heading back to the ship now, with his Mom telling him that she'll call every night to check up on him and that if he ever needs anything, she can be there as soon as possible.

Zack doubts he'll take her up on that though, this is something that he deserves to face on his own.

I know this seems a fairly melancholy towards the end, but for some reason this is how I picture Zack thinking and feeling in my head. Anyway, tell me what you thought by leaving a review, tell me how I could improve and any suggestions of what you would like to see in future chapters. There will be less of a gap between this chapter and the next, I promise!