Author's Note: Update for all of you. I hope you like it. I don't own the characters, or the song Incomplete by the Backstreet Boys. It's not my favorite song, but the lyrics really worked.

Chapter 3: Incomplete

Zack stood in the doorway, shaking uncontrollably. He'd woken up, looked over at Cody's bed, and found that he wasn't there. Feeling a pang of pain, for Cody hadn't talked to him even though he had tried to apologize, he got out of bed and crossed over to the bathroom, because he had to relieve his bladder.

He'd opened the door, and seen Cody sitting there. His first instinct was to close it—well, Cody needed some privacy, right?—but then he saw the blood that pooled over the floor; the blood that dripped steadily down from Cody's left wrist. His eyes traveled from Cody's wrist to his right hand which was clutching a rather large kitchen knife—the tip of it covered in blood.

Empty spaces fill me up with holes
Distant faces with no place left to go
Without you within me I can't find no way
Where I'm going is anybody's guess

"Cody? What are you doing?" he'd asked, his voice shaking, though it was fairly obvious. "Oh my God, Cody, what are you doing?"

His younger brother looked up at him, trembling in pain, saying rather stupidly, "I'm sorry I bothered you. I'll go to another room."

To Zack's horror, Cody rose to his feet to leave, but his knees crumpled from under him and he fell. Zack ran to his side and caught him before he hit the floor.

"Cody, what are you doing?" Zack's voice rose to a high-pitched squeak; he'd never been so afraid in his entire life.

I've tried to go on like I never knew you
I'm awake but my world is half asleep
I pray for this heart to be unbroken
But without you all I'm going to be is incomplete

"I'm getting rid of myself," Cody stared at him with his glassy, fever-glazed eyes. Those eyes which had been so alive days before were now dull and lifeless. He'd lost a lot of blood, Zack realized, and the blood was still spilling out of his arm, dampening Zack's shorts with red liquid.

"But why?" Zack's voice came out in a choked gasp, and he realized that tears were coursing down his cheeks. He rubbed them away with his hand.

Cody seemed surprised. "Because you hate me."

Voices tell me I should carry on
But I am swimming in an ocean all alone
Baby, my baby
It's written on your face
You still wonder if we made a big mistake

"Oh God, no," Zack's voice cracked with pain, and he shook inside. Cody thought Zack hated him… Cody thought he hated him… how had it all come to this?

Cody let out a small whimper as he adjusted to the pain. That grabbed Zack's attention.

He stood up and grabbed a Tipton towel, wrapping it around Cody's wounded arm. He wound it around tightly, and then pressed down on it hard.

Cody let out a small gasp of pain, but Zack kept on squeezing.

"I'm sorry, Cody, I know it hurts, but it will slow down the bleeding. Come on, buddy. Hang on, hang on for me," his voice arched up in a spiral of desperation. He was losing Cody. He was losing his twin. He was losing his baby brother. "I'm sorry Cody, just hang on."

I've tried to go on like I never knew you
I'm awake but my world is half asleep
I pray for this heart to be unbroken
But without you all I'm going to be is incomplete

Cody looked up at his older twin through tired eyes. What was going on? Why was Zack doing this for him? Maybe he didn't hate him? Maybe he didn't…

Stop it, he scolded himself. You hurt Zack and he hates you and now he has a reason to hate you. Stop it, Cody. Stop it.

But Zack's eyes were so concerned as he held hard onto Cody's arm and squeezed the towel around it—a towel that was slowly turning red from Cody's blood. The gentle way he ruffled Cody's hair to keep him calm was so loving. He looked hard at Cody, and his soft, sad voice asked, "Why did you do this? Why would you do something like this because you thought I hated you?

I don't mean to drag it on, but I can't seem to let you go
I don't wanna make you face this world alone
I wanna let you go, alone

"You hate me," Cody whispered, and Zack felt like crying. He wanted to hold his brother close to him and tell him that he didn't hate him and that he loved Cody more than anyone he'd ever known and it would always be that way. But somehow he couldn't. Zack had never been capable of showing his emotions that way, and even as his brother's life dripped out of him, he still couldn't show his emotions. "You hate me, and so I hate myself. I wanted to get rid of myself. I thought you'd be happier without me…"

"Oh God," Zack whispered, tears brimming up in his eyes. "Oh God, Cody, no don't think that. Please Cody…"

Cody groaned, his breathing now ragged. "I thought you'd be happy, Zack. I did it for you…"

"Cody, hang on, buddy, I'm going to get help," Zack said, anxiously. He squeezed onto his brother's arm, trying to adjust Cody's right hand to his left wrist, which was still bleeding. Then Zack ran and grabbed the phone, dialing three numbers with his shaking fingers… 9…1…1…

I've tried to go on like I never knew you
I'm awake but my world is half asleep
I pray for this heart to be unbroken
But without you all I'm going to be is incomplete

With a pained whimper, Cody's wrist slipped out of his grasp and his arm hit the ground, falling into a pool of red. He'd lost so much blood.

His head was pounding with dizziness, and Zack's hysterical screaming wasn't helping. Black dots clouded his vision, and Cody slipped out of consciousness, barely managing to whisper, "I love you."

Zack looked over at his Cody's motionless body and screamed at the policeman even louder, who told him that an ambulance would be heading over. Zack slammed the phone down in frustration, wishing with all his heart that the ambulance would just hurry up because in his heart he knew that Cody couldn't hang on for long…

"Oh God," he moaned, running over to his brother's side. He picked up Cody's limp body and cradled his brother's head against his chest. "Oh God, Cody. I can't lose you. I can't go on if you leave. Please, Cody," he sobbed into Cody's hair, his voice breaking in emptiness. "Hang on for me. I never even got to tell you that I love you…"

Incomplete

Author's Note: AAAAH! Ok, review to find out more. The next chapter will probably be the last chapter. I don't feel like dragging this out too long.

-Finn