"What Friends Are For"

--Chapter 2 (Chad's POV)

Give me a shot to remember
And you can take all the pain away from me
Your kiss and I will surrender
The sharpest lives are the deadliest to lead

(My Chemical Romance)

"I need you to kill me," I said, not daring to blink. There was a long silence, and I could tell by the incredulous expression on Troy's face that he thought this was all just a joke.

"Wait. What?" he said.

"I know that it makes no sense. And I'm sorry for being so blunt," I began to explain. "I'm dying."

"What?" No…" he looked confused. "What are you talking about?"

"My doctor's appointment today? Yeah. It was definitely not muscle cramps."

"Well, what was it then?" he asked, no looking seriously panicked.

"Cancer, dude," I said as calmly as possible. "Fucking bone cancer."

"No way," he stuttered. I nodded. "And they can't… can't fix it?"

"I guess not. They said they could put me on chemo, but that the fact that I only responded to two of the tests they took to find the cancer means that it's highly improbable that any kind of treatment would work."

"'Highly improbable' means that you should at least try. If there's any chance of it working, you should… you should at least try."

"The chance that it could work is like, less than three percent. The treatment, which the insurance company has already told me that they won't pay for, would drain a huge part of our savings, and then I'd probably die anyways," I said.

"You're fucking rich! I don't see why you can't afford it."

"Think about it, Troy," I said. "Sharpay has no career. If I die, our savings is her only means for survival after compensations. If we spend it on a nonresponsive treatment, she's got nothing."

Troy listened to what I was telling him, a pained expression on his face the entire time. "You just said that she'd have compensations! She'd have plenty of money!"

"But not enough for her. She's Sharpay! Her freaking motto in life is 'live expensively!'" I exclaimed. "When I'm gone, I don't want her to be forced to live life any differently than she already does."

"But what's this about me killing you?" he asked. This was the part I had most dreaded of our conversation. Telling him I'm dying is simple stuff compared to what we both knew we had coming. And I was fully aware that he wouldn't understand.

"You know Sharpay. You know that she's convinced that she's living a fairytale. She won't be satisfied unless her life is perfect."

"And her husband's murder will play right into perfect?" he asked skeptically.

"Well, no. But I guess I just kind of see it as being easier on her than slowly watching me die."

"I still don't get it," he said. He almost sounded angry. I wasn't prepared to cringe. "When you die, Sharpay's going to want answers. The only way she'll get those answers is if you explain all of this to her."

"I can't do that, Troy," I told him.

"And you think I can kill you? You know, you're my boy Chad. You know I would do almost anything for you. But there's a fine line between almost and anything, and this is where I'm choosing to draw it," he said, trying to look me in the eye, though I wouldn't let him.

"But Troy," I said. "It doesn't have to be like that. We'll make it so no one will know it was you."

"There's no such thing as a foolproof plan, man. There's always going to be the chance I'd get caught no matter what ideas we cook up. And if that happens, what about Milo? Her mother's already dead; you think she'll be able to handle her father in jail… or worse?" I had completely forgotten about Milo in all of this, and I knew there was no reasonable answer to Troy's question.

"There would be risks…"

He cut me off.. "Yeah. Way too many risks. You're crazy if you think I can do this. If you want to be crazy, fine. Be crazy. But please don't expect me to be the one that's crazy with you. You'll have to find someone else." Troy stood up, beer bottle still in hand.

"There is no one else. You said it yourself: We're like brothers, Troy. It's not often that a person gets to choose who kills them. But, Troy, if I could pick one person in the world to shoot me, it would be you."

"Good to know." He began to walk out of the room.

"So that's it? You're just going to leave me here?"

"You've given me no choice," he replied. "Call me when you're sane again." With that he was gone, the library door slammed behind him. I let out a breathy sigh and buried my head in my hands again.

So, I'm really sorry I haven't updated in so long. I was on vacation for three weeks.

IMPORTANT: In your reviews, please tell me what you want for the next chapter:

1.)Troy's POV - at the party, then going home to Milo.

2.) Sharpay's POV - at the party, then dealing with Chad's depressive state over the next few weeks.

3.) Milo's POV - Troy comes home after the party, and stays in his bedroom for days.

REVIEW!!

x sami

P.S. I updated my story blog the other day... link's in my profile if you're interested :D