Your melody
My harmony
Our symphony

Day 1:

The group tried to stay positive. But it was hard. Really, really hard.

Initially, they tried to ignore the cancer. But ignoring a problem doesn't make it go away. The mood was pretty depressing, but everyone tried to cheer up. They only had thirty days after all.

They spent the first day organising Arya's finances and wills- the 'boring bit' according to the boys- wanting to get the uncomfortable topics out of the way as quickly as possible.

Then, they started planning the funeral.

It was a pretty sombre affair until Caleb subtly tried to steal one of Arya's McDonalds' fries and she slapped his hand away, hugging hers closer. In retaliation, he squeezed a ketchup packet and it exploded all over her. She gasped and chucked what was left of her drink at him, but missed and hit Ethan instead. Arya covered her mouth to hide a laugh at his murderous and shocked expression.

"You're dead." He growled, throwing his salad at Arya. The others joined shortly after and the hospital room was soon filled with shrieks of laughter.

Several nurses went to break up the fight, but the leading doctor stopped them.

"Let them have their fun for now." She said with a sad smile. "The poor girl is dying. It's the least we can do."

Day 5:

Arya's health declined rapidly. All hope for a recovery was lost and she was transferred to a hospice, under the control of the palliative care team.

The team were amazing. They allocated Arya a room filled with books to entertain herself when visiting hours were over. They also looked the other way when Caleb tried to smuggle in Sparklemuffin by draping a large curtain over him and trying to pass it off as a dream.

Arya felt her time running out, but she was determined to try and battle it out for as long as she could.

She also spent many hours bonding with her siblings. Jacob would braid her hair while Marigold painted her nails and they binge-watched movies.

Day 10:

The boys were dangerously aware of time slowly running out.

Arya was practically bed bound, too frail to even lift herself out of bed. Her ribs protruded from her skin and everything hurt- both inside and outside. And yet, she always had a smile on her face whenever she saw her friends or siblings.

On this day, Issac was inserting money into the vending machine. He watched the little silver ring spin and get stuck. He scowled and kicked the machine, but only succeeded in stubbing his toe.

"I don't think that works."

Issac whirled around and was pleasantly surprised upon seeing his old friend. "Wyatt! Haven't seen you in a while, man. How are you doing?"

"Not too bad honestly..." Wyatt tried to smile, but it was forced and strained.

Issac noticed. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing... nothing is wrong." Wyatt's phone rang and he glanced at the phone screen. His eyes widened. "I have to, uh, take this."

For some reason, a tight knot formed in the pit of Issac's stomach. 'Where was Wyatt all these weeks? Why did he show up now? Why is he acting all weird?'

He followed Wyatt and hid behind a wall, eavesdropping into the conversation.

"Hello? Yes, this is Wyatt speaking... Yeah, I know! Look, Valerie getting caught wasn't part of the plan... No, you don't understand!.... Fine. I'll do it tonight. I'll inject Arya with the poison. It's untraceable, right?"

The blood turned to ice in Issac's veins. A wave of fury engulfed him and he couldn't restrain himself. He marched over to Wyatt, grabbed his shoulder, spun him around and punched him. Once. Twice. Thrice.

"What the hell man?!" Wyatt spluttered as onlookers pulled them apart.

"You TRAITOR!" Issac roared, lunging forwards, but was held back by the staff. By this time, the commotion had attracted the rest of the boys.

"What's going on?" Ethan asked, his cold eyes taking in the scene.

"Remember when Blake told us about the traitor in our business? The one working with Valerie to kidnap Arya? The one who- the one who put my mum in the hospital?" Issac was breathing heavily, wiping away the blood on his cheek with his sleeve.

Wyatt straightened and chuckled darkly. "C'mon Zack, you gotta give me some more credit than that! I've been sabotaging your business for a while now. Y'know, taking out just a little extra money from the accounts, selling secrets to your enemies. That sort of stuff. "

"Why?" Caleb asked, resisting the urge to beat him to a bloody pulp.

"For money. Duh, what else? Loyalty doesn't put food on the table." Wyatt rolled his eyes, a sadistic smirk settled on his lips. "Also... I remember you telling me that Arya believed she recognised the voice of the man who assaulted her? Saying it sounded familiar or something?" His smirk grew wider. "Put it together boys."

Ethan let out a cry of anger and lunged towards Wyatt. He didn't get very far though when Wyatt stilled, arms stiff by his side and his eyes rolled to the back of his head. He collapsed in a crumpled heap.

One of Arya's nurses was behind him, holding an injection. "Good riddance." She said, rolling her eyes. "His voice was exhausting me, so I decided to inject him with a sedative. The police should be here soon, by the way."

Day 15:

It was getting harder and harder for Arya to breathe. Sometimes in the night, she would wake up, frantically inhaling lungfuls of oxygen. It hurt her chest, but she didn't stop, wanting to prolong death and spend as much time as possible with her family.

But sometimes, she was just too drained to do anything.

Like when Caleb suggested they should jump in the car, roll a die and go to a random destination. As much as she wished she could beam with joy and be enthusiastic about the plan, she could do nothing more than grunt painfully.

Caleb's eyes widened. "Are you hurt? Is everything okay? Do you want water? Painkillers? A teddy bear to cuddle with? Maybe the trip was a bad idea... no worries! We can stay in the hospice and watch movies!"

'No!' Arya wanted to say, 'The trip is a good idea!' But she could only manage a pathetic whimper.

Day 20:

Too weak to even raise her head without support , Arya was disheartened to learn that it would be impossible for her to leave the premises. She badly wanted to go on that road trip.

So the boys went online and found lots of videos and pictures of the places they planned to visit. With the help of Jess- Jacob's friend- they managed to piece it together into a virtual tour.

Arya cried when she saw it, much to the boys confusion and despair.

"You idiot!" Ethan hissed, slapping Caleb upside the head, "Look what your idea has done! It's made Arya cry- the very opposite of what we wanted to achieve!"

"I didn't see you arguing against it when we were making it!" Caleb snapped back, rubbing the back of his head.

"No, no, guys!" Arya smiled. "These are happy tears! I promise."

The boys relaxed and resumed the tour. Caleb put on his gruff David Attenborough voice and pointed out the main attractions, a warm fuzzy feeling blooming in his chest as Arya laughed.

Day 20:

Arya knew the day would be good when the boys strode through the room wearing Hello Kitty sunglasses and carrying boxes of Christmas decorations.

"We're gonna celebrate Christmas and Halloween early this year!" Nick declared, draping silver tinsel over the worn armchairs.

"But it's July!" Arya protested, fighting back a smile as she struggled to push herself up.

"So?" Ethan raised an eyebrow, pulling her up and positioning the pillows behind her. "We're gonna combine Halloween and Christmas and throw an awesome party today! Everyone's invited."

"It's called Chrisoween!" Caleb declared, stringing up fake spiders around the room.

Nick winced. "We'll work on the name later."

That night, the staff wheeled patients into Arya's room. The party got so wild that it spilled out into the hallway. Everyone got drunk on eggnog and devoured enough sweets to give a dentist a heart attack.

But no one smiled brighter than the boys as they stared at Arya, heart bursting with love and affection for the idiot that barrelled her way into their lives- quite literally.

"I declare a toast!" A tiny old lady drunkenly declared, raising her wine glass. "To Hell! Hic! May the stay there be as fun as the way there! Hic!"

"Hear hear!" Everyone cried out and downed their drinks.

Day 26:

Arya was curled up in Chris's lap, staring at the TV screen as she fought against sleep. Chris was running his fingers through her hair, carefully picking out the knots while he gently rocked his knee.

Everyone was crammed into the dark, tiny room. Renée sat on Ethan's lap in the armchair, Caleb, Nick and Issac were squashed together on the tiny couch while Jacob and Marigold sat either side of Chris and Arya.

They were watching 'Toy Story 3' and were nearing the end of the movie.

Arya whimpered and curled up in a tighter ball, an explosion of pain wracking in her body. Marigold quickly injected Arya with some morphine, tears slipping from her eyes.

Arya allowed herself to be pulled deeper and deeper into sleep. Her breathing slowed and she struggled to keep her eyes open.

'Fight... it...' She thought, pushing past the barrier of sleep. There was a plan tomorrow to host Marigold's engagement party in the hospice. Arya really didn't want to miss that.

She desperately tried to clutch onto reality, but it kept slipping from her grasp. Finally, she couldn't hold on. She let go.

"So long partner." On screen Woody said as the movie drew to a close.

'So long.' Arya thought, slipping into an everlasting sleep, safe in the arms of her best friend.

End.

I hope you guys liked it!

Stay safe and thanks for reading :)