“Cam, please,” Arian begged. “Please don’t fight us. I just need you to be okay.”

The smaller boy jerked his head, taking another step towards the ledge. “I’ll jump! I will!”

Everyone believed him. How could they not? Cam had already tried to end his life once- what stopped him from trying again?

Oh. Arian had.

The battle with Cam’s mental health had been a struggle for years now. Arian had bore the brunt of it- always checking in, always pushing Cam to seek therapy or to talk to him. For a while, it seemed as though the blonde boy had taken Arian’s advice- until it got bad again.

This time, Arian knew he couldn’t do it alone. So he recruited their friends to help him get Cam into a mental hospital . It hadn’t worked out in his favor.

Now Arian was close to tears, his hands shaking as he got down on both knees, his heart pounding in his ears. “Camden, please.”

Cam was shaking worse than Arian, but he held his ground. “I’m not going.”

“Then you don’t have to.” Arian nodded, just looking for any way out at this point. “I won’t make you. Just please- don’t jump.”

“You’re lying!”

Arian shook his head. “I’m not. I promise.”

Everything seemed to stand still. The other three boys stood way back, too scared to move forward in fear that Cam would actually jump. The world seemed frozen, not even the wind was blowing- and it seemed like slow motion when Cam finally did take a step.

A step backwards.

Someone screamed. Maybe it was Arian. All he knew was that he shot forward, an arm outstretched towards the ledge. Someone tackled his waist, preventing him from moving any further. His throat hurt- maybe he was screaming. But his ears couldn’t register what he was saying. He was just screaming.

Cam wouldn’t- he wouldn’t leave him like that.

Yet he had.

It was finally then when Arian’s brain caught up to what his mouth was saying.

“Don’t leave me!”