Panic Attack - H.S. AU

Chapter One

-Valerie-

Sweat beaded down his face as he balled his hands into fists. I silently watched as he looked down at the concrete ground below him and took in a shaky, deep breath. He was nervous. His pink lips moved slowly as if he were mumbling his last words. Then, he shut his eyes, took one more deep breath, and moved even closer to the edge of the building.

"Please," I softly begged him. 

He glanced over at me, a movement so quick he could've easily lost his balance, but thankfully he didn't. I slowly walked over to him.

I made sure to keep my voice quiet and calm as I said, "Please don't do this."

His green eyes were filled with tears and his lips quivered as he struggled to speak. "Wh-who are you?"

"Someone who wants you alive" I sincerely told him.

I held out my hand for him to take, but he rejected me and returned his eyes to the busy street beneath us.

"I know what you're trying to do and it's not going to work." He smiled insincerely and almost laughed. The action itself was disheartening. "You don't care about me. You just want to be a hero. I can see the headlines now. Brave girl saves suicidal man from building. Everyone is always willing to do the right as long as it benefits them somehow."

I wished I could've told him how wrong he was about me, but this was about him. I couldn't be selfish. I took in a deep breath and stood beside him. "If you want to leave this world, you'll just have to take me with you."

He looked at me, horrified at my suggestion, and said, "I don't even know you!"

I shrugged my shoulders. "Yet here I am willing to die for you."

"Are you crazy? You don't know anything about me!"

"And you don't know anything about me."

"I know that you're one of them," he said as he pointed down at the people walking the streets of New York City. "You're not like me. You actually belong in this world."

"So do you," I told him. "And for the record, I'm exactly like you."

I stretched out my hand yet again for him to take. "Look, I know you don't believe me, but I'm willing to prove that you belong in this world just as much as I do."

He hadn't completely rejected me this time. No, this time he stared at my hand, as if he were contemplating the consequences of the choice he was about to make.

"You swear?" He asked me.

"I swear."

He slowly wrapped his hand around mine and I sighed with relief. Then, together, we stepped away from the ledge.

"See that wasn't so-"

Before I could finish my sentence, the man broke into sobs. "I'm trying to deal with this pain, but I just can't get over it. I just want it all to stop."

It broke my heart to watch him suffer. Regardless of the fact that he was a stranger, I felt compelled to help him. A part of me was inexplicably drawn to him. 

I pulled the man into a hug and felt a tear roll down my cheek.

"Let's sit down okay?" I whispered in his ear.

He let go of me and did as I suggested.

I sat next to him and gently laid his head on my shoulder. Instead of moving away, he leaned in closer to me.

I rubbed his back to help calm him down and after a few minutes, his crying ended and he moved away from me.

After a long silence, I asked him for his name.