On The Edge Of Falling

Ill Come Back For You

Billy was starting to lose hope, as he joined the guys in running to every hotel in Vegas. Over and over again, rushing to the front desk with my picture on their cell, asking the employees if they had seen me. No luck. As they approached the next hotel on the strip, Billy stood outside the door, blocking their entrance. He shielded his eyes to the bright sun rising in the sky. "Billy, move, we only have a few more stops." Zak sighed.
            "This is hopeless. She's obviously not here anymore." Billy replied.
            "Do you love her or not?"
            "Of course I do."
            "Then get the fuck out of my way, come inside with me, and help me find her." Zak growled. "Oh, and get your head out of your ass. Be a man." Zak added, as he pushed by Billy. Billy rolled his eyes, as Aaron approached him and grasped his shoulder.
"Don't mind him, bro. He's worried about her too. Plus, we're all running on no sleep."
"He should be used to that by now." Billy said, as they both walked inside and joined Zak at the front desk. Finally, they had struck gold.
"Yeah, she checked in last night. She seemed very upset." The desk clerk said. They all breathed a sigh of relief.
"Can you please tell us what room she's in. This is an emergency." Zak begged. "Look, he's her boyfriend." Zak said, as he grabbed Billy's arm. "He's been trying to get a hold of her all night."
"Of course, I'll walk you to her room." She smiled gently, and rounded the corner of the desk. As they followed her up, Billy's heart pounded with every step he took. This was it. I'm not letting her go without a fight.
The employee gently knocked on the door repeatedly, but no one answered. Billy closed his eyes, reciting a prayer in his head over, and over again. Please, let her be okay. Please... Billy pushed past the employee and continued knocking for her. "Addy, please, open the door. I just want to talk to you." Billy urged. "Please, Addy, let me in."
"Sir, I can unlock the door." The clerk said, as she pulled the large set of keys out of her back belt loop. She slowly inserted the key into the lock and turned, until the door opened. Billy rushed in, with Zak and Aaron following. The bed was made, it didn't even look like it was ever used. Billy ran into the bathroom, no one. The desk chair was pushed out from the desk, and a letter with a pen and a single rose sat on top. "I'm sorry, sir, she never checked out. I didn't know she left."
"What is that?" Zak asked, as he watched Billy inch closer to the letter on the desk. He slowly picked it up, allowing the rose to roll off.
"A letter...from Addy." Billy replied.
"What's it say?" Aaron asked. Billy didn't respond. He swiftly put his hand over his mouth, as he began to read.

The tear drops, falling from Billy's eyes, stained the notebook paper, as he finished reading. Zak and Aaron were growing extremely anxious. "God, Billy, please tell me she didn't hurt herself." Zak begged, his voice cracked through the heavy emotion emerging. Billy shook his head, and dropped the letter to his side. "Billy, what does it say?" Billy remained quiet, but as he walked by, he slapped the letter to Zak's chest.
"It's over." Billy whispered, before he left the hotel room. Zak looked over the letter, with Aaron peeking at it over his shoulder.
"Oh, my god..." Aaron sighed.
            "She's really gone." Zak gasped.
            Billy sat in the car, waiting for Zak and Aaron to join him. Out of curiosity, he reached into his pocket and pulled out his cell phone. He smiled, as he looked through the goofy photos of him and I. Although, it was quite hard to see through the shattered screen. Finally, Zak and Aaron climbed into the car and stayed quiet. What do you say to your best friend that just had his heart broken? "Are you alright, man?" Aaron asked.
            "Well, that's a stupid fucking question." Billy growled. He looked up at Aaron, who slowly ran his hands over his face. "I'm sorry, just...take me home, please." Zak nodded, and happily obliged to Billy's wish.
            As they pulled into the drive, they saw the empty beer bottles on the front steps. The skid marks from Zak's car were still fresh on the pavement and the house somehow looked emptier. Zak looked at Billy through the mirror. "Hey, you want us to help clean up?" He asked.
            "No, it's fine." Billy said, as he stepped out of the car. Even though, he turned down their offer, Zak still shut off the engine, and they stepped out. "You guys, go home."
            "We're here to help."
            "I just want to sleep."
            "Then go to sleep, while we clean." Zak patted Billy's back and he ultimately agreed. Zak and Aaron picked up the empty beer bottles and then rounded the house to the backyard. Where even more trash was spread out. All that was left in the fire pit was burnt wood and ash.
            Billy walked up the stairs and through the hallway. Before he reached his bedroom, he stopped by the guest bedroom door, that for a long time was occupied by his true love. Instead of resting in his own room, he stepped into the guest room. The walls were bare. The bed was made. The dresser was empty, but he could still feel the presence left. He could still smell the aroma of the sweet perfume, and as he rested his head on the pillows, he could still smell the berry shampoo. A single tear rolled over the bridge of his nose and down to his pillow. "Come back." Billy said to himself, before his eyes shut and he drifted off to sleep.
            Hours later, Billy was awoken to the sound of dishes clinking together in the kitchen. The sound of a vacuum then pierced his ears, causing him to surrender his slumber and climb out of bed. Billy made his way down the stairs and saw Aaron vacuuming the carpet in the living room. "You guys don't have to clean my entire house." Billy sighed. Aaron looked up, as he noticed Billy was talking to him, but he couldn't hear him over the roar of the vacuum. Billy continued to talk, as Aaron shrugged and cupped his hand to his ear. With a roll of his eyes, Billy walked over to the outlet and yanked the cord out. The vacuum noise slowly faded. "I said, you guys don't have to clean my entire house!" Billy yelled, as his ears were still ringing.
            "Trust me, bro, it needed to be cleaned." Aaron replied, with a disgusted curl of his lip. Billy turned to look into the kitchen, at Zak scrubbing the counters with a soaked blue sponge. Unexpectedly, Zak's phone started to ring. He stopped his hand from the circular motion and stared at his phone, along with Billy and Aaron. He looked at his screen with a narrowed brow and answered.
           "Hello?...Okay...Yeah. Yeah, hold on." Zak moved the phone from his ear and pressed it against his shirt. "It's my mom." Zak said. Billy let out a disappointing sigh. "I'm going to take this outside." Zak walked out back to the pool and pressed the phone back to his ear. "Addy, where are you?"
            "Nice try, Zak." I giggled.
            "This isn't funny, Addy. Tell me where you are..."
            "Why? So, you can come rescue me? It's not going to happen, Zak. I need to do this."
            "What you need is to come be happy with the man who loves you."
            "I will be with him."
            "When?"
            "When I'm ready. If he loves me, he will wait for me. You need to remind him, Zak. Every day. I will come back for him."
            "I can't force him to wait for you."
            "I'm not asking you too. Just...make sure he has my letter. I'm guessing you guys did find my letter?"
            "Yes, we only had to go through about 30 hotels before we found it."
            "You still have it?" I asked. Zak reached into his pocket and pulled out the folded piece of notebook paper.
            "I have it."
            "Give it to him. Make sure he keeps it."
            "I don't think he will want to read your depressing ass letter every day, Addy."
            "Just give it to him, Zak. Please, remind him that I am coming back."
            "When?!" Zak yelled, and looked back to the house, making sure no one was eavesdropping. He calmed down before he spoke again. "When are you coming back?"
            "I don't know." I paused. "I love you all. Please, don't tell Billy we spoke. I don't want to get him bothered again. Goodbye."
            "No...Addy..." The call ended. Zak sighed and turned around. He was startled by Billy standing behind him at the door. "Billy..."
            "Who was it?"
            "I told you. My mom."
            "You said Addy."
            "She told me to stay quiet."
            "Why the fuck would you lie to me?" Billy yelled, as he stormed towards Zak. Aaron stepped out, once he heard the shouting. "Where is she?"
             "I don't know, she didn't..."
             "You're a fucking liar!" Billy shouted, as he clenched his fist and swung it towards Zak's face. His fist made contact with Zak's cheek and he fell to the concrete, holding the pained spot.
            "What the hell, man?" Aaron yelled, as he got between them and pushed Billy away. "I know you're hurting, bro, but we didn't cause this shit, okay? She chose to leave!"
            "Why is she calling him and not me?"
            "Because she's probably just as upset as you! Maybe, you just need to wake up and realize that she needs some damn space! If you don't want to give her that, then move the hell on!" Aaron yelled.
            "I can't! Do you not understand that?" Billy yelled. Aaron reached his hand out to Zak and helped him off the ground. Zak's nostrils were flared, and he was using every strength that he had to not go after Billy. Aaron held him back, knowing that if Zak got his hands on him, it wouldn't end well. Zak spit the small amount of blood out of his mouth and watched, as Billy ran his fingers through his hair. "I'm sorry, bro." Zak continued to breathe through his anger. "But I can't. I can't live my life without her with me. I don't want to move on. What if she doesn't come back?"
            "Then she never really loved you." Zak growled, as he harshly glared into Billy's sad eyes. Billy looked to the ground, as Zak made his way to the driveway. "Aaron! Take me home!" Aaron sighed and approached Billy.
            "Just go, man." Billy sighed, and walked back inside. Aaron nodded and joined Zak.
            As they pulled up to Zak's house, he climbed out of the car and slammed the door behind him. Aaron unknowingly followed, until Zak quickly turned to face him. "What are you doing?" He asked.
            "Going in with you?"
            "No, go home."
            "You obviously need to talk."
            "I don't need to fucking talk about it, Aaron. I'm a grown man, I don't need a boyfriend to talk to!"
            "Well, I'm okay with being your friend, but I'm not interested in being your boyfriend." Aaron smiled. Zak rolled his eyes and stomped to his house, his face still red from the punch. Aaron, once again, followed. "You can punch me, if that'll let out some anger." Aaron offered. Zak walked to him and forcefully punched him in the arm. "Ouch, bro!" Aaron grasped his throbbing arm.
            "You offered." Zak said. "I can't believe this shit!"
            "Billy's upset, dude. He didn't mean it."
            "I'm not talking about him! Why the fuck did she have to leave? I hope she's happy for what she did to my friendship!"
            "Don't talk about her like that. You and Billy aren't exactly innocent in all this."
            "What the hell are you talking about?"
            "All the shit you put her through! Billy acting like an asshole and forcing himself on her! You guys fucked her up! This isn't her fault, it's yours! I don't blame the girl for wanting to get away and clear her damn head. I'd be doing the same thing!" Aaron let himself out and slammed the door behind him.
            "And there's another friend gone..."