Where the Story Ends (ending to the Story of Her Life trilogy)

Where the Story Ends: 13

She held her breath as she tried to look over edge, but she couldn't do it. Instead she was looking at her hands, holding on tightly to the railing. She studied the tattoos that hid her scars, how new ones lie on top of the old ones.

She thought it was all going to end that night of the accident. It turned out it was going to end on this bridge. She successfully looked over the bridge railing to see the water rushing underneath her feet. She took a breath and held it, it might've been her last one.

The cold air blew her hair around, making it a distraction. She could hardly concentrate on her thoughts, preparing herself.

It was more than she could handle. She loved him, and that's what scared her the most. She decided she didn't want to feel anything anymore, and what better way to do it?

It was a selfish thing to do, when she thought about it. But they were being selfish, too. They couldn't leave well enough alone. They couldn't let Harry be happy, even though they wanted to. They drove her to it, she wouldn't do it otherwise.

She almost hated herself for doing this. She was leaving Harry behind, he was the only reason she was still standing here, hesitating.

How is it that they all fell in love with her the first time they met? The first time they met was at the meet-and-greet. She certainly hated them then, and there's no doubt in her mind that they disliked her as well.

How did they all fall in love with her at the same time? There's no way that they could have.

They were being ridiculous, the sooner she did this, the sooner they would find that out. She took a step onto a cement platform. Her hands were no longer clinging to the railing, but now the metal frame. Her vision was blurred from unexpected tears. She closed her eyes and...

"Eli!" she didn't have to turn around to know who it was.

It was painful for Harry to be here when she was about to jump. She didn't want to feel anything anymore. She didn't turn to look at him, it would only make things worse.

"Eli! Please, please get down. Please don't do this. Please." in her mind she pictured him on his knees, begging her. "Why are you doing this?" she could hear his sobs in between words. "Please, Elizabeth," the word slipped off his tongue so subtly. It sounded foreign to her, like it wasn't her name. The hopelessness could be heard in his weak voice.

"Harry you shouldn't be here." she gritted her teeth and squeezed her eyes shut tighter.

"Why? Please don't do this. Please don't leave me. What do you want from me? Do you hate me?"

"I just wanted you to be happy..."

"If you jump, I could never be happy again. Please, Elizabeth."

"Stop calling me that! That's not my name."

"That is your name. Your name is Elizabeth Kirkshaw."

"Yes, I know. I know who I am." she had to get this over with. She began to lean forward.

"Eli!" she heard the cry from behind her. She felt the grip of his hand around her wrist. He pulled her down from the concrete platform, and held her against his chest.

"Why would you do that?" he whispered in her ear. "You can tell me if something is wrong." she didn't speak to him.

//\\

She was lying on her side, in her bed, under the covers. She hadn't been out of bed in two days. She wasn't talking to anyone, and she barely ate anything. Numerous attempts from Harry, Chealsi, Louis, and Liam to get her to speak were failures. Every once and a while Niall would come in and say "Hi", but she wouldn't respond, so he would quickly get bored and leave.