Empire State of Mine

fourth

September 1st, 1987

"You can't make me, Charlie!" A very stubborn Leighton says, crossing her arms, her feet firmly attached to the ground right beside the wall.

And although she knew that Charles Elliot was right about a lot of things, she decided that she wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of being right about this.

"Come on, Leigh." Charles grunted, pulling the fourteen-year old's hand towards the edge. "You aren't going to let another year go by without seeing the real reason why people even come up here!"

But Leighton was just as stubborn as Charlie was persuasive.

She stood her ground, ignoring the stares that were directed at the ruckus they were creating. She supposed she should be used to it by now, after the last visits prior to this one. "My own brother couldn't get me to face my fear, what makes you think you can?" She shook her hand away from his grasp.

Charlie feigned being hurt, putting one hand on his heart, "This is what I get after being a great friend to you all year? For showing you around school when you didn't know anybody? For eating lunch--"

"Alright! I get it!" She said, cutting off his mock sob story. "I'll go." She rolled her eyes, although it was probably less to do with annoyance and more to do with the fact that she was paralyzed with fear.

All of a sudden, she became aware of everything around her--the roar of the wind now seemed to be louder, piercing through her, as if it was trying to hold her back, to stop her. The mindless chatter of tourists seemed to sound like cruel taunts to her petty fear.

"Hey, come on." The boy adjacent to her says gently, holding her hand. "You can do it."

She doesn't understand how Charlie knew that he needed to hold her hand, but she felt relief wash through her, and in that moment, she had never been more glad to have Charlie Elliot in her life.

"Take it step by step, alright?" His eyes pierce into hers, and unlike Leighton's chocolate brown eyes, Charlie's was a warm olive, filled with trust and belief in her.

She nods, and eight tiny steps later (which is still pretty far from the actual deck), she feels the nauseating dizziness that overcomes her whenever she gets too close to the edge.

(Which to her is actually not close at all.)

She releases her tight grip on his palms, stepping back. "You know what? This is stupid." She huffs out, tying her scarf tighter around her neck. "Why do I have to take the plunge and face my fears in the tallest sky scraper in Manhattan?"

Charlie curses under his breath. So close. But nevertheless, he tries to reason out. "Because," He starts, turning on his persuasive skills. "If you can conquer this, you can conquer anything. You can be fearless, all in one go."

"All you have to do is take the plunge."

And while that speech may have worked on anybody who wasn't Leighton Carrie, unfortunately, she was, and she was having none of it.

"Baby steps, Charlie." She says with such finality that he is forced to concede, following her as he walls beside her towards the exit.

Well, I tried. Charlie thinks ruefully, exiting the building that had the strangest effect on the brunette beside him.

_

dedicated to my bby amber bc she's the most supportive bae ever