Then I saw a figure standing on the edge of a tall block of dilapidated flats or business offices. I swore under my breath and practically tripped through the door and tackled the many, many flights of stairs to get to the top. I had to stop for just a second to catch my breath and ignore the pain in my chest from breathing so hard, and I ignored the pain in my legs from running so fast, before continuing at a slightly slower pace up the next flight of stairs, the fastest my body could physically manage. Lori was still following me, but he was out of breath and tired too, he was also soaking and his hair was lying flat as he panted at me to continue upstairs. When I reached the top, there was a ladder, and the hatch was open so the ladder was slippy from the rain, but I cautiously gripped the rungs and pulled myself up.
I was standing on the top of a building. My lungs and legs were burning from running, but I pushed the pain away when, sure enough, I saw someone stood on the edge of the roof, his back to me as the rain blurred the figure slightly.
“Luke?” I shouted, starting to run over to him.
“Rose?” he turned round, “stop. Stop, please, keep away from me.”
I stopped dead in my tracks and Lori stumbled into me, staring at Luke who was rocking back and forth on the balls of his feet. On the edge of a building.
“Luke, come towards me,” Lori begged.
“I’m scared Rose,” Luke shouted, “you can’t come near me. You can’t, please don’t.”
He sounded so distant, mad even, even though he was a few meters away from me.
“Luke, listen to me,” I begged, slowly and cautiously taking one step towards him, “don’t jump, Luke, it’s going to be okay. You told me to stop trying to fix it, or fix you... but we can figure it out, Luke, please.”
“I’m going to jump if you come near me,” Luke warned, the rain running down his face as he held up two violently shaky hands, “I’m so scared Rose.”
“Focus on me, Luke,” I shouted, trying to sound gentle as I took another slow step towards him without him noticing, “it’s going to be okay, Luke, okay?” I was trying desperately not to show the worry, panic and unknowing feeling inside me because my only focus at that moment was to get Luke away from the edge.
“I’m on the edge Rose,” Luke shouted, still sounding crazy, “I’m so close. It’s all going to stop.”
“Luke, focus on me,” I choked, taking one more slow step closer, “I’m Rose Summers, I fell in love with you on your first day, I didn’t know it at the time but I was sure of it eventually. You didn’t know what love was, but now you can tell me right? What was it you said? Love is what we have, kind of like Romeo and Juliet, not in a cliché way, but that’s it, right? Is love just cliché? You wrote a song, and I remember some of the lines: go ahead, rip my heart out, if you think that’s what love’s all about. I sure hope you didn’t write it about me because I never want you to get hurt...” by now I was close enough that I could almost reach out and touch him.
“It’s all going to stop,” Luke repeated in a mutter. Then he turned and pushed himself forward, and then I screamed and closed my eyes, all I was focusing on was my scream, cutting through the air so it was almost deafening.
I realised later on that I had put my hands out to save Luke but Lori had grabbed him, even though I hadn’t noticed Lori walking towards the edge while I was trying to get Luke to focus on me. Lori may have pulled Luke away from the side, but I had saved him.
“Luke,” I yelled as he toppled onto me in shock, “Luke you’re here, you’re safe, it’s okay.”
“Rose,” he muttered, his breathing raspy and heavy, “Rose you saved me. You saved me, you saved me.” He repeated.
“Shh,” I hushed, “Luke, it’s okay.”
“I’m so sorry,” Luke sobbed, his cries painful and shaky, “I’m so, so sorry.”
“Okay, Luke,” I squeaked, “okay baby, it’s going to be alright.”
“I’m so scared,” he blubbed, “oh god.”
“Don’t be scared, there’s nothing to be scared of,” I hushed, me sat there in a puddle with my legs to the side and Luke resting in my lap with the rain still pouring down.
“Yes there is. If I was that close to... to going over the edge, and you had to save me, what am I going to be like without you?” Luke rambled, “I just... I need you to be there when I need you, you don’t need to love me like I love you, and you don’t need to be my girlfriend or anything... I just... I can’t lose you for good, I can’t just... never see you again... I almost died Rose, oh god.”
“Luke I’m going to be there for you whenever you need me, okay?” I said firmly.
“Okay,” he choked. I looked up at Lori who was smiling faintly, but I could see his hands shaking.
I knew how Lori felt: he was thinking about how he had no idea that Luke felt that way, and he was wondering how he could help. Luke’s hair was lying flat and it was in his eyes because it was soaking and he looked all rugged but innocent at the same time.
“We’re going to get through this, I promise,” I sighed. Then I added, “as friends.”
I couldn’t deal with him breaking my heart again, even though I did love him, I knew it deep down, but I thought it was best to just be friends.
“Okay,” Luke whispered, the tears still rolling down his cheeks.
