|Amelia's POV|
"This was her favorite place. If she was anxious, sad, or even mad, she'd come here." I mumble as I stare over the railing. The river flows delicately beneath us.
"It's pretty. I can see why she liked it." Leigha swallows hard.
I glance at her, but brush it off as nothing. She's probably just nervous being so far above the water. I know she isn't a fan of heights.
"It is really pretty. The water looks so calming." Lyric chirps as she leans over the railing.
Leigha takes a hesitant step back and stares down at her feet. She rubs at her arm as ChaeRyeong makes her way toward her. I watch in confusion as ChaeRyeong wraps her arms around her and squeezes.
"What's wrong, LeighLeigh?" I shift my focus from celebrating Alyx's life to the girl who I spent most of my darkest times with. She's a fragile little angel who just needs love.
"Nothing. I'm fine." Leigha attempts to brush me off by forcing a weak smile and heading toward the railing of the water.
"Yah! Get your butt over here and tell me what's going on." I stomp my foot as she turns her back to me.
ChaeRyeong tugs on my arm and shakes her head. Leigha refuses to face me. She too focused on appearing okay to even try to acknowledge me.
"What's wrong with her?" I tug ChaeRyeong aside and look her dead in the eye.
"It's not really my place to say." ChaeRyeong mumbles as she glances passed me at Leigha.
"She tried again—didn't she? Yah! Stupid!" I spin around to grab ahold of Leigha before ChaeRyeong can respond. I don't need her verification. It makes sense.
"Huh?" Leigha looks at me in confusion as I pin her to thick pole.
"You tried to leave me again, didn't you? That's why you're anxious next to the water. You were gonna jump before, weren't you?" I accuse her as she struggles to gain an understanding of what's going on.
"I—I—" Leigha swallows hard as Lyric pries me off of her.
"You were gonna jump, weren't you? You were gonna try and kill yourself. When? When was it? Tell me when it was." I close my eyes tightly and take a shaky breath. I already lost Alyx, I refuse to let go of her, too.
"I don't know if I was gonna jump—it just—I was just overwhelmed. I was confused—I'm still here, aren't I?" Leigha tries to ease me as tears begin to trail down my cheeks.
"Why? Why are you still here? What's the point? If you don't want to be, then don't be. What's it matter if people love you? What's it matter if there's no one like you in the world? What does it matter that your mom did everything she could to raise her beautiful, precious daughter into a wonderful woman? What's it matter that she gave her life up for you?" I snap as I slap her arm aggressively.
"What?" Leigha questions as she grabs ahold of my wrists to stop me.
Leigha drops my arms down at my sides and takes a step toward me.
"What did you say about my mom?" Leigha's expression shifts and her shy manner slips away as she approaches me.
"I know what happened, LeighLeigh. I do." I mumble softly. I hadn't planned on telling her. I really hadn't. Her mom begged me not to. She said Leigha was too fragile to know.
"How? How do you know? What do you know?" Leigha begins to interrogate me.
I glance at Lyric and ChaeRyeong for help, but I know it's pointless. They don't know what we're talking about. They have no idea.
"Your mom came to talk to me. She told me she thought your dad was going to do something stupid. She asked me to take care of you, but when I went to find you, you were gone." I explain hesitantly. I shouldn't be telling her. If she knows that her mom knew, it's going to break her.
"You knew? You knew he was gonna hurt her, but you didn't do anything about it?" Leigha looks at me in disgust.
"I didn't know know. I—I knew she thought he was going to do something. I didn't really think any of it at first to be honest. I thought she was just a bit paranoid. Then I remembered some of the stories you told me, but I was stuck. I couldn't leave late at night. If I got out, they would've called the cops on me. Hell, the security was so heavy because someone took their life, that there wasn't really a way out. The soonest I was able to get a trip out was the following week—you were already gone." I try to ease her disappointment. She expected more of me. I expected more of me, but there wasn't much I could do.
"Just—just stop talking about it." Leigha snaps as she balls her hands up into fists. She takes a shaky breath before turning away from us and walking off.
"Leigh—" I call after her, but ChaeRyeong grabs ahold of my shoulder and pulls me back.
"She'll be fine. You just have to give her a bit of time to cool off." Lyric says calmly as she rests her head on my shoulder.
"But—she shouldn't be alone. If she tries before, she'll try again." I attempt to break away from them, but I fail miserably.
"Trust me, she won't do it. She may feel like it's the only way out, but her body won't let her. It knows that it's not the answer. I was there. I watched her stand on the railing for a good twenty minutes before stepping in. I could tell she didn't actually want to do it. She was just overwhelmed—alone." ChaeRyeong explains as she tries to redirect my attention toward the water.
"Are there new ones?" I ask softly as I step down and let them win.
"I mean—I don't know. I honestly just brought her home with me so I wouldn't be alone. When I actually talked to her—I kinda fell for her. She's amazing, smart, beautiful, and so alone." ChaeRyeong sighs as she leans against the railing.
"She is amazing—in every way. If I wouldn't have been stupid back then, maybe she wouldn't have disappeared." I sit down in the middle of the bridge. Thank god it's in the middle of nowhere. Only five cars or so come down here a day, so why would they be out here at this time?
"Don't beat yourself up. She'll be fine. She's got about a five minute head start on us, so let's go find her." Lyric grabs my hand and pulls me up off of the ground.