"It's all alright, yeah, it's all alright. I've got nothing left inside of my chest but it's all alright."

Jake frowned as he trudged out of his English class. News had been spread around the school that the Ice Hounds' star rookie, Campbell Saunders, was depressed, and people weren't taking it well. It had completely discouraged Jake from getting help, like Katie had begged him to. Jake went into the boys' washroom and splashed cool water onto his face. Then, he looked in the mirror. Jake sighed. He looked exhausted. And truth be told, he was. He was tired of feeling like he wasn't good enough at school, tired of trying to live up to Katie's expectations of him, tired of completely disappointing his father... The list went on and on in his mind. Jake shook his head and brought himself back to reality, just in time to hear the bell ring. He sighed again. Everyone was in class, leaving him no obstacles for his plan. He took one more look at himself in the mirror, and exited the washroom for what he expected to be the last time.

Jake walked to the garden on the roof and sat down, taking it all in. After they had fixed it up from the attack- which was presumed to be done by the Ice Hounds- Things had grown even better than they had before.

But now, it was time for Jake to say goodbye to all of it. He took a deep breath, and stepped toward the edge of the roof. As Jake looked out on the town from where he was, he couldn't help but ask- do I really want this? But the list of reasons why he did began once again in his head, and he answered himself,

"Yes, I want this more than anything else in the world."

Suddenly, Jake was pulled out of his thoughts.

"Jake?" A voice asked. Jake turned around, shocked to see Eli standing there.

"Eli? What are you doing here?"

"Well, you weren't in World History, so I decided to come find you..." Eli answered.

No, this isn't right. No one was supposed to find him. Jake's palms started to sweat.

"Jake, don't you think you should step back from the ledge a little?" Eli asked. Eli observed his friend, and that was when he noticed Jake's weary and forlorn expression. Then, it hit him.

Jake wanted to be there. Jake wanted to be beyond there. Eli's breath caught in his throat.

"Dude..." Eli started.

And Jake really started to panic. Eli was onto him.

"Jake, please... Don't. It's not worth it."

"You don't get it, Eli." Jake laughed humourlessly.

"Yes, I do." Eli stressed. "I've been there before. Just step back. We can talk this out. I can help you."

"Just go. You don't need to see this." Jake said. He closed his eyes as he felt his throat close up. His eyes burned with tears.

"Jake, I'm not-"

"-Just leave!"

"Fine." Eli answered. Jake's eyes widened, but he felt nothing but relief.

Eli started to walk away. Upon reaching the door, he checked to make sure that Jake wasn't looking at him. When this was confirmed, he staged an exit.

When Jake heard the door close, he resumed his position. He took a deep breath. It's now or never. Jake closed his eyes and let himself begin to fall.

But Jake quickly realized that he wasn't falling the way that he had intended. And he became increasingly aware of a weight on top of him. He opened his eyes to see Eli staring down at him with a look of horror on his face.

"Let me go!" Jake screamed, tears freely cascading down his pale face. "Let go!" He cried again. Eli didn't listen. Jake fought against Eli's grip, but his sobs had weakened him. His screams had turned to whimpers, and eventually, he stopped fighting. "Let me go." Jake cried weakly. Eli shook his head.

After deeming it safe to let go of Jake, Eli moved beside him. Moments of silence passed between the two, save for Jake's sniffles. He slowly looked up at Eli.

"What the hell did I just try to do?"

"You know what you did." Eli said softly, his eyes brimming with unshed tears.

"I'm sorry." Jake whimpered, tears still leaking from his eyes.

"It's going to be okay," Eli said, pulling Jake's head onto his lap. "You helped me when my dad..." Eli trailed off. He still couldn't complete the sentence, even though it was months later. He took a deep breath and continued. "Now, I'm going to help you."

"Why?" Jake asked.

"Over the past few months, you've become my best friend. And friends help each other. But best friends fight together. And that's what we're going to do." Eli said. "We'll be okay."

Jake nodded, linking his pinky with Eli's just like he'd done months ago for the first time. There was something about Eli that made Jake feel like maybe, it would all be alright.