Dennis had brought a bag of Kat's weapons to the Bootsville Bridge, planning on tossing it into the river below. After he threw the bag over the bridge to get rid of it, he was startled at seeing Phoebe sitting near the edge of the bridge. " PHOEBE?! " She gasped sharply in surprise at hearing his voice, but didn't turn around to face him. " What on Earth are you doing at the Bootsville BRIDGE?! " he asked in bewilderment.
She didn't answer. Confused, he walked up beside her in curiousity, and gasped at seeing that tears were rolling down Phoebe's face. " What's WRONG?! "
Humiliated, Phoebe covered her eyes with her hands as Dennis sat down beside her. Pushed to the breaking point from the embarrassment, she tried to make as little noise as possible, trying to preserve what was left of her dignity, as she broke down sobbing in front of him. She didn't want to tell him why she was so upset in the first place, because not only would it take far too long, but she didn't want to make him think she was a crybaby trying to get sympathy.
Dennis didn't want to be too close to Phoebe, but he knew that he'd feel extremely guilty about just leaving her all alone when she was so upset. " Go away... " Phoebe said sadly with a catch in her throat. She was surprised when Dennis put his hand on her shoulder. " No way! I CAN'T leave you here all alone! "
It came as a pleasant surprise to her that Dennis was actually going to comfort her. She still felt wary about showing her appreciation for it, though, since she didn't want him to think she was getting a crush on him and leave. " I'm not gonna leave you here like this. I wanna comfort you... You don't have to tell me what's wrong until you're ready... I'm sure you've got a really good reason for being upset, so I'm not judging you. I just wanna help... " he said quietly, hoping she wouldn't think he was judging her.
Now Phoebe knew that he wouldn't leave until she stopped crying. Her hands were covering her eyes, desperately trying to hide a secret that was already out in the open. Even if she wasn't trying to hide her eyes, they were so full of tears that they were temporarily blind. There was no way out. She couldn't bring herself to force him to leave her side, because while she wanted to be alone out of shame, she also wanted someone to comfort her and show that he cared about her. It was very kind of Dennis to do that, so she couldn't be ungrateful and shoo him away, just so she didn't have to be vulnerable in front of someone.
She wanted to say something to him, anything, to break the ongoing silence. But she couldn't speak to him without her voice sounding choked up, and she didn't want to risk sounding pathetic. But she didn't want him to stay there, not knowing what was bothering her and how he could help. It must have been making him feel awful. He made it clear that he would not leave her side until she cheered up.
Dennis said nervously, " Phoebe, you have to get away from the edge! If you're not careful, you'll fall off the bridge! " Phoebe's legs were dangling over the edge as he said that. Feeling like she had no choice, she reluctantly backed away from the edge, still sitting down close to it on the bridge. " I don't want you to fall!... I don't want anything to happen to you... " As she wiped away her tears, Phoebe was amazed that he was actually saying that to her. She found it a little hard to believe, because she felt that it was too good to be true.
After a moment of awkward hesitation, Dennis cautiously put his arm around her to comfort her, deciding that it didn't matter that he wasn't completely comfortable with it, because he knew it was the right thing to do. " I'd never want anything to happen to you, " he clarified, hoping he was making her feel better.
" YES, YOU DO! " Phoebe said with her voice choked up, still crying beside him. Dennis gasped, shocked at what she said. " No, I don't! That would be awful!... Why would you ever think I wanted that? " Dennis asked sadly.
Phoebe was previously so stressed out that she could only breathe in by gasping, so she had to force herself to calm down. One negative thought could ruin it, so she had to clear her mind, because there were lots of them. At last, she began to speak, with a choked up voice, trying to hide how nervous she was about being honest with him.
" Admit it, Dennis, you hate me. Everyone HATES me! There's... " She gasped again before continuing with a catch in her throat, " There's no reason I should think that I wouldn't make your life better if I left it... I'm... " She sniffled and whimpered, " I'm nothing but a PEST! " before breaking down completely. She was trying her hardest to make as little noise as possible. Phoebe couldn't be more humiliated. Dennis was one of the last people she'd ever want to see her like that.
Knowing he definitely couldn't leave her side now, Dennis felt extremely sorry for her, shocked that she thought so little of herself. " That's not TRUE! If you died, I'd be DEVASTATED! EVERYONE would! " He realized that Phoebe had an extremely low opinion of herself, and felt terrible. He wondered if Coop was responsible for her low self-esteem, or if she was like that all along.
Wanting her to stop crying as soon as possible, Dennis reluctantly gave her a hug, and allowed her to cry into his shoulder for several minutes. He forced back his own tears from his pity of her, and tried his best to make her feel better. He felt very uncomfortable with holding Phoebe at first, but his discomfort was greatly overshadowed by his pity for her, so eventually he stopped minding entirely.
Eventually, Phoebe started speaking to him again, sounding quiet and ashamed. " It's not your fault... I'm sorry... I'm sorry for all the grief I caused you and him... I, I just want to make him happy but I'm just so annoying and unlikeable that every time I try to be nice, he... " She exclaimed while angry with herself, " It's all my fault! I feel like I deserve to be allowed to help him!... " She sadly whispered, " I deserve nothing... " Feeling miserable, she wiped away her tears as Dennis tried to figure out what she meant, and continued, " I just wanna be useful... That's all I need, to be useful... But I can't be useful, because nobody wants me to be near them and so nobody will appreciate my help... All I want is to matter, and have a purpose in life, and I'll do anything for that privilege... You have no idea how awful it feels when every single time you compare yourself to Coop, you feel worthless! "
She gasped as more tears streamed down her face. She slowly took her hands off her eyes, sighed deeply, and said quietly, " Please don't hate me... " Dennis was shocked to hear her say that. She said with an ashamed tone, " I'm not trying to make you feel sorry for me and get something from it like a spoiled brat. Crying in front of you is the last thing I'd want to happen to me... I just break down sometimes... It's just so stressful... It's not worth it, Dennis. Nothing is worth being a burden on everyone's lives. "
Phoebe sighed, and said quietly, " Thank you for trying to comfort me instead of leaving me here. It means a lot that someone who hates everything about me would be so kind and compassionate to me... "
Dennis finally thought of something to say. " Phoebe, I don't hate you!... I know that we've never been FRIENDS, but I still CARE about you! I still care about your feelings and value your LIFE! And I'm SORRY I made you think that wasn't true... You're NOT my enemy, I PROMISE! "
" I'm, I'm NOT? " Phoebe said in confusion with a broken voice. She couldn't understand why he wouldn't hate her. After all the trouble she caused his best friend, she couldn't imagine him not thinking of her as a nuisance, and she couldn't imagine that anyone could be annoyed by her without hating her. Dennis reassured her, " Of course not. If you were, I wouldn't be trying to comfort you. "
She was incredibly relieved to hear that despite everything, Dennis didn't hate her. It felt like a huge weight had been taken off her shoulders. She realized just how lucky she was that he didn't leave her all alone. She hoped that if he didn't hate her, it meant that Coop didn't, either, even though her conscience was telling her it was just wishful thinking. Phoebe wiped away more of her tears, and said to him quietly, " Thank you... "
" You're welcome, " Dennis said, appreciating the fact that she had thanked him. " Don't be so hard on yourself. You're better than you think you are. " He finally stopped holding her, and Phoebe smiled nervously. After a brief silence, he asked, " So are you feeling better? " Phoebe nodded, and wiped away her last tears. She said with a nervous smile, " Coop must be really LUCKY... " Dennis asked, " Why? "
Phoebe replied, " Because, you're a good friend, " and smiled warmly at Dennis, hoping that he'd appreciate the compliment. Fortunately for her, he smiled in response, instead of getting nervous and uncomfortable like she had feared. " ...I think I'm ready to go home now, " she said calmly, no longer feeling miserable. " Want me to come with you? " Dennis asked nonchalantly. Phoebe looked at him in surprise, wondering if he realized that he just offered to walk her home. After a brief silence, she shrugged and said with a smile, " Sure, " allowing him to accompany her on the way home. " There's just one thing I don't get, " Dennis said as they walked away from the bridge.
" If you wanted to be alone, why did you come to the BRIDGE? Why didn't you just stay in your ROOM or something? " Relieved that he didn't figure out why she had come to the bridge in the first place, Phoebe lied, " I dunno. It was, the closest place... for... It doesn't matter, " and Dennis shrugged it off, ending the conversation.