A/N: Wow, time's flying! 12 fics left!

I went to some chicks house last night, and a little kid came and stole my watch. :\ I hate children.

No, I love children.

No, I hate them.

I like fireworks.

I DONT EVEN LIKE ONESHOTS WHY DO I KEEP WRITING THEM


BREATHE.


So, this is how it ends, huh?

Harness your heart, and be still now.

Lived a sinner, die a sinner? There's a saying that would fit this situation perfectly right now.. Sadly, I can't remember what it is. I'm more focused on not dying, but I think the effort's futile.

I guess if I had known she'd been hurting because of me, I would have said sorry. But I can't now, and we both had to pay.

I can't because there's a steady stream of blood running from my mouth and a bullet in my lower cheek.

I can feel the havoc rising in the school, people screaming our names. I realise that they're chanting mine more than hers.. Even if it's in my favor, that's not fair. I try to get up and fall down with a gasp as I hear something break.

There go my ribs.

Tori.. she's screaming something in my ear. I'm not bothered to listen, I just want to die in peace. But as she gets closer to my ear, I'm forced to hear what she's saying.

Quiet that mind that will wander,

"Stay with me, Beck. I'm so sorry this happened.. I don't think she meant to. I really don't. Stay awake, Beck." I feel a kiss pressed to my lips and I would have flinched, had I any energy at the moment.

"Please." I hear her whisper with a cracked voice, and then like that, she was gone. I didn't see her go, of course, but I felt the air beside me become empty and cold.

No, don't leave..

All sorts of dark alleys.

. . .

You were happily walking to her first class when, just as you pass the Janitor's closet, a pale hand shoots out and grabs you by the wrist, dragging you inside with brute force.

"Hey!" You squeak, dusting yourself off. "I have to go to my Special Effects cl..Jade? What's wrong?"

She looks at you and you can't tell what's wrong, but you know whatever it Is, it's very, very wrong, because she hasn't said anything yet. It's not a Jade-like thing to see you and.. not insult you, you know? You bite your lip and something flashes around her sleeve area. You hesitantly step forward, and she steps back in turn.

"Jade, why am I here?" You ask hesitantly, taking another step forward. She backs into a corner. You take two more steps forward- one more and your bodies would be touching.

Tragedy strikes your self-esteem,

"T..Tori.." She says, and you can't help but pity her. Poor thing, she must feel horrible if she brought the girl she hates into this. You take another step and you can feel your chests brushing. You gently grab her wrist and pull down the long jacket sleeve, revealing more words than in a dictionary sliced into her skin. You gasp as you see your own name in there, the word hate and Beck's name.

"Jade, did you.. did you break up with Beck again?" Jade nods her head and bites her lip, averting her gaze to the ground.

Constantly waiting for an ending,

"But that's not it." Jade says quietly.

"Then what's wrong?"

To all of this.

Jade hands you a small pill bottle. It says 'Paxil' on it.

"Jade, why do you have this?"

She opens her eyes.

"They diagnosed me with manic depression last week." She finally says. "I'm not crazy, Tori!" She cries, her voice breaking.

"I broke up with Beck because I don't want him to think I'm crazy!" She breaks down sobbing, burying her face in her hands.

Suddenly she cries.

Jade was crying.. it was serious, then. You pull her hair behind her ears and wait it out, thinking while you do so.

Jade was a little mean, yeah, but depression? It just didn't seem like a Jade thing. Why did she have it, and why was she only worsening her case by breaking up with Beck?

Can we help her?

"Jade, shh." You croon, petting her head delicately. "Shh, it's okay. It's okay. I'm sure he'd understand." Jade shakes her head violently.

"No! He wouldn't!" She screams, and you jump backwards as if she's on fire. "He used to have a brother, you know that?" No, you actually didn't know that.

Can we help her?

"What happened to him?" You ask quietly, but you're afraid to find out.

"He's in a mental ward for depression." She finishes, and you're honestly surprised. "They didn't even try to take care of him. They just dumped him with the government."

"How do you know?" You ask hesitantly.

"I saw some papers.." She says with finality, not wanting to describe anything in detail, you think.

And she replies,

"J-Jade." You begin slowly, and she looks at you with confusion and fear in her eyes. "You don't act depressed. How could you be depressed?"

She looks you straight in the eye, and what she says next shocks you to the core.

"I'm an actress, Tori. My.. my whole life is a show, and I'm the lead role. You guys are just the audience, and my job is to make you believe everything.." She gulps."Everything I do, and everything I say."

"I fake it so well, that God himself can't tell."

You sit there in stunned silence. So, basically, Jade's whole existence is a lie.

"But.. but why?"

What I mean, and why my words are less than parallel with my feet.

"I don't know what to do! I know Beck's going to be better off without my unstable ass," You don't even flinch at the profanity.

You ask me what I need, but all I really need..

"But I miss him! And I want him ba-" Jade gasps, and her eyes are on something behind you. You turn around to see Beck standing in the doorway with an irritated hand on his hip.

"So that's how it is, huh, Jade?" He says with malice. "Complain to Tori instead of tell me outright what's wrong?" He continues, and his lips are curling up with a snarl. "Well, I'm not getting back with you even if you threaten to kill me if I don't."

. . .

I honestly did not think she would bring a revolver to school the next day. I didn't think that she would shoot me when I said I was a man of my word, and it was even worse when she shot herself.

Now I realise that my idiocy is what landed us at the gates of God.

If I had just respected her and not flipped out like that, neither of us would be dying. If I had just given her her space and then talked to her after she calmed down, like a normal person, we wouldn't be in this situation.

I realise that her actions were justified now. Because instead of letting her breathe, I choked her. I choked her when she obviously wasn't ready to hold her breath. Next time, I need to remember to let her breathe.. or else this happens.

Is to breathe.


A/N: Yay, breathing! It's like, respiratory functions!