all at once the music stopped
the feeling went away
an ugly picture, me and you
but nothing I can change

She had no idea what she was doing there, but there she was. Just standing. Windswept platinum-blonde ringlets flying wildly about her head. Looking down into the compelling darkness with her scarlet, tear-stained face. The water was hypnotic. She had a million thoughts racing through her head, but somehow she couldn't think at all. Pulling at her gut - her very soul - was something she couldn't understand. Her life had been nothing but one disappointment after another – one heartache after another. Where did it go so wrong? How could it ever be right again? She only wanted something to make it matter.

Jake had driven all over town. He drove to any place that she might possibly have taken Jenny. He decided to drive to the next town. Nikki's parents lived there. They might have known something. He was terrified. He had lost his daughter, he had lost Peyton. Why did I do that to her? I'm a fucking idiot! I tore her apart. I love her, and I tore her apart. She doesn't deserve that - I know that she loves Jenny. I just…I wish that I could just take it all back. There has to be something I can do to fix it – to fix all of it. The more he drove, the more he thought, and the angrier he became. The more frightened he became. He was gripping the steering wheel so tightly that his hands had grown numb. As he was driving up to the bridge to leave town, he noticed a car pulled off to the side. Peyton's car. Door open, music blaring, headlights turned on. He saw her standing by the railing. She looked like she was in a trance – just staring down into the water. What is she doing?

She pulled herself up so that she was standing on the wet railing, balancing herself against the rough winds. It had started raining again, but it didn't wash anything away. She wanted it to wash the entire day away. He left. He left just like everyone else. And it's all my fault. That's the way her whole life had been. The highs just made the lows so much lower. She couldn't bear to try again…try to go back and make it through that nightmare. There's nothing I can change.

He pulled his car off to the side, just behind Peyton's. His heart was pounding, his mind was racing. No, she's not doing this. She wouldn't do it. He jumped out of his car as quickly as he could and started running toward that broken figure ahead of him.

"PEYTON!"

She didn't hear him. She couldn't hear anything anymore. She couldn't feel anything anymore. It was all numb. She closed her eyes, swallowed, and let herself fall.

To be continued…