The voice had stopped Phoebe dead in her tracks. She could recognize it even miles away, and while the familiar sound had always inspired trust and comfort, tonight it had made her her skin crawl and her heart skip a beat. She knew the sight that awaited once she turned around, and for a few seconds, Phoebe just stood there looking at the sky, not daring to move. Once she did, she instantly regretted having turned her gaze away from the darkness.

No, please, not now, not when she was about to be free, when she was about to finally find peace.

Behind her, close to the entrance, stood the five most important people in her life. They were looking at her through the faint lamp light, eyes wide, their faces drained from color. She had not heard the door open.

"Pheebs" Joey repeated in almost a whisper, his voice trembling more than ever. She stared at them blankly, trying to find the right words, but they never came. She wanted to yell at them, she wanted to scream and rip everything apart because somehow she was always stopped before she could reach happiness, before she found tranquility. If it weren't for them, she would no longer be in pain by now.

And so there they stood for five endless minutes, no one daring to move or speak, no one wanting to face the reality of the situation. It was Rachel who finally broke the silence.

"What are you doing at the edge?" she had asked, but they already knew the answer. The group had arrived just in time to see the blonde begin to stretch out her leg in front of her. Their friend was moving in a manner too slow and steady for someone who was a step away from falling to their death, and not to mention that instead of getting herself to safety, she was inching closer to the border. As bizarre and idiotic as it sounds, it took the five of them a moment to realize what she was about to do. That was Phoebe, gleeful, untroubled, radiant Phoebe. What the hell was she doing there? Did she not realize she was awfully close to falling? There had to be a logical explanation. But then, looks were shared and unspoken words were exchanged. And then they all knew. Phoebe, their Phoebe, had gone up to the rooftop to end her life.

And now here they were, bewildered, waiting for their friend to say something, anything.

"Why are you here?" she finally spoke, her voice cold and low. The rest were all taken aback; they had never heard such an unwelcoming and distant tone come out of Phoebe's mouth.

"We were worried," began Monica, fighting to keep her voice steady, "We hadn't heard from you in the whole day so we asked around if anyone had seen you. Mr. Treeger told us he bumped into you in the last floor as you headed up the stairs," she explained, taking control of the situation, "We just wanted to make sure you're okay."

"Well i'm fine. You can go now." Phoebe stated with a lost gaze. She was growing impatient by now. She had come up here to do one thing, one last thing, and she couldn't wait any longer.

Her friends stared at her incredulously. In front of them stood a woman they did not recognize. Phoebe's usual gleaming smile was nowhere to be seen and her always warm and friendly expression now seemed drained from emotion. They didn't know what to do, but one thing was clear: there was no way they'd let their friend do this.

"Pheebs," Chandler, who for the first time in his life had been left speechless, finally found the courage to say something, "Why don't you move away from the edge and come talk to us?" he had spoken very slowly, careful to choose the right words. He couldn't risk saying the wrong thing and losing her forever.

"There's nothing to say," she answered, not moving from her spot.

"Yes there is," said Ross, "don't you think we deserve an explanation?" he hadn't meant to sound harsh, but he was incapable of thinking rationally at that moment.

Phoebe had to admit Ross was right. Her friends did deserve some kind of explanation. She knew that if she were in their place, and she came across one of the other five about to jump off a building, she'd be confused and scared as hell, especially if that person was the optimist of the group. If she were one of them, she'd definitely want answers. But what could she possibly say? They had no idea of what she'd been through, and Phoebe was sure that if she ever told them they wouldn't look at her the same, they would never understand.

"Pheebs," Joey, who could tell she wouldn't be speaking anytime soon, knew they had to try harder, "please come over to us, please. I need you. We all do," he pleaded. He didn't know what he'd do if anything happened to Phoebe, and he would never forgive himself if they weren't able to save her.

Phoebe's heart throbbed once she noticed Joey's eyes fill with tears. There was no way she could do this to them, at least not now. She cared too much about her friends to watch them suffer, especially knowing it was her fault. Finally, the blonde stepped away from the border and walked towards the group, causing the other five to let out sighs of relief. They could now keep her out of danger.

Phoebe stood there in silence as the others stared at her in concern.

"Honey come on, talk to us," said Monica.

"I can't," she replied.

"Pheebs it's us, you can tell us anything."

"You wouldn't understand," said the blonde, looking away.

Monica, Rachel, Chandler, Joey and Ross were perplexed. What the hell had Phoebe gone through that made her wanna do this?

"What's so bad you can't tell us, sweetie?" Rachel asked carefully.

Phoebe's lip trembled. She couldn't bring herself to say it, say all of it. All she wanted was to sleep and never wake up, never have to face her emotions, never have to remember again.

"Why do you want to do this?" Rachel's small and gentle voice asked.

"It hurts too much," she finally said, her voice breaking, "Everything hurts. I can't do it anymore," and before she could stop herself, sobs began escaping her mouth and tears filled her eyes. Phoebe dropped to the ground and covered her mouth with her hands, unsuccessfully trying to quiet down her heartwrenching cries. It wasn't long until she felt five pairs of arms around her. Her friends embraced her as she sobbed uncontrollably. They held her tight, as if trying to keep her broken pieces together, some even cried with her. They stroke her hair and kissed her head, giving her as much time as she needed. Eventually, after quite a long time, Phoebe's eyes ran out of tears and she was left choking out dry sobs.

"What happened to you Pheebs?" asked Chandler after minutes of silence. They had let her cry, but now it was her turn to speak. They couldn't just forget about tonight and move on, something was going on and they were gonna get to the bottom of it.

"It's a long story," admitted the blonde in a hoarse voice.

"We've got all night."