WATER [AVI KAPLAN]

one; second chance

Would you stay, then push me away
I just can't return anymore
Timid heart, hide my scars
Make me stronger
Water | Pentatonix

This had all started because Mom said she would go buy Axel's birthday present herself.

I was standing here, on Whitmore Bridge, looking down into the dark waters below because Mom said she would go buy the fucking birthday present herself.

My life had unraveled and I was put out onto the streets because the rest of my family blamed me.

That was almost a year and a half ago. I'd been without a home for so long.

I was standing here, in the snow, in the dead of winter, because my mother hadn't noticed the light change to red. I was standing here, about to drop into the glacial river below, because my mother's car went up in flames and she was killed on impact. Because of me.

"G-goddammit...j-just do it alr-ready...." I hissed through my teeth, hot tears freezing on my face as they clawed their way out of my eyes. My hands that gripped the rails of the bridge shook, knuckles white as the bitter cold nipped at them mercilessly.

I took a deep breath in, closing my eyes and tilting forward slightly, my grip loosening on the railing. I was too far lost in my mind to hear the drumming of running footsteps, too far gone to hear the deep shout of "No!" behind me.

My hands left the railing, and my small body was suspended in midair before a large, warm hand closed around my wrist, stopping my pell-mell flight into the water.

A gasp left my lips, my eyes wide as I looked up into the face of the person who held me above the river. His striking green eyes burned with concern as he stared into mine, and I hung enraptured in his gaze for a moment before I registered that his lips were moving.

"Don't let go!" He was saying. "I've got you!"
Suddenly life flowed back into my dead hands and I reached up to grasp his arm as he hauled my body up and over the railing. The momentum of his pull sent me tumbling over and into his arms, him stumbling backwards as he caught me.

The realization of what I had just tried to do hit me like a train and I crumpled, a fresh torrent of tears spilling over as I let out a forlorn, wrenching, hopeless sob. I gripped his jacket weakly as he held me to his chest, stroking my hair and speaking in soft, vibrating tones to me that I could barely hear.

"I'm sorry," I wept, "I'm sorry, I don't want to die, I don't want to die, I don't want to die..."

My skin had gone numb under the glacial air, snow sticking to my eyelashes, and my body shook uncontrollably with shivers. The man noticed this and hurriedly took off his jacket, wrapping me in it securely as I snivelled miserably.

"Come on, sweetheart, it's okay, I gotcha, we just gotta get you outta this cold, alright?" He said, gently leading me along, and when I stumbled, swept me up into his arms like I weighed nothing. "My name is Avi, I promise I won't hurt you. It's alright."

I couldn't speak, and I wasn't sure if it was because of the bitter sobs or the raw emotional exhaustion that now crushed in from all sides like lead weights. He walked swiftly through the snow, head down against the wind.

My head rested against his collarbone, my right hand wound into his black long sleeved shirt. I couldn't tell how long it took, but we arrived in front of a rather fancy looking car parked by the park's entrance. Avi unlocked it and somehow finessed the passenger side door open, gently setting me inside.