I stared at him hard, shooting him an icy cold glare. "No."

Hurt danced in his eyes. "You don't trust me?"

He sounded really wounded, reminding me of an injured kitten or puppy. I almost wanted to reach out and grabbed his hand, when I realised the high risk of him betraying me. My heart hardened once more.

I scoffed in reply. "Why would I? I mean, why would I believe you, Gray Lopez, who lied and cheated so much to me? You kept on lying to me Gray, in case you didn't realise. Why are you the one feeling hurt? I am the one who should be feeling hurt here, not you. I didn't do anything hurtful to you, at all."

I could feel the thin metal bending under my weight. It obviously isn't able to support all my weight. It's just too much. Fear and panic started bubbling up inside of me so much, that I thought was about to have a panic attack.

"Come on Willow. Please. Just reach out and grab my hand. It can't possibly be that hard. Just grab it and I'll hoist you up."

"No," I shot back so coldly that I'm sure my voice can't get any colder.

"Why not?"

I sighed an exasperated sigh. Did he not get it? "The answer is simple enough. I don't trust you. I trusted you for too long already before this. You betrayed my trust each time. I don't want to be fooled once again. I've been fooled enough time in my whole life to know when someone is cheating or lying to me."

"Why don't you trust me?" he asked back, sounding desperate.

"Why should I?" I snapped. "Give me one very good and acceptable reason as to why I should trust you. Then maybe, just maybe, I'd consider trusting you."

As soon as I said that, I almost immediately regretted my words. I shouldn't have said that. Because it's pretty obvious why I should trust him. He could save me from my death. But I just refuse to trust him. I don't want to.

He betrayed me one too many times. He left me battered, torn and bruised each time, only to come back a day later and to pick me up, brush the dust off me and continue walking down the path with me again. But each time he leaves, I get more and more injured.

And I was bound to break down. Hey, a person can't be the strong guy forever. We all have emotions, and we deserve the right to show them. To follow our thoughts and instincts. To be who we want to be.

It's nearly impossible to turn a blind eye on Gray anymore. I've tried, each time ending very badly. Enough is enough. Gray has already reached the limit of my patience. I'm over boiling. It's time to do what I should've done a long time ago. When I first found him lying to me. Or rather, withholding the truth from little old me.

"Gray. Go away."

"But—"he tried to protest.

"Please," I replied, trying my best not to sound desperate. "I can't have you in my life anymore. You've hurt me too many times. I want to move on. But if you're in my life, I can't help but remember the past."

The metal bended yet again. Uh oh. I hope it doesn't break anytime soon.

My brain was screaming at me to accept his offer and to accept his hand so that I would be pulled up to safety. My arms were screaming in protest to get my body weight off it. It was starting to get numb and painful at the same time.

The urgency of my situation suddenly dawned me. Suddenly, it told me my fate. It reminded me of the inevitable. What I knew my fate was all along, but I somehow managed to deny it for so long, hoping that one day, I'd be able to move on with life. To find someone. To be happy once again.

I was dead to the world. Emotionally, I was dead. But physically I was still alive. But that's about to change. Soon, not only will I be emotionally dead, but I would be physically dead as well. Might as well say my final goodbyes now. There's only so much my arms can hold for so long. Not long from now, either my arms or the metal will give way.

"I can't leave you Willow. Not like this."

That voice. I almost forgot that he was there.

"Give me a good reason why you should stay. Then I might consider it."

"I—I—I—"

"See. You have no reason. You have nothing at all. Point proven."

"Willow. I may not have any reason for you to trust me but—I'm not blaming you if you don't believe or trust me. I deserve it. But please, just once more. Take my hand."

And come with me...

What are you saying brain? What do you mean 'come with me'? Even though I'm denying it, I know that those words – take my hand – means more than just that. It means that I'll give him another chance if I do grab hold of his hand.

But that's the point. I don't know if I should trust him. I don't know if I should give him another chance.

"No, I won't take it. I won't have anything to do with you anymore Gray. I won't anymore. For good."

The two of us knows that I say this for the two of us. There won't be any more Willow Rayne to love him like I did before. That's it. Done. With him. With us. With life.

But I don't want to die. I'm not ready to die. I have too many things to do. Too many things that I have not done in life. Too many things that I have yet to do. I let a tear escape my eye. It trickled down my cheek and off my face, into an endless infinity. It probably wouldn't even reach the ground. It'd be long gone by then.

The metal is really, really bent by now. It's going to break at any time now. It won't sustain my weight for much longer. If only the metal were thicker. If only my arm was not this numb. If only I wasn't this terrified. I'd probably be able to pull myself up.

If only... Those are the only two words I have left, don't I? There's nothing else in my life anymore right? It's just impossible. Everything else seems impossible to me now. There's nothing else I can do now except wonder.

What would have happened if only...

Isn't it just humorous? I, Willow Rayne, is hanging onto the edge of the building, clinging onto dear life. Literally. I'm literally clinging onto my dear life. If I let go, my life literally slipped through my fingers and out of reach.

I would never survive this fall.

"Willow Annabelle Rayne. Please just hold onto my hand. Just take it. Please. I won't be able to bear it if you died."

"What does it matter?" I reply, trying to say that in a bored tone. "Why should it matter? Because that's the point; it doesn't. You're just saying that to try and trick me, to try and make me feel better in the dying state I am already in.

"I trusted you with my life Gray. I loved you with my whole life. You were my only spark in my dull life. You made me happy. You made me a joyful person. You changed me. You helped me rebuild my broken life, bit by bit. You were there all the way.

"Why must you go away now? Why? Why now? When I need you the most? When I am facing all these? Why now?" I shook my head in disgust. "I thought I knew you. But apparently, I don't. Even now, you're still trying to lie to me."

"Please Willow." The desperation in his voice is very strong now. I am almost convinced. I could've sworn that I heard a tint of genuineness in his voice of his. "Please."

"No," I hissed back.

He didn't seem to know what to say back, because he remained silent after that. Once again, a thousand questions began to cross my mind. All sorts of thoughts. But they all mainly revolve around what would happen if I believed Gray and if I grabbed it.

He would betray you.

How could I possibly bring myself to trust him? The answer is simple. I can't.

I can bet that he's now silently plotting what he should do to me now that I don't want to take his hand so that he can just drop me into this... 'Abyss'... There's no doubt about that.

But... What if he actually means what he says? What if, by seeing me in this situation of mine, actually changed his mind about all this? In that complicated mind of his. I will never be able to understand him, no matter how hard I tried.

Do not trust him.

I feel as if my instincts are trying to tell me something important. Like it's trying to warn me about something that is very crucial in my life. That would change my whole life. That would determine life and death.

He's not to be trusted.

Is it too late to accept that offer of his now? I feel that I should. Might as well try my luck right? I might actually live rather than fall and die. And even if he betrays me, well, I'm having the same fate right here by holding onto this metal.

The metal!

Oh no. I can feel it about to break under my weight. I'm not going to... Oh no. I don't want to die. I don't want to die.

"Willow, you won't die. If only you would grab my hand..."

I felt so naked all of a sudden. I felt as if Gray was reading my thoughts. But there are other much more important things to think about than about Gray's supposed 'mind reading' powers.

I scoffed. "Yeah right. I'm pretty sure my fate would be the same whether or not I grab onto that hand of yours."

Concern seem to wash over his face. He looked genuine enough that I almost fall for it, if only my instincts hadn't snapped me out of my daze.

It's not true!

My arms are getting really, really, really numb by now. I can feel my fingers slipping off the metal strip. All feelings and sensations in my arm wore off with the pain of it trying to hold my weight. That's what my legs are supposed to do, not the arms.

"Just... Please..."

"How many times do I have to say it? No!"

I was shouting by now. I'm pretty sure the whole world could hear me at the rate I was shouting, but I didn't care. I want the world to know that Gray Lopez should not be trusted, should never be trusted.

"Oh for goodness sake Willow!"

Silence.

"You know what? If you don't grab hold of my hand, I'll jump down with you."

Ok, that is not taking it way too far. It's just plain stupidity. I can hardly believe him, but a small part of me thinks that he might be telling the truth.

"I can hardly believe you."

And just then, the metal strip gave way, but surprisingly – even to myself – I didn't scream.

"Willow!" I heard Gray yell from above.

And as if by instinct, my hands flailed above my hand and grabbed Gray's hand, and he pulled me up, saving me from death's arm.