.:one:.

This is crazy.

"H-hey! What do you think you're doing?"

This is messed up.

"Stop!"

He was running, so I followed for laughs. He left the door hanging open behind him. But when I stepped through, what I saw—

"FENTON!"

I have never moved my legs faster in my entire life—not during all those practices with the coach bellowing in my ears to try harder, not at the key moment in the final play of the most important football game of the year, not when the college recruiter came and offered my only chance at a future that doesn't involve flipping burgers. I fly forward, trying to bend those stupid laws of physics that I never really understood anyway. My fist closes around a handful of t-shirt an instant before one skinny teenager can launch himself from the roof.

"Wha—Dash?"

Why did it have to be me up here? Why couldn't someone else have seen him first? Why am I the one saving Fenton from suicide?

I yank him backwards, away from the edge. He stumbles and crashes into me, bouncing off my chest. Even before he regains his balance, my mouth flaps open and frantic babble pours out.

"You don't want to do this, Fenton, there are better options, you can get help, there are people who care about you, you don't want to throw your life away…"

I don't even know what I'm saying. I'm just spouting off the first words that come to me— all that crap that shrinks and stuff spew at times like this. It's a load of bull, and I know it; the words are meaningless coming from me. What can I say? I'm Fenton's enemy, not his fucking guardian angel. What kind of screwed up world sends a bully to save someone? That's a job for a hero, not, not—not Dash Baxter.

And just what made Fenton decide to hurl himself off a roof anyway? Is he trying to prove a point? Has he cracked from stress? Is it his crazy family, his weird relationship with his freakish not-quite-girlfriend, something about school—

Oh.

Oh god.

This isn't—this isn't my fault, is it? He hasn't—I mean, I've heard that people do, sometimes. Break, I mean. Because of...of...bullying. I mean, I never really thought about it before, but, I never meant—oh god, could I really have pushed him over the edge? No, no, that can't be—Fenton's too tough for that. With that smart-ass mouth of his, and those bored eyes, and that scowl; he's weak, but not mentally, y'know? He's too, too defiant to break. The idea's just—wrong. God, I feel sick. I never thought—

"...You...you can't…" I only now notice that my mouth has been yammering this entire time, and I suddenly run out of things to say. My jaw hangs uselessly, and my throat goes all dry and funny and makes a weird croaking sound before I lose my voice entirely.

Now that I've shut up, I finally realize that Fenton's been trying to talk, too, trying to get my attention.

"C'mon, Dash, lemme go, this isn't what you think—"

But I'm too wound up to listen. "Not what I think? Not what I think?" I guess I shouldn't be yelling at someone who's already unhinged enough to, to—but I can't stop myself; I've got all this fear inside me and it keeps building and building, and I can't keep it all in because I'm not used to being afraid and it's messing up my thoughts and making me angry! "I saw you! You were about to jump off the roof!"

Fenton squirms in my grip. "I—well, yeah, but I—Look, Dash, I really don't have time for this! Please, just let me go!"

I see an all-too-realistic picture of blood splattered all over the school steps and Fenton lying there on the concrete, his skinny arms bent weirdly, bones poking out of his skin, his head cracked open like an egg, and want to throw up. I grab Fenton's shoulders in a death grip, making him wince. "No. No way." My voice is shaking. "I—I won't let you! I, I'm stronger than you, I can stop you!"

But now it's Fenton who isn't listening. He goes all stiff, staring into the distance past my ear. "Dash," he says, his voice strained. "Let me go. Now."

"I won't," I insist.

Fenton snaps his eyes to mine, and I automatically jerk back. I've never seen him look so intense. "Dash. I can't explain what's going on right now, but I swear—I swear—I am not going to kill myself. But I need you to let go of me—right now."

Where did all that authority packed into his voice come from? Is this really Fenton? Without warning, I'm hit by the feeling that I'm face to face with a stranger. Shocked, I loosen my grip, kinda wanting to back away. It's only for an instant—an instant—but Fenton manages to yank himself out of my grasp. Before I can react, he takes off running. Right for the edge. I don't even have time to suck in the air to shout after him.

He reaches the edge.

He leaps.

It's over. I'm too late.

I...have to see. I have to...know. But I don't want to. I can't...But my feet are already moving on their own, dragging me forward, one step, and another, and another...And with each step, why? Why did I do it? I...

I let go.

I'm here. I'm at the edge. All I have to do is look down. Just...look down, Dash. But I can't. I'm shaking all over. I'm not brave enough to bend my neck, just a little. Not brave enough to see with my eyes what's already flashing in my head…

Something shoots up past me from below; the wind yanks at my hair. My head snaps up, and I stare at the glowing figure of Danny Phantom. He freezes for just a moment and looks back at me. The expression on his face is weird, and the intensity of his eyes is creepily familiar. "He's fine," he says. And then he races away, and I catch a glimpse of some ghost he's chasing before they both disappear behind the school.

And for some reason, it's not hard to look down anymore. I lean over the edge of the roof a little, squint at the ground.

Nothing. There's nothing, no one there. No blood. No body. No panicking people, no ambulances and flashing lights.

"I swear—I swear—I am not going to kill myself."

This is crazy.

"I can't explain right now."

What is all of this? What's going on?

"He's fine."

I'm missing something here, something really important. I want to connect the dots, but my mind's gone blank.

Fenton…?

I'm not some guardian angel. I don't do things for free. I don't know what just happened, but I'm gonna get answers. Even if I can't beat them out of him.

Note: Slightly edited, mostly to reduce awkward cursing.