{tw: suicide, suicidal thoughts, mentions of self harm, mentions of physical and emotional abuse, suicide, death}
NOTE: THIS IS NOT MEANT TO ROMANTICIZE SUICIDE IN ANY WAY. I WROTE THIS WITH THE INTENTION TO SHOW HOW DIFFICULT IT IS TO TALK PEOPLE DOWN FROM A PLACE OF NO RETURN, AND THAT SOMETIMES PEOPLE DONT WANT TO BE SAVED. SUICIDE ISNT PRETTY. ITS MESSY AND PAINFUL FOR ALL PARTIES INVOLVED. AND ONE RANDOM STRANGER USUALLY ISNT ENOUGH TO STOP SOMEONE, BECAUSE THAT GLORIFIES FHE ISSUE AND MAKES IT SEEM LIKE IF YOU TRY TO KILL YOURSELF THE LOVE OF YOUR LIFE WILL SAVE YOU. THEY WONT. LIFE DOESNT WORK LIKE THAT.
Sorry if it sounded like I'm yelling, but I try really hard to not romanticize or lessen the realism of suicide, even though I'm sure I've done that before (cough, the desperate ones, cough.) If you're feeling suicidal or like there's no way out, call a suicide hotline or speak to someone who will listen. And if all else fails just stay alive. This has been my PSA
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They say life is about the impact you make on the world. In Tyler's case, it was the crack in the concrete below him hat he was about to make.
The trafficked sidewalk below him didn't seem like the appropriate spot to jump, given Broadway Theatre was right across the street. Most of those people probably had enough on their place and didn't need to see a man falling to his death today, but Tyler was so tired. If anything else, he always had a flair for the dramatic.
Just below his feet, several dozen feet down, Broadway Street moved with life, unaware of just what was about to happen. None of them knew that in a few seconds- or minutes, depending on how fast it took for him to work up he courage- they would watch someone reach Broadway in a different way.
The view from the top of the Gensler building would be breathtaking on a good day, which were scarce for Tyler lately. He'd like to consider his last day alive a good one, perspectively of course.
Tyler wasn't high, compared to other buildings, but he was high enough that he could see where magenta met metal on the skyline. Orange and pink color reflected off of the buildings, splashes of blue and purple melting into the heavy smog that clung like a fog in the atmosphere. The sunset cut through the darkness that encompassed the city.
Even with the beautiful view in front of him, he knew it wouldn't last long. Eventually, the empty blackness of midnight would return, and with midnight came those thoughts.
Tyler wasn't high, compared to other buildings, but he was high enough.
His shoes sat beside him, a weird Japanese tradition he found online. He didn't know why he had the impulse to do it, but he did. It just felt... right. Like taking off his shoes as neatly as he did was a last act of normalcy for him, before he took the literal final plunge.
"Don't."
Tyler groaned internally, not bothering to look at whoever was standing behind him. People in New York had a habit of showing up at the wrong place, wrong time. "Leave me alone, you fucking pedestrian. There's nothing to see here."
"I won't leave until I know you won't jump."
"Well, then I hope you enjoy the view of my body on the concrete below, because there's no way I'm walking away alive." He could see someone walking up to him from his peripheral, so he turned his head just enough to look at the stranger.
It was a boy no older than eighteen, with bright green curly hair and dark, hooded eyes that were hidden by thin, wiry frame glasses. Even though it was the middle of June, he wore jeans and a sweatshirt of a band Tyler had never heard of. Even from the considerable distance, he could see the gauges in his ears and the piercing on his nose.
