Programming Errors

Come Home

A/N This one is more than mildly inspired by Fall Out Boy's Jet Pack Blues, as well as the video above, which uses that song as a base. I did not create the video, nor did I make the song. Please don't read this story or watch the video if you are sensitive to mentions of suicide or self-harm.

I run through the woods, staring blankly at the ground, deaf to the rain falling around me. I follow the near-nonexistent path I know she would've followed, too afraid of getting lost to leave the path. I stumble into a clearing and raise my head, searching frantically for any sign of her. 

My gaze falls upon a figure standing at the far edge of the clearing, their long black coat and dark jeans blending nearly perfectly into the darkening forest. She's leaning against a towering tree with a thick trunk. She raises a hand, reaching for me with a scarred arm. She starts to smile ever so slightly, words hovering on the edge of her lips. I rush to her side, somehow able to move. I pull her body close to mine, hearing her final exhale. 

I love you.

I feel her body go limp, and I hear a light thud. I glance down, and what I see makes my stomach lurch.

A wide-mouthed plastic bottle lays on the ground, open, beside a crumpled piece of paper that reads I was terrified. I've always been terrified. I still am. My voice catches in my throat, and I feel my chest shake as I take in a shuddering breath. I crouch down and lay her on the ground, watching as the mud stains her clothes. 

I stand up again and take a step back, but my legs buckle beneath me. I fall to the ground, landing on my hands and knees. Sobs wrack my body, and tears flow down my face, tapering at my chin and falling to the earth. I try to speak, but I can only choke out a few words as the rain starts to fall harder.

Come home... Baby, come home...