This Is Suicide

And so this is where I will sit, tying a rope to the tree where we consummated our love for each other, waiting for the right time to wrap it around my oh so delicate neck and jump. Hopefully it severs my vertebrae so I won't have to suffer. But oh wait... I already do. Everyday is hell for me and I know you enjoy my suffering. I see it behind your eyes. There's only lies and no truth. So what about me? What about you... Constantly hating and loathing, no caring or loving. Just... Hate.

By the time you listen to this, I'm bound to be dead, hanging from the tree. Our tree. What made our lives so different? Was it the fame and the money? Or was it the idea that you could get anyone you ever wanted? The idea that you were better than me had formed in your head. But look at where it got you. You're probably lying at home crying with a half empty bottle of vodka beside you, trying to get your low spirits high. Trying to bring me back. Hoping... But alas, look what you've done. I'm gone now. Forever and always yours my ass. You were always off again and on again with me. I'm tired of the heartache and the heart break. I needed you more than ever and you left me so you could do your dirty deeds.

And they call me the playboy. The party boy who is no more. Enjoying yourself now, darling? I'm not. The wind is blowing pretty hard. I'm watching the rope swing back and forth. There's still time, you know. You can still save me. I can still save you, you know. I know you need my help. Why else would I still be alive? I should be gone by now, but I hang on for you. Only you.

Remember, babe. I may fall, but our tree will stand forever.

Static washes the voice of the man on the phone out as a crash of thunder suddenly drowns him out entirely. An older gentleman, biting his lip, replays the message one last time as his car flies down the slick road, rain splattering his windshield. The message ends again as he approaches a large maple tree standing alone on a large hill. Lightning flashes and outlines a man standing below the tree. The older man climbs out of his car and runs up the hill, slipping on mud and wet grass as the water soaks his clothing. He calls out, but the wind and thunder drown out his voice. He calls out again, reaching out a hand, this time being heard. The man by the tree turns around, his face hidden in darkness. Running to meet the older man, he wraps him in his arms and holds him tight. He whispers in the older man's ear happily and with choked back tears. "You came..."

"Why wouldn't I?" Is the reply. The wind stops blowing and it stops raining suddenly, a full moon clearing the clouds away. "Why wouldn't I come save you?"

"You've broken me so many times, I thought you didn't care anymore." The two men broke their hug and stared into each other's eyes in the dim moonlight.

"Richard... I never stopped. I never stopped loving you."

"We were always on again and off again... I just... I'm sorry, Paul."

"Don't scare me ever again." The older man, Paul, is shorter than Richard, only by several inches. He pulls the man's head down and kisses his forehead gingerly, keeping his lips pressed to the moist skin.

"Love hurts, doesn't it?"

"Love does hurt, but this... This, Richard-"

He was cut off with the younger man's lips on his. He pulled away, a smirk on his lips. "This is suicide."