One night, he went back to the wall. He sat and cried, and watched for the stars to shift.

Each day after class, Colin would go to the cafe to sit and do his homework. He’d order the same thing every time; large iced coffee and a ham sandwich.

A boy would always pass by the window, wave and smile at him, and continue moving. At first, he was confused and slightly weirded out. Who was this guy? But as time went by and all he did was wave, Colin slowly grew accustomed to it and began to wave back. The first day he smiled and waved back, the guy looked so happy. He paused for a moment, as if to come in, but then kept moving.

This continued for months. Colin started staying at the cafe even after he’d finished his homework in hopes of seeing him another time. Every day, they would wave at each other. He would pass by at 1:30, and Colin started setting a timer to remind him to look up and wave. After a while, he didn’t need the reminder.

One day close to May, he didn’t come. Colin waited until it grew dark, but the boy didn’t pass by. Just as he was gathering up his stuff, he noticed a figure walking fast in the dusk. It was him. Colin waved, but he didn’t seem to notice. If anything, he walked faster. Colin was confused, and maybe even a little hurt. But then he noticed the expression on the boy’s face. It made him drop everything and sprint out of the cafe.

“Wait!” Colin shouted desperately, calling after him. The boy looked over his shoulder and broke into a run. Colin was not an athletic kind of guy. He preferred sitting and reading. But he kept pace, and the boy didn’t lose him as they ran through the streets of the college town.

A fence. The boy took it in stride, or tried to. He stumbled a bit, but kept running. Colin had a bit more trouble, and it caused him to fall a little farther behind. But he knew this area of town, and he knew what was in this direction. He tried to run faster.

The boy was at the bridge now. He climbed the wall, but it was tall and slowed him down a bit. Colin caught up. “Wait…!” he gasped, starting to climb after him. The boy reached the top and paused for a moment, staring down. It was just enough time for Colin to catch up and grab him. He tried to break free, but Colin held firm. “Please don’t do this…” Colin whispered.

“...what do you care?” asked the boy quietly. “Why do you care?”

He was taken aback. “Because… because I…”

“You don’t even know, do you…” he spat in a defeated tone. “You don’t know me.”

“I want to know you. I’ve seen you every day for the entire school year, and I’ve wanted to get to know you.”

The boy looked away. “I’m Fletcher,” he whispered.

“What?”

“That’s my name. Fletcher.”

“Oh... I’m Colin.” He let down his guard momentarily, and Fletcher slipped free. “Wait!”

Surprisingly, Fletcher stopped. He didn’t turn around, but he did stop. There, on the top of a wall, staring down towards the abyss, he began to talk. Colin listened. “I have an illness, a disease. My life expectancy is 25 or 30. I’m 20… I want to control this. I want to look life and this illness in the eye and say ‘no’. I’m sick of living under this specter.” He stopped, sighed, and sat down. “But now that I’m really here… it’s harder than I thought it would be.”

Tentatively Colin reached for his hand. Fletcher flinched when he felt the contact, but didn’t get up. They sat in silence for a bit, then Colin pointed towards the sky. “In Greek mythology…” he began, then paused.

Fletcher turned slightly towards him and looked warily at the stars.

“In Greek mythology,” Colin started again, “when someone died a notable death, their soul was placed among the stars.” He took a deep breath. “I can’t stop you, okay? I know I can’t. I can’t be with you every minute of every hour of every day to keep you here. If you want to go, there’s nothing I can do.”

Fletcher looked fully at him. “Then why follow me?” he asked. “Why not just let me jump?”

“Because I want to give you reasons to stay. Reasons to want to live. And if, after a year or two or even five, if you want to go, then I will let you go. But let me at least give you a significant death.” Colin looked Fletcher in the eye. “Let me show you what life is before you choose death.”

Fletcher paused for what seemed like an eternity. “And if I go now?”

“I’ll miss you. Here and in the constellations. I want to look up and see you there.”

He nodded once, slowly, and Colin relaxed. “Thank you.” No more was said. Nothing more needed to be said. In the dim moonlight, with the sound of the cars passing beneath them, they watched the stars.