It had been a week.

A week of barely limping through her classes (or at least the ones she actually managed to make it to). Piper was miserable.

Some days, it felt like the only thing she managed to do was to breathe. Everything else was falling apart. She was angry, at her anxiety and her inability to do anything without freaking out and making herself sick. So really, at yourself, she thought, bitterly.

It was midnight. She'd awakened, feeling nervous for no reason. There was never a reason. It seemed beyond her ability to comprehend. It was a general feeling of uneasiness gone out of control.

She got out of bed and paced the confines of her small apartment bedroom a few times, before growing frustrated. She felt trapped. She felt powerless.

She pulled her jumper on over her pajamas and shoved her feet into her boots, grabbing her keys and leaving the apartment.

Once outside, she breathed in the chilly, damp air, pushing her legs into a reluctant jog, ignoring the burning. She pumped her arms harder. She let her anger come out in sobs. "I'm done!" she shouted, down the empty street. "I'm done, and I can't do this any longer, alright? Something has to change!"

She finally came to a stop, bending down, hands on her knees as she took huge gulps of air. Her tears were drying now, sticking to her face.

She sniffed and stood up, her legs cramping from the over-exertion. She limped to the park, crossing the grass and reaching the lake.

Have you had enough? she asked herself. Are you ready this time?

A small part of her whispered back. No. It was her own fear of dying. So, she supposed, it was Fear, making himself known to her once more.

She stood at the end of the dock, looking out across the smooth, flat water, the light of the lamps along the paths reflecting off the black surface like light off of glass.

She untied the boat from the dock and got in, shoving the oar against the dockpost so that the boat floated free.