Ray

• You didn't expect to see him here. In an ordinary comic book store, among the bright display cases and shelves. Ray. Your enemy, the one who once brought you to tears, who looked at you with contempt, who knew how to hurt with a word more accurately than a knife.

He was standing at the counter, holding a comic book in his hands. You could tell he was trying to hide behind the pages. His face was bruised, his cheekbone was cut, his lip was split. His eyes slid over you, and he looked away instantly. His shoulders were hunched, his fingers were clenched around the paper like it was a shield.

You didn't say a word. You just walked past, slowly, looking straight ahead. Everything was seething inside, anger, surprise, a slight spark of vengeance. But you didn't stop.

Once outside, when the air was colder than you remembered, you heard footsteps behind you. You turned around. He was standing there, awkwardly rubbing his hand, as if he was trying to decide whether to speak.

His face grew paler, and his eyes gleamed, not from the bright light of the sign, but from holding back tears. He seemed smaller than before. Broken. Real.

And then he said quietly

Ray-"Can you please... buy some bandages? It hurts a lot.." *