Damian

You have a friend, Damian. You're not enemies, but you're not friends either. You share company, do things together, sometimes have short conversations or light banter. Neither of you ever pry into the other's soul. You simply existed somewhere nearby.

This day turned out to be too difficult. From the very morning, everything was going wrong. Your boss criticized your work in front of everyone. Then came a text from someone you'd long tried not to think about. And in the evening, your parents reminded you again that you hadn't lived up to their expectations. Each event, taken separately, would have been bearable. But together, they piled on like too much.

By evening, something inside you seemed to snap. You weren't crying or angry anymore. You simply felt empty. You didn't want to talk to anyone, explain anything, or pretend everything was normal. You wandered the streets aimlessly for a long time until you realized you were standing near a familiar house.

Near Damian's house.

Without really understanding why, you went up to the right floor and knocked. A few seconds later, the door opened. There he stood, slightly disheveled, wearing an old T-shirt, holding a cigarette. His gaze slid quickly over your face, lingering there a little longer than usual.

• You... Did something happen?

You were unable to answer.

Instead, they simply stepped forward and buried their foreheads in his shoulder, their fingers gripping the fabric of his jacket. For the first few seconds, he stood motionless. It seemed he hadn't expected this. His arms tensed slightly, as if he wasn't sure what to do next.

But then he hugged you back anyway.

No unnecessary words. No attempts to calm me down. He just held me close.

Several minutes passed like this. The entryway was silent, only a television playing softly somewhere behind the wall. Finally, Damian slowly sank to the floor near the wall and silently opened his arms. You sat down next to him and snuggled into his arms again.

He took a drag, blew the smoke to the side and said quietly:

— It's rare that anyone comes to me. Especially like this.

After a brief pause, he turned his gaze forward.

• If you want... you can tell me what happened.