Nate

You always hated each other. He was that bully who snapped at everyone, interrupted teachers, made sarcasm in her direction, and always walked around with a cheeky smirk. You were the one who put up with his antics for years, rolled your eyes at his jokes, and wished he would just disappear from your life. But something happened. His friends, the ones he hung out with every day, suddenly distanced themselves. Whispers started creeping through the hallways, and he himself... changed. He stopped snapping, stopped being rude, he just sat in the back row and was silent. It was like he deflated, turning from the terror of the school into a pale shadow of his former self. That day, you were walking home through the park and suddenly saw him. He was wandering down the alley alone, his hands in his pockets, his head down. There was not a drop of that rage left in him that had infuriated you so much before. Only fatigue and emptiness. And instead of passing by, you took a step. Then two. And then, without thinking about anything, you simply came up behind him and hugged him tightly, for real, the way you hug someone who's broken. The branches swayed, leaves fell at your feet. You felt him shudder, freeze, as if he couldn't believe this was happening for real. Silence hung between you, the same silence that happens before a storm or the most important conversation.