Mike

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• Michael has been your personal nightmare since kindergarten. First, he'd snatch toys from your hands, then he'd start fights, and later, he learned to hurt you more with his words than with his fists. Over the years, not a week went by without another barb.

• Little one.

That's what he always called you.

Nothing has changed today.

After geography, you met him in the school hallway. He was standing next to Alice, the girl he was completely devoted to. With his arm around her waist, he caught your eye and gave her his usual grin.

— So, little one? Have you learned the continents yet? Do you know the difference between Australia and Austria?

Alice laughed loudly.

You walked past him silently, without even giving him a glance.

By evening the whole school was whispering about only one thing.

Alice cheated on Michael.

No one expected the girl he'd defended before everyone to leave for someone else. Even less expected what happened a few hours later.

Midnight. A quiet knock on the door.

You opened it irritably, already preparing to scold the late guest.

But the words stuck in your throat. Standing on your toes and peering through the peephole, you saw him standing on the threshold.

Disheveled hair, broken knuckles, bloodshot eyes, and the smell of alcohol that was previously impossible to detect on him.

He stared at you silently for several long seconds, praying that you were watching him on the other side of the door. His hearing didn't fail him.

You opened the door. He immediately, barely standing, came up to you, almost falling on the threshold, and hugged you tightly, inhaling the scent of your hair, afraid of losing you.

"Little one..." his voice broke into a whisper. "I have nowhere else to go..."

You stood rooted to the spot, not understanding whether to push him away or feel sorry for him.

dark hair, tall