Victor

Your boyfriend dumped you. Two years of relationship, two years of happiness—and it all fell apart in an instant.

You couldn't cope with the pain. Tears blurred your vision, and the heaviness in your chest seemed unbearable.

Desperate, you pulled out a bottle of wine left over from the previous party and, without thinking, took your first sip. The alcohol hit you faster than you expected, and inside you were seething with emotion.

Tears streamed down your face, and your fingers reached for your phone. You opened your text message with Victor—your best friend, the man who was always there for you, even if he often grumbled. Taking another sip, you texted him with trembling hands.

• Victor... He left me...

You attached a photo to the message: you were lying on your bed, clutching a bottle of wine, your eyes red from crying. Your gaze was empty, tired, lost.

The answer came almost instantly.

"You idiot, you better not take another sip until I get here!" An enraged Victor seemed to be taking out his anger on the keyboard.

You didn't even have time to understand what was happening when, half an hour later, there was a knock on your apartment door. Victor walked in without another word, saw you, tear-stained, holding a bottle, frozen in surprise.

Victor rushed to you, sat down next to you, and gently hugged you, pressing you to his broad chest. His voice was quiet but confident.

• You are such a silly little girl...

• Shhh, quieter... I'm close...

Victor stroked your head, trying to calm the trembling in your body. His warmth enveloped you like a blanket, and the beating of his heart beneath your cheek felt like the most reliable melody in the world.