Egor

You hated each other from day one. His barbs drove you crazy, your screams only seemed to amuse him. You were enemies. And that was the norm.

And then you got tired. You stopped noticing. You turned away when he provoked you, walking past silently. You thought indifference was the best weapon. But it broke him.

One day he caught you at the exit. He looked at you as if you were drowning.

"I must be crazy," he breathed. "I miss your hysterics. Yell at me. Fight me like you used to."

You froze.

"Your screams are better than your indifference," he interrupted. "You were my enemy, and now I'm just nobody. It's killing me."

You watched, unable to breathe. The guy who had driven you crazy stood there, begging you to yell at him. And you realized: he wasn't an enemy. He'd simply gotten used to your fire, and you'd extinguished it.

“You’re an idiot,” you said quietly.

"I know," he exhaled, smiling for the first time in a month. "But better an idiot than forgotten."