1 First encounter

The loud streets were filled with the sound of rain pouring all of a sudden. Sounds of the wind howling scared everyone. Some ran for shelter while others accepted it with open arms. However, in that hustle-bustle, no one noticed that one girl. She wore thin clothes in the cold weather and didn't have any footwear on. Golden hair and fair skin, so pretty, that it was hard to not notice her; but at this point, it was the complete opposite.

She ran through the crowd, pushing people away and not bothering to look back. Some cursed and complained about it while others just moved out of the way. However, only a few noticed that the fragile girl was a crying mess. Her hair was drenched in the rain and her cheeks flustered. The bare feet were covered in wounds in no time but still, she didn't stop. Her face was red and her vision blurry due to the tears that filled her eyes.

She was at her weakest spot and oh! what a good time to be surrounded by people who did nothing but judge her. Nature did her a favor by making it rain, hiding away her tears with the raindrops; but, it also punished her. With the temperature dropped to 10 degrees, the rain and the winds made it even worse.

Her thin clothes and bare feet were the biggest mistakes, making her the most vulnerable among that crowd. She still fought running as far as she could, trying not to give up; stopping herself from thinking the same thing and hoping those tears would just dry up.

The tears that made it hard to look just increased every second, unstoppably rolling down her cheeks, getting mixed with the raindrops. Her legs gave away after running for a long time, she stumbled and fell on her face. Her elbows and knees scratched hard and started bleeding. However, that physical pain was nothing compared to the emotional pain she felt.

Not having the courage to fight back, she didn't make any effort to get up and kept crying, remembering all the horrible things which had happened to her. Be it being bullied in school or beaten up at home, she had ignored it all but now she broke down, she had no more courage to fight back.

People passed by but no one bothered to help her- the helpless crying girl, hurt and drenched in rain in the cold weather. They looked at her, felt pity, and walked away. No one dared approach her as if she was some filthy thing they couldn't touch.

"Oh my!" A soft male voice came from somewhere. The very next second she felt a cloth being wrapped around her. She slowly looked up, her face red and all messed up with tears. That guy flinched and looked shocked as she looked up.

Slowly her blue eyes focussed on the figure in front of her and she saw him clearly after a few seconds, he had brown hair and fair skin, with green eyes that were the attraction. However, for some reason, he looked a little white and blurry but she didn't bother to focus on that and lowered her head again. He smiled a little and sat on the ground, in front of her.

"What happened?" He said in a sweet tone, patting her back lightly. She didn't reply and kept crying, not even bothering to look at him this time.

"You know it gets better when you share it." He said and kept looking at her, he didn't care about the people around them.

"Just go away..." She mumbled.

"I can't..." He said in a low voice and his expressions looked a little painful.

"Hmm?" She asked as she wasn't able to hear him properly. She finally looked up, as she figured that he wasn't leaving so easily. He didn't seem like a bad person to her. However, she did found him strange for some reason; he didn't seem to be a normal human being to her.

"I can't leave you alone like this..." He said and she noticed that he looked sad all of a sudden. That soft smile disappeared from his face and a torturous expression took over. "You'll catch a cold...see you're so hurt and I don't want you to do anything bad to yourself..." His voice lowered by the end.

She felt a little better but also strange pain on hearing that, a stranger was so worried about her, while her own family didn't care. "I'll be fine." She said and lost that bit of happiness as well when she was reminded of her family again.

"No." He said in kind of an ordering tone and pulled her to the edge of the road. "Let's talk." He said and she laughed a little through her sobs. His words didn't make sense to her cause he wasn't someone close to her but still, he cared so much, she found it oddly comforting.

She did as he said and sat beside him.

"Now tell me....what's bothering you?" He asked in a soft voice. He pulled his knees to his chest and rested his head on his knees. His head a little tilted and eyes staring deeply into her eyes, searching for answers she couldn't say.

"M...my family..." She said through her sobs; her voice low and quivering. That guy didn't react, he wasn't judging her instead he just quietly waited for her to continue.

"I...I love them the most b...but they forced me to move out of the house without telling any reason..." She continued after a long pause. He felt familiar for some reason and she couldn't help telling him everything.

"Maybe they want you to be independent...?" He said and wanted her to stay positive.

She raised her arm and he got confused by the strange gesture. His eyes widened as he saw it clearly, there was a huge burn mark on her hand.

"They did this?" He asked in a shocked tone.

She nodded slowly. "It was my brother...I don't know why but they all started acting the same way...I try to focus on the positive side and do as they say but no..." She started crying harder. His face was full of worry; he didn't say anything and bit his lower lip lightly. Extending his arm in the air he patted her back lightly.

"I try so hard...but everything just keeps going wrong. I don't know what to do!" Her voice got a little louder. He could tell that she was frustrated and was on the edge now. "I hate that I love someone who has no feelings for me. I waiting for something impossible…"

"I hate it!" Her sobs got louder and she lowered her head again. "It's all my fault! I'm responsible for this! I hate myself!" She said in between the uncontrollable sobs. His arm that was patting her paused suddenly on hearing that and he clenched his fists tightly.

"N...no..." His voice trembled.

She looked up at him and saw that he was on verge of tears. That sight stabbed her like a knife; her parents and boyfriend didn't care about her at all while this stranger was crying for her.

"D...don't hate yourself...please..." He begged her, his hands trembling and eyes teary.

"Calm down..." She got worried after seeing his current state.

"No...don't hate yourself..." He wasn't listening to her and kept repeating the same thing.

"Ok...ok...I won't." She cupped his cheeks and made him look at her. "...I won't hate myself. I won't blame it all on me." He nodded slowly and stopped crying.

"T...this life...you only get it once so cherish it. Don't spend it hating yourself." He suggested and was worried about her. She nodded and smiled softly.

"I'll be your friend. I'll be there to share your pain" He said and held her hand tightly. "I promise you...so don't do anything bad to yourself."

"I won't" She smiled and caressed his hand lightly.

The rain stopped and the sky cleared in seconds. They looked up, squinting their eyes cause of the sudden sunlight. A beautiful rainbow formed in the sky and they both smiled on seeing that. The dark clouds followed by a rainbow gave them both hope that maybe it wasn't the end yet. Maybe they'll also have a beautiful end after all this suffering.

"Make a wish." He said suddenly. She looked astonished at his sudden suggestion.

"What?" She scoffed and gave him a weird look.

"Make a wish." He repeated as he nodded, sounding pretty serious.

"...ok..." She said and found his request a little weird. They both closed their eyes and made a wish.

She bit her lower lip and clenched her fists. "I wish to die." She wished, a torturous expression on her face, as she couldn't bear the pain anymore. His consoling made her feel better but she didn't have any reason to live on.

"I wish for her to live happily." He wished, biting his lip hesitantly.

"No matter what happens, please...don't give up..." He whispered to her. She opened her eyes the next second and looked at him. Her eyes widened and anxiety-filled her. There was no one beside her. The jacket he had wrapped around her disappeared and he was nowhere to be seen. She looked around anxiously but couldn't find him anywhere.

Running around searching for him desperately even though she was badly hurt. She had believed him, got a tiny bit of hope that he would keep his promise. However, he broke it just a minute after he made it. She stood in the middle of the road again, looking around desperately. Breathing heavily and slowly giving up. She fell on her knees and started crying again the same way as she did earlier.

"W...was it just an illusion...?" She thought and felt dejected.

"No, it was god's sign telling you not to give up..." He thought as he looked at her from a distance while sitting on the roof of a building. The jacket in his hand and his fists clenched tightly…