Them...

How would one feel when they see a person who helped them break out of their shell, acting like a stranger..

Even though it hurt him but still Jake was never able to stop his eyes from following Abby every single time they will pass by..

What a crazy thing the human heart is..

Every day in his office he would see them.. Noticing every single detail about them.. How they're always carrying that one red file.. How they spin their pen between their soft-looking caramel-coloured fingers.. How they would hum a soft melody while making coffee..

No matter how much he would avoid having an interaction with them, no one has been able to avoid destiny..

Sometimes Abby will come up to him to ask about his progress on work.. Sometimes he would bump into them.. Or sometimes he would have no choice but to go up to them and talk about work..

Jake was never the kind of person to attend company dinners but his team would sometime force him to come out from his shell..

He was never a people-pleaser neither he was afraid to say no.. But there are days when we would go against what we usually do in order to escape for a while..

Today was one of those days.. It was one of his co-worker's birthday.. Usually Jake would say no but today was just another overwhelming day for him..

It's funny how one would hang out in crowds to forget about their loneliness for a while but they forget that loneliness just gets worse in crowds..

It was surprising for Jake's colleagues every time he would agree to hang out with them..

Maybe God gave us bodies so we could hide away our broken souls..

Jake's colleagues would sometimes get concerned for him every time they would look into his empty eyes but every single time they would believe him when he said that he was ok..

Anyone could tell that he's not.. Maybe they just didn't care..

There he was.. Sitting in a restaurant with people from his company, clapping his pale hands slowly, faking a big smile with his empty eyes as everyone else would sing the birthday song for his colleague..

'Why do they all look so happy.. Are they really happy or is it just a lie.. Why do humans like to lie so much.' he thought..

Every now and then his eyes would naturally get drawn toward Abby.. It would concern him, even more, to see that they're not how they used to be.. They've changed..

Anyone would say that they haven't changed a bit but as for him, who have loved every single detail of them, couldn't say the same..

Their eyes won't sparkle the way they used to sparkle before.. They can't make eye contact.. They would stutter.. Their laugh has changed as well.. They keep fidgeting and zoning out..

One of the main thing that was worrying him is how they would flinch every single time someone try to touch them..

'What happened to you' Jake thought.. 'What made you become this way' ..

Hours passed and it was time to go home.. It was late..

He was once again busy staring at them when one of his colleague Matthew came up to him with a weird smile..

"I see you've been staring at them the whole night" he smirked..

Before Jake could defend himself Matthew looked at Abby and said "He said that it's late and he wants to walk you home.. His house is near yours too"

'What.. in the world.. did he just say' Jake thought..

Abby couldn't help but smile for some reason..

Before anyone could say anything else.. Jake spoke up and said that he never said such a thing..

His colleagues never gave up and continued to convince him to walk Abby home..

"It's late and it's not safe for anyone to go alone, especially by foot"

"Then call a taxi" he said with his emotionless voice..

"Aw come on aren't you being too heartless.. Don't you care about the-" before they could complete their sentence he spoke..

"Why would I care about them"

As soon as Jake's tongue decided to make its move, his heart started blaming him for lying and being rude.. The smile they had on their face disappeared..

Who would want to be seen as someone rude by someone they love.. He didn't either.. But he had no choice.. He was scared.. They may not remember the promise they both made year ago, but he did.. Every single word that was said that day has been engraved into his heart forever..

He couldn't break that promise no matter how much it hurt him.. Somedays Jake would wish to god to give him courage to forget that promise..

In the end it was his naive decision to love them till his last breath.. And it's impossible to forget love.. atleast for him.. It was impossible

"It's fine.. I'll see you on Monday" Abby said goodbye and left..

"Bro are you insane why would you say such thing?!"

Jake couldn't hear what others were saying anymore, for some stupid reason, his guilt was killing him..

Without saying any words he rushed out of that restaurant.. He ran as fast as he could to catch up with Abby..

He finally took a deep breath when he saw a figure walking with their headphones on..

Without saying any words he begin to walk beside them..

It took Abby a while to realize that someone was walking with them..

"Walking with headphones on alone at night can be dangerous" he said as a soft genuine smile formed on his face thinking how it's the only habit of theirs that didn't change throughout all these years..

"Sorry" they said as they took off their headphones and put them inside their bag..

There was just something they felt walking next to him that was rare for them to feel.. Abby felt safe..

The majority of people experience a past that takes away their ability to trust people, to feel things, etc..

Their case was similar to that too.. Dark past which took away their ability to trust people.. Sad thing was that wasn't the only way their past has affected them..

Ever since they met him, for some odd reasons, they felt like they have known him.. Like connection characters would feel in the books.. For some odd reasons, they feel safe with him..

That was something that surprised them too.. Yet the reason was unknown to them..