—*—5 years ago —*—
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A week passed but y/n kept skipping school. No matter how much she tried. She couldn't gather enough courage to face those days again. after what happened the last day, She felt helpless. her work in the store was always keeping her distracted.
Back in the house, It has always been empty. She bumped in to her dad a few times in the kitchen or living room but he was always drunk. that scared her the most. even if she heard few curse words from her parents, she still loved them. she worried for her father all day. Sometimes, he never made back home. Those days were terrifying for her.
The house would end up being empty and haunted. darkness would wrap her around. She couldn't help but cry and hope that her parent would just come back and return to a happy family again.
She skipped meals and sometimes passed out while crying. she became weak and forgot to take care of herself. But no one was there to notice that change in her. except for Miles. The only person who could see her during the work hour. He noticed.
He even caught her crying in the back room few times. But comforting a stranger without even knowing what she went through was pointless. He reminded himself that it was none of his business. But he couldn't help but notice how slowly she lost her will to fight, how emotionless she became. He wanted to be there for her, for a stranger.
It was almost midnight but y/n stayed back to fill up extra hours. She had Miles with her. customers came by. few minutes passed but there were no more at sight. The whole store was empty. y/n was lost in her own thoughts. miles took the chance to open up to her.
"What made you take the night shift today?" she came back to her senses. "I...skipped school today".
"So you skipped the other days too? It's been a week already." other stood quietly.
She had no other excuse to come up with. even a lie hides behind the truth.
night Shift ended. y/n puts on her jacket to leave but she stopped when the dark pathway came in to her view. No people could be seen around. She hesitated before starting to walk. Her hand clutching tightly on the bag she's carrying. she tried to stay strong. suddenly someone grabbed her hand. She quickly turned around. "…Miles?"
"It's too late. Shall I walk you home?"
y/n shook off his hand. she felt selfish to use him. "I can walk by myself. You can go back…".
"You sure…?" Miles asked again in confusion. Y/n nodded and walked away.
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as she walked, she couldnt make out anything on the roads. side-lights weren't working properly. she was trembling in fear. She regretted her decision of not bringing miles along. Her only fear was bumping with any creeps in the dark. soon after, her fear became real. there were three drunken men walking in front of her. They already noticed y/n before she could turn back. they fastened their pace toward her.
Just when y/n tried to turn around, one of them tightly grabbed her arm. "Going somewhere?" he smirked at her. They surrounded y/n all around.
She tried to shake off their grip but they were holded her back everytime. when she tried to scream, another guy covered her mouth. Tears were falling down from her eyes. she felt suffocated, shaking in fear. Worst things has happened to her. But she never expected this to happen.
Just then, A loud sound was heard. before anyone could realize what happened, one of them fell on the ground. The other two looked behind. They saw a person standing there with a stick. His face visible due to the darkness. they loosed their grip on y/n and attacked the person. They began to fight. It went too far away.
a sudden police siren was heard. It caught their attention. they took its advantage and started hitting him harder. He fell on the ground. They ran away with their other passed out man.
y/n quickly kneeled to the person's level, "…are you okay?"
"Do I look okay to you?" The person answered while hissing in pain. the voice was too familiar to her. "…Miles?" he was bleeding from his forehead, bruises all over his arms. "hold me…I'll take you to the hospital-"he stopped her midway. "no... not there." she felt guilty for putting him into this state. Miles looked at her and figured what she was thinking.
"Can you help me to my house?" y/n was confused for a while. "It's not that far away." she simply nodded. They stood up. Miles puts one of his arm over her shoulder.
Y/n helped him in his steps until they reached his house. She puts him down on a couch and rushed to get the first-aid. while Miles was still hissing in pain.she came back and sat beside him,"It's gonna hurt a little...", She comforted him while rubbing the cotton gently over his wound. She was calm and cautious. while miles on the other side, felt lost. He forgot about the pain and stared at y/n.
He came to realize In that past week, He never looked at her this closely. She was beautiful and kind hearted. a sudden sting brought him back to reality, he hissed. "im sorry…"she kept repeating.
"It's okay. I'll do the rest on my own."they stood up and faced each other,"none of this would have acquired if you had taken my help in the first place." y/n looked down in an apologetic way. he became careful with his words. He never knew what hurt her. "will you stay over…tonight?"
y/n wondered if she should. "I mean…it's pretty late. It's too dangerous to go back now. You might end up bumping in to them again…so…I have a guest room…"
"I hope…I won't be troubling you.".
"No problem…I'll show you the room. Tell me if you need anything"
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Y/n ended up staying over. She walked out of the guest room and saw him cooking in the kitchen. "You can cook?" she asked
in excitement.
"A little...", he replied. the reason of him cooking was all her. He didn't see her having a decent meal in a while. She would often pass the lunch time with snacks and Noodles. He even noticed her sometimes not having anything.
He was done cooking and served her the food. y/n took the seat in front of him. slightly hesitating, once she tasted it, her eyes widended in surprise. "It's delicious", She stated before having more.
on the other side of the table, miles was staring at her. He couldn't tell why but staring at her was all he wanted to do. He found her adoring and …different. "you're not eating? I'll have yours then." he giggled in her joke and sat down.
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Y/n laid down on the bed. It was 12 am. a perfect time to call her best friend. In that week, she managed to find a way to contact Felix. It was the best thing that ever happened to her after of moving in. They texted a few days, asking about each other's new life.
y/n decided to not tell him about her family. she couldn't see him worrying about her and ended up lying about everything. she couldnt tell how long this act has to go on.
Her phone rang up (Felix). She quickly fixed her hair and sat straightly on the bed.
The other side of the phone picked up, then appeared young boy with Blond hair, "Hey! I missed you", y/n said while rolling on the bed.
"I missed you too! Say hi to Louis" felix showed his cat to the screen. she greeted him with smile and they went back with their daily conversation. As they went on, felix suddenly asked in confusion, "have you heard from Issac?"
"I haven't. Why?"
"He's not picking up my phone or replying to any of my messages. but it shows 'seen' where I wrote about you. I said how I finally reached out to you but he isn't replying."
"He's still upset. Isn't he…?"
"He was really upset though. You should hit him up sometimes. I know he's busy now that his father's business fell on him but he can't just ignore his friends."
"I'll try..."
"Hey! Cheer up! Let me tell you a joke."
-﹉-﹉ -﹉-﹉-﹉-
The guest room's window was across the garden. miles went out there for a walk. He forgot to mention about it. he walked past it but stopped on his track when he saw y/n in that room. she was smilling and rolling on the bed. It was the first time he has ever seen her this happy. He couldn't help but realize how pretty she was.
y/n's movements on the bed made her phone face the other side. the young boy came into miles's view. they were laughing and chatting happily. Miles stood there thinking, 'how could a guy make her that happy?' 'was he that important to her?'
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Next morning, y/n shared breakfast with Miles. He seemed oddly quiet the whole time. she didnt want to trouble him any longer and soon left.
as she expected, her house was empty and messy. she could tell that her dad's presence from the night before. she took a shower and brought her attention back to study. just then,someone knocked on the main door.
she quickly ran down and opened it. It was her father, being carried by two other men. She quickly made way for them to enter. she stared at her passed out father as he was being laid down on the couch. one of the man turned around. his eyes were scanning y/n from head to toe while the other was too lost to notice anything."You grew up so well, you were only a child when I last saw you." he stated in amusement. y/n could only nod and be polite. "Take care of your father. we'll visit again", he looked at her for the last time and left.