The man, who stood in front of me that night, was nothing more than a mop of umber curls dangling over fierce black eyes. A lean and well-built figure paired with a rather singular face for these parts of the world. Nothing extraordinary about the plain red hoodie and grey pants he was wearing and yet, he looked as surreal as I had always known him... That's all he ever was, after all; a myth brought to life; a curse lurking in the shadows.

I didn't realize I had been holding my breath until he shifted, long legs stretching forward.

"Why are you here?" I asked, the disbelief so clear in my voice that I winced. I did not know what to expect, what to believe. But no matter how hard I pinched my arm, neither would he fade away nor would I wake up.

Slowly, he pulled his eyes away from the withered Balsamine that stood between his shoes. The radiance of the full moon caressed the side of his face, plump chapped lips demanding attention. They detached for a deep sigh and the air momentarily turned white around his face. The warmth and gentleness I had grown accustomed to were nowhere to be found. Instead, I found anger, guilt, regret, and fear- none of which I believed were destined for a man like him.

"The past always catches up, doesn't it?"

It was a rhetorical question, aimed at himself rather than at me. And at that moment, I could tell he had given up to the dark truths of this cruel world... The pain on his face, it made no sense but I wanted to wipe it off.

"What do you mean?"

Black pits reached for me, the pair clawing at my feet with the cold glare that shone on the surface. There was undeniably more to the creases at his lips, to the paleness of his knuckles, to the tautness of his shoulders. But he wouldn't tell me, that much I knew. So, I wondered if the flash of red I had seen in his eyes was just the reflection of mine.

"She would have been happy to see you as you are right now. You had always been her pride, just as she had always held my heart."

His deep voice pierced the starry night quietly as if they were the melodious drizzle that fills one's heart when he plays the piano. Every word dripped of sadness and I could tell that they were for someone out of reach, someone he'd given up on ever finding again. And it hurt to witness this side of him, vulnerable and broken...

"You will learn to hate me and maybe I deserve it. But as long as you survive, nothing else matters."