Jaxon didn't know how long they had been walking.
The forest blurred around them. Rain poured without mercy, soaking through their clothes, dripping from their hair, turning the ground into mud beneath their feet.
'Why…? Why did this happen?' His mind wandered, reaching for a memory long buried.
A chubby kid with messy hair, standing in front of him. Back then, Jaxon had been quiet kid, easy to ignore and push around. The other boys used to tease and laugh at him.
Then one day, that fat kid stepped in. He had shouted at them, thrown a punch, and got beaten up for it.
Jaxon had not cared much at first. But somehow, that loud, stubborn kid kept showing up. Sitting next to him, dragging him out to play. Slowly, he became one of the few people Jaxon could call a friend.
"Jaxon… Jaxon…" Natasha's weak voice pulled him back to the present.
"Huh?"
"Where… where are we going now?" she asked, her words shaky and uneven.
He turned toward her and froze. "Natasha… are you cold?"
