befall

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        “Have you ever been in love? Horrible isn't it? It makes you so vulnerable. It opens your chest and it opens up your heart and it means that someone can get inside you and mess you up.”

― Neil Gaiman, The Sandman, Vol. 9: The Kindly Ones

The girl had volunteered to take the stack of papers which mainly consisted his homework, to the his house.

The teacher had given her the address of the boy's.

When she reached to his address, she was greeted with a medium-sized house. The house was painted lavishly in the colour of white and it pretty much looked like any ordinary house.

She reached to the door before knocking onto the surface of the door.

There was a shuffle of footsteps heading towards the door before the door flung open, revealing his figure. 

He was wearing a set of black clothes, which contrasted well with his pale skin. And it was evident that he hadn't gotten much sleep because of the dark circles around his eyes.

What surprised the girl was that the boy hadn't worn his usual jacket.

The girl caught a view of his bare arms. There was a tattoo that covered his entire right wrist.

It was a tattoo of a swallow bird.

The boy noticed the girl staring at his wrist as he immediately hid his wrist behind his back. He stared blankly at her as he questioned, "What are you doing here?"

The girl snapped out of from her thoughts as she brought the stackof papers to his view, "Your homework for the week."

He brought his left wrist to hold the stack, "Oh um thanks."

The girl nodded and smiled, "Your welcome." Her smile widened as her eyes glimmered suddenly. She held the bag of plastic bag which mostly consisted of junk food to his view.

He looked at her astonished by her actions before he finally managed to give her a curt reply, "Thanks."

"Your welcome. Besides, I think you really need this," she said, her eyes glimmering with amusement. She continued with a laugh, "You barely have the energy to talk."

The boy cracked a slight grin. 

The clouds gave out a sudden grumble as dark skies began to overshadow the sun. The boy who noticed the change in weather came up with a suggestion.

"Do you want to come in? It looks like it's going to rain."

The girl turned her head and examined the weather before turning her attention back to the boy, "Is it okay with you?"

The boy nodded, "Yeah, you can head home when the weather calms down."

The girl agreed with his suggestion with a nod. The boy pulled the door slightly, allowing the girl to step into his house.

The girl turned sheepishly to him, "Thank you."

He nodded.

As she walked in through the hallway, she witnessed the plain white walls. The hallway was hardly filled with any decorations or furnitures except a few frames which hung loosely on the wall.

But there was one picture that caught the curiousity of the girl.

It was a picture of a little boy and a grown man. Both of them had grins plastered on their faces as they stared at each other in amusement.

The girl turned to face the boy as she questioned him gullibly, "Is that you?" 

The boy stopped to look at the frame before swallowing the lump forming inside his throat. He nodded with silence forming around him. 

"Aw, then that must have been your-" the girl abruptly stopped as realization dawned upon her. 

"Yeah, that's my father."