Unraveling Him | A mafia Story

Chapter 26 - It didn't bring him back

"I am not a hero. I don't do good, it's not me."

************

Natalie's POV

I didn't understand a single thing.

Not that I ever do when it comes to Nikolas and his messed-up life.

But that didn't stop me from crouching down beside the little kid, taken aback by the immense agony in his beautiful eyes. My heart ached and I forced on a smile, warmly approaching him when he seemed to be distancing himself away from everyone, whether it's from Nikolas, or the other kids playing around the small field.

He placed his small hand in mine, shaking it, "It's Christian," He mumbled when I asked for his name, hesitant to be telling such information to a full stranger but my warm approach gave him the slightest comfort as he added, "But you can call me Chris."

My head tilted as I gazed at him some more, trying to understand his situation. He looked too skinny for his age, not the healthy type but the one coming from improper nutrition. His skin was whitish pale and the eyes that should be all bright and innocent at this age, looked so broken, severely pulling at my heart even when I knew literally nothing about him.

"I like your name," I said, my smile widening as my hand gently squeezed at his cold small one, giving it some warmth, "I am Natalie by the way," I added, slowly trying to make my way in. He nodded and pulled his hand back, still a bit shy and distanced, not fully giving in.

I let my gaze drift to the grass field where a small group of kids who looked more his age played around, "Why aren't you playing with them?" I asked, my tone curious, taking it one step at a time as I sat down on his other side.

My question had his shoulders slumping down, his eyes on them and he raised his arm, pointing at one of the kids, "He doesn't let me play," He answered and my eyebrows pulled closer as he added, his tired eyes flickering up to me, "He makes fun of me."

"Makes fun of what?" I asked, my enthusiastic tone dropping down, trying to understand how the purpose of this place is to make him get better from whatever he is facing, yet such bullying still occurs.

Instead of answering me, his gaze flickered to his lap, his hand wrapped over the sleeves of his sweatshirt, pulling them down, covering something, and indirectly giving me the response I was waiting for. My heart clenched so tight and my gaze flickered up to Nikolas on Christian's other side, who also had just understood what was happening. His jaw ticked before he rushed a frustrated hand over his face, turning his eyes toward the field where the other kids were playing and his hand twitched before he curled it into a fist, and I was more than sure that the fact they are kids is the only one stopping him from pulling his gun and marching forward.

I placed my hand over Chris's and I gave it a light squeeze, grabbing his gaze back to me, "You know...when I was young, I also had some friends who made fun of me," I said, giving him a sheepish smile, "They used to make fun of the color of my eyes," My eyebrows pulled closer, addressing how silly it was, "It affected me so much, imagine I even went to my mother and begged her to get me some brown lenses," I added with a low chuckle, recalling the memory.

Christian's head tilted to the side and lines etched his forehead, "But why?" He asked, "Your eyes are normal, I mean...they're pretty."

I couldn't hold my smile at how adorable he is and I looked at Nikolas, who had his eyebrow raised as he stared down at Chris, he inched closer and playfully nudged him with his elbow, "Hey, she is kind of mine," He mumbled, annoyed and involuntary, my pulse accelerated, my heart thrashing and all the blood rushed to my face with full force.