Until they tear us apart. | l.s.

Prologue

Happy birthday to me and happy reading to you. Enjoy. x

"Mommy, look!" Louis tugged on his mother's hand and pointed to the deserted playground a few meters ahead of them where a little boy around the age of four was sitting on a bench dangling his legs in the air and staring at the ground.

Soon it was starting to get dark, the sun was disappearing behind the horizon leaving the sky in beautiful colours. The remainings of the light blue from the beautiful summer day was turning magenta and a thin stripe just over the horizon was shining in a glowing orange where the sun was setting.

"Oh dear." Jay clasped her hand over her mouth in worry, looking around to see if there was an adult searching for their kid, but there was none. "Come on, Lou. Let's see where the boys' parents are." She looked down to the seven year old whose eyes lit up and he nodded quickly, bouncing on his feet.

They approached the boy slowly who didn't seem to notice them until Louis plopped down next to him. Jay tried to grab him in time- knowing Louis' forwardness which could be intimidating to some kids- but Louis was quicker and turned to the boy with a big grin.

"Hello!" He chirped and the boy jumped and ripped his eyes open in shock, looking like a deer caught in the headlight.

He looked from Louis' face to Jay slowly but as soon as his sad eyes met Jay's he dropped his gaze and pulled in his shoulders making himself as small as possible.

"My name's Louis. Who are you?" Louis tried again when he didn't receive an answer.

"Lou, darling. Let's be a little more restrained, hm?" Jay suggested softly and Louis furrowed his eyebrows thinking deeply, before his mouth formed an 'O' and he nodded quickly. Jay smiled at him softly and turned to the little boy who still wasn't looking at them. "Hello there." She said in a soft voice not to scare the boy even more and crouched down in front of him.

He glanced up but dropped his eyes again quickly squeezing his hands under his thighs.

"Can you tell me where your parents are? It's getting dark soon." Jay smiled and pointed to the lanterns that were just starting to light up the playground one after the other.

"My mommy's sleeping." The boy mumbled with a trembling voice.

"And where's your daddy?" Jay tried again, thankful for him to say anything at all, but a strange feeling spread through her when she saw the scared glimmer in his eyes.

The boy pulled up his shoulders and a little frown made its way to his face.

"I don't have a daddy." He mumbled almost inaudible.

Jay's heart broke at the confession and she suppressed a shocked pant, gathering herself quickly, only now noticing the dirty and ripped clothes the boy was wearing. His face looked pale under the layer of dirt and she could see his bones clearly which was definitely a sign for food shortage and he was probably dehydrated as well seeing as his lips were chapped and his skin was dry and peeled off.

"And where do you go when you're not on the playground?" Jay asked further but the boy just shrugged. "Do you want us to bring you home?" She asked and received a shook of his head with tears burning in his eyes.

"It's alright, honey, don't cry." Jay soothed him. "But we're a bit worried where you wanna sleep tonight."

The boy looked at the bench he was sitting on with a frown on his face and Jay's face fell. No, she couldn't leave this little boy here. And if he didn't want to leave then she'd stay with him. She thought for a few moments how she could get him to come with them.

"Do you like ice cream?" She asked and the boy's head lifted just the slightest bit, but Jay could see the curiosity in his eyes. "Louis and I just wanted to get some ice cream from the shop down the road. Would you like to come with us?"