(His POV)
It was another day.
Sure, it was the first day of school, but that didn't change much. He grabbed his backpack and threw some necessities in. He exited his room, though he only used it for sleeping.
'Anywhere else, but my room, my apartment, or this complex.' he thought, wrapping himself in a dark purple hoodie.
He walked into the kitchen, checking the barely functioning fridge to see if perhaps an angel sent some breakfast. He frowned slightly at only seeing rotting food or his mom's... Flour packs.
After rubbing his stomach in discomfort, he walked into the living room, checking if what's left of his mother is even alive.
"Mom?" He looked at her state.
She was sprawled out on the sofa, head leaning to the side in an unnatural manner. Her eyes were calm, though fixated on something far away. Her mouth was gaped open, seemingly not noticing. Her chest rised slowly every so often, covered by her raven black hair. Her arms were at her sides, one holding a sharp pen and the other some flour.
He closed his mouth and gulped down.
"Is flour bad for you, mom?" He asked, trying to get her attention. He grabbed her hand and squeezed it tightly, noticing instantly just how cold and pale it was. His eyes welled up with fresh tears, trying to get any sort of reaction out of her.
She knew. She knew her baby boy was there. She wanted to tell him, more than desperately, that he's going to be okay. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, but perhaps... One day.
She could see her baby in her peripheral vision. She tried to move even the smallest muscle, but her body was transfixed on a singular point in nowhere.
He let go of her hand, and as much as an 8-year old child could, he repositioned her body to lay down in a comfortable way and wrapped a blanket around her.
He gave her a kiss on the cheek, made sure to lock the door extra carefully, and left. The way to school could only get so much worse. The walk from his apartment on the seventh floor was just as nauseatingly terrible as any other time.
The elevators didn't work, and even if they did, there would probably be a person already, sleeping. He didn't understand why they chose this life.
At the fourth floor, the most terrifying one of all, stood, as usual, the small group of men, smoking cigarettes. They seemed to be out of it, so he took it as an advantage to try and slip away unnoticed, holding the railing as he tried to continue.
Unfortunately, Max noticed.
Max was arguably one of the scariest people he's ever met, right after his father's friends. He was from Wales, appearently getting sent here after one too many arrests, being exiled by the government for the safety of their people.
He knew why, getting a taste of Max's methods almost routinely.
"Kid. Heard it's the new year for ya, yeah? Good luck ou' there." He gave him a smile before walking to him and using his hand that was holding the railing as an ashtray. He winced, desperately trying to contain a scream stuck in his throat.
It hurt terribly, the smell of his own burning flesh entering his lungs. His hand shook, and soon, Max had enough fun. Max waved him off and he instantly sprinted downstairs, hearing a sinister laugh as he skipped three steps at a time, letting his tears fall freely.
The boy didn't understand why this world was so cruel and unforgiving. He just wanted a place for him and his mom to be safe.
With his... Father, for example...
He ran out of the building, not daring to look back at the other gang members that may have been there. He just continued sprinting to the train station, and slid down the railing as he went down to his secret spot.
This secret spot was not ordinary. It was a place behind a moved brick wall, where one security guard, Gerald that wanted to help the boy, left unchecked metro tickets. He sighed in relief, and grabbed two tickets to and from school.
Now that the school year's started, Gerald stocked up on the tickets. The boy tried to know why he did this. Gerald always said that there's a very prime opportunity since at his desk, he has the ability to take the printed tickets with a little bit of handy work.
Maybe not the most honest activity, but the boy was just happy someone was helping him.
He placed the moving brick back onto its place and went deeper into the metro station.
_________
He sat down at a desk in the far corner of the room, looking down at his desk and trying to shy away from anyone that would potentially want to talk to him. He slowly swinged his feet, trying to keep at least a little entertained.
He could play with the dolls, but his classmates already took that, and he didn't want to annoy them. He also could take a book from the library, but it was at the back of the class, and he noticed the brown haired girl was already there, picking up her next book.
He simply sighed and continued staring at his hands that were neatly placed on his desk.
The brown haired girl with braids soon sat down, and then, the door opened. He didn't want to look up. He was scared of who it might be. He just kept to himself and continued staring at his awfully skinny hands.
The shuffling of feet halted for a little while, and then continued. The noise got awfully close to him, and he just hoped it wasn't Max.
Even when the person was right next to him, he didn't dare to look up. His eyes darted around his arms, panicked and scared.
After that, he heard a sweet voice.
"Hello!"
He looked up.
(2nd POV)
You stood in front of the boy with a big smile.
"Hello!" You said and as he looked up, you waved. You quickly continued, "My name's (Name), and I'm new here, it's super nice to meet you! What's your name?" You stood at his side with an unwavering smile, waiting for him to reply.
The boy looked very nervous, and couldn't hold eye contact for more than 5 seconds.
"Are you... Talking to me?" He said, looking around and trying to piece together why a new student was talking to him. You nodded with a small giggle, "Yes, of course, silly! I think we're gonna get along great, so I wanna be friends!" You said, sitting down at the separate desk that was right next to his. You placed your backpack on the ground and looked at him again.
"You want to.. b-be friends with someone like m-me? Why..?" The boy couldn't understand why you wanted to know him better. He couldn't help but admire your determined smile, hoping to get as confident as you one day.
"Because you look cool, of course! I thought that since I'm new, I better find some new friends. You looked lonely and sad, so I thought I could cheer you up!" You smiled even more, if it was even possible.
His eyes darted around your face, trying to read something other than enthusiasm and honesty on your smiling face.
"It's... M-My name is.." he mumbled the last part, and you didn't understand. You leaned closer, asking him to repeat it again. He mumbled even more quietly, and you chuckled, getting deja vu from a certain pony show.
"I'm sorry, what was that?" You asked politely, moving even closer to him.
"I-It's... A-Astarios..."
YOU ARE READING
𝒮𝓉𝒶𝓇☆ - Gᴇɴᴛʟᴇ Yᴀɴ! Bᴏss/CEO x Rᴇᴀᴅᴇʀ
Fanfiction𝙸𝚗 𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚌𝚑, 𝚊 𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚎𝚛𝚏𝚞𝚕 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚑𝚞𝚜𝚒𝚊𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚌 𝚐𝚒𝚛𝚕 𝚋𝚎𝚏𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚚𝚞𝚒𝚎𝚝 𝚋𝚘𝚢 𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔. Hᴇ ɴᴇᴠᴇʀ ᴋɴᴇᴡ ᴡʜᴀᴛ ʟᴏᴠᴇ ᴡᴀs. Hɪs ᴍᴏᴛʜᴇʀ ᴡᴀs ᴀɴ ᴀᴅᴅɪᴄᴛ, ᴀɴᴅ ʜɪs ғᴀᴛʜᴇʀ ᴡᴀs... ɴᴏᴛ ᴀᴠᴀɪʟᴀʙʟᴇ. Hᴏᴡᴇᴠᴇʀ, ᴡʜ...