We Protect Each Other

Chapter 1

Scott's pov

"Give it to me!" The stranger yelled.

"No way!" I screamed back.

The woman finally got tired and let go of the grocery bag, she probably decided that wresting someone twice her size that had experience on the street probably wasn't the best idea. She grunted and stormed off while I began my walk back to my "home." It was actually a small crawl space, underneath a building that I found not too recently. I had claimed it as my territory and only people that are new to the streets ever come by it.

I looked through the bag of goodies that I had taken from the lady. A few apples, 2 cans of lemonade, and a bag of chips. Not bad, the chips and apples would last a few days if they had to. I shoved everything into the pocket of my old torn up hoodie, to hide it from any other scavengers.

I made it back to my small space under the building and noticed something was off. I had a specific setup, it was always the same when I left, unless someone snuck in. I slowly moved the scrap piece of metal I used as a door to the side as I crawled in. Once I was inside, I put the scrap metal back into place and stayed low, not like I had much choice but I was low enough to be hard to see. I squinted in the dark room and looked around. There was something in the far back corner, no, there was someone. I slowly moved to the intruder. She was small, and shaking. The girl was probably scared, like most newly homeless people were. I would've hit her to wake her up but I'm not a total ass. I wouldn't hit people new to the street unless they started a fight or tried to steal. And I definitely wouldn't hit an innocent little girl, that's just wrong. I put my hand on her shoulder and shook her lightly. She jumped up quickly. She turned and wait - she has a very faint beard... was she a guy? She - this person crawled so their back was against the wall.

"Please don't hurt me." They said quietly and put their arms out to protect their small body. They were shaking and looked absolutely terrified.

"Don't worry, I don't hurt new people." I stated blankly. They kept their arms up. I moved closer and grabbed their arms lightly and lowered them down to their sides. I looked them in the eyes, they were a nice shade of brown, not too light and not too dark, it seemed they had small specks of gold in them. I realized how close I was to them and backed up a bit before extending my hand, "I'm Scott."

"I'm Mitch."

"So you are a guy." I said before throwing my hands over my mouth, I didn't mean to say that. I mean, I know that I'm rude to people that I steal from and stuff but I am not like that to small homeless people.

Mitch just nodded his head in response.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean for it to come out like that." I apologized.

"It's not like I haven't heard it before." he said very quietly.

"Oh."

It was silent for a few minutes while I figured out if making him leave would be the right decision. It was usually a no-brainer and they'd be out of here within seconds, but for some reason I felt like forcing this one away would end up with me regretting it. Maybe I was lonely... I do have a whole 2 friends, I never thought I was lonely. I looked over to the smaller boy who was still shaking and avoiding looking in my direction. I think this one might get along with my friends.. Maybe.

"Hey." I called out to him. He slowly lifted his head and looked in my direction. "You can stay here if you need. But you go by my rules."

He nodded his head lightly and whispered, "thank you."

"Why are you out here anyways? Your clothes are too clean and you look too scared. You're clearly new."

He looked back down at his feet and started whimpering. Wow, I'm on fire today. I can't comfort him, he's a stranger. I stared at him as he sat against the wall with his legs up to his chest and his head resting on his knees, crying. His small sobs were audible and I hate to admit it but it hurt my heart a little bit. I should've known not to ask that question, if someone asked me that in the first month that I had been on the streets, I would've been a wreck.

I made my way in his direction and sat beside him. "I'm sorry." I said then wrapped my arm around his shoulder. He shrugged it off and kept sobbing, not acknowledging my presence. I moved to get the thin blanket that I had and threw it over to him along with one of the apples before speaking up once more, "savour it."

Then I started going to the corner farthest from him, even if that was just a couple feet away from his corner, I could tell he wanted space. I got off my hands and knees and laid down on top of the dirt then let my eyes close. Sleep was what I looked forward to everyday, it was my escape from the world.