"In today's society, people value a very specific type of person. And then they want you to be like that. It's important to them how you dress or talk. They care about who you hang out with or what you have been up to this weekend. Too many people a...
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Chris was sitting on the porch steps when I was arriving at home. His head hung low and he had his arms resting on his thighs. When I stepped in front of him, he lifted his head and looked at me. He didn't say anything, he just looked at me and I did the same. His bruises had turned purple, clearly showing that Jonas had been able to land a good punch to his face. Then Chris stood up and pulled me into an embrace, his arms around my neck and shoulders. I wrapped mine around his waist, breathing in his scent to comfort me. I didn't cry, I just needed some time of intimate proximity to remind myself that everything would be alright.
If felt like we just stood there for hours, Chris holding me, running his hand up and down my back, his other hand caressing my head and hair and me breathing into his chest, out in the biting cold.
"Let's go inside, okay, Ana?" Chris spoke softly, still holding me.
I nodded, smiling at the nickname he so rarely used on me and walking up the steps, sifting through my bag to find the keys. Chris took them from me as soon as I held them in my hands and unlocked the door, holding it open for me and guiding me through it. He proceeded the same way for our apartment door. We made our way to my room in silence after we had kicked off our shoes in the hallway and taken off the jackets.
I sat down on my bed, staring out through the window. Chris took a seat next to me but I didn't look at him.
"I'm sorry about your birthday." He gently put a strand of hair behind my ear.
"That's already forgiven. Jonas explained to me what happened." I waved him off and sighed. "It was stupid but I understand."
"Did he make you cry?"
I furrowed my brows angrily and blinked out of the window. "He didn't make me cry." I snorted and looked at Chris. "I dont want to cry over boys and I never will."
The boy next to me tilted his head to the side. "He did hurt you though?" It sounded more like a statement than a question.
I glanced outside again. "He told me he has feelings for me."
"Isn't that a good thing?" Chris softly spoke, trying not to set me off. "I thought you liked him too." He shuffled around on the bed, leaning against the wall close to the window. "I know his behaviour on Friday was shitty and he has also been treating you kind of shitty but don't you think that you could give him a chance?"
I was surprised that Chris was encouraging me to go for Jonas since he normally always tried to keep me from dating guys. My choices had been pretty questionable so far as one could say so I did understand where he was coming from. However, I hadn't expected him to root for Jonas like this.
"He's still with Isabel."
Chris' furrowed his eyebrows at my statement. "Why is that?"
"He said that he had to know if I had feelings for him too before breaking it off with her." My gaze travelled to my friend's face. "He said he needed to know if we were worth the risk hurting Isabel for." I snorted. "I guess he really is a afraid of taking risks."
