The Boy Down The Street ✓

iii.

The next day I didn't have work. That's part of the reason why I was standing on the small porch of the little blue house at noon, waiting for the door to be opened. The Tesla wasn't in the driveway today so I wasn't completely sure whether or not Dev was home.

After about a minute of waiting, the door opened to the sight of a doe eyed boy with messy bambi brown hair that matched his eyes. I smiled at Dev and asked him if he wanted to hang out. He nodded and let me inside. I watched as he hobbled into a room and soon followed after him.

The room was surprisingly clean for a teenager but I didn't feel the need to mention it. "So, what do you want to do Dev?" I asked. Dev seemed to think about it for a bit before saying that we could play on his PS4.

We spent the next few hours playing different games. I'd like to say that I won at least once but that really wasn't true; Dev was basically a pro.

"Ugh that's not fair! You totally cheated!" I exclaimed after another one of my obvious losses. "Nuh uh! You just suck!" Dev said, his brown eyes sparkling with playfulness.

"Hey Dev, how long have you lived here?" I asked out of the blue.

"Oh? Uh I've lived here ever since the accident which was about six months ago." Dev looked at a picture on his nightstand. The picture was of him and a man. The man had him arm around Dev's shoulder with a proud grin on his face. Dev also had a smile on his lips.

When Dev looked back at me, he had this look of grief and longing on his face. If I had to guess, I would say that the man had something to do with the accident. I really wanted to hug the boy but I wasn't really sure if it was appropriate to hug someone you just met a day ago.

It seemed like I didn't need to think about it much because Dev spoke, "is it okay if I hug you? I kind of need a hug right now." His voice broke my heart and I wrapped my arms around him.

Only at that time did I realise that he was really small. I'd already noticed that he was short but I hadn't realised he was this short. His head rested on my chest, his arms wrapped around my waist while I traced circles onto his back while I held him.

When he pulled away and smiled at me warmly, I wanted to pull him back into the hug again. I didn't want to let go of him.

I had no idea I needed a hug as well.