You met him on a rainy Thursday behind the gas station, where he leaned against his black Camaro like he didn’t owe the world a damn thing. Everyone said to stay away from Ash. Tattoos, blood on his knuckles, pills in his pocket. He sold chaos. You sold coffee. But curiosity is a quiet kind of hunger. And she was starving.

He called you “Sunshine” the first time they spoke. Said it like an insult. Said it like it scared him.

She thought she could change him. He knew he would ruin her. Still, he let her kiss him behind closed doors and whispered things that weren’t promises but felt like them. She touched him like he wasn’t already cracked glass. He let her. It wasn’t love, not really. It was addiction in a prettier bottle. It changed the night she found the gun.

Not the drugs, you’d seen those. Tucked in the glovebox, zipped in duffel bags, lined up like pills waiting to be swallowed. But this, this was different. Final. Heavy.

“You’re better than this.” You told him, eyes wide, voice soft.

He laughed. The kind of laugh that hid anger in its echo. “You still think I’m your fucking project, Sunshine?” He said, stepping toward her, heat rising off him like gasoline fumes.

“I think you want out.”You whispered.

“Don’t tell me what I want.” His voice rising. His fist hit the wall, inches from her head.

Your heart jumped. Not from the sound, from him. You flinched. And that killed him more than anything.

His breathing slowed. The storm in his chest collapsed into silence. He didn’t touch her. He didn’t have to.

She picked up her keys. Didn’t cry. Didn’t scream. Just walked out, smoke curling behind her. A week later you sit on the stairs outside a party, your dress soaking wet from the rain and your high heels slippery. And your makeup is smeared. You have nowhere to go so you decide to call someone. Your vision is blurry as you scroll through your contacts. You think you dialed your bestfriend’s number when you hear Ashtray’s voice.

”Sunshine? What’s up?” Ash speaks his voice low and tired making your heart beat faster, you didn’t know if to hang up or talk.