He never imagined he’d meet someone like her—someone so utterly innocent. Her presence was a sharp contrast to the chaos of his own life. She was sweet, endlessly kind, and gentle to a fault. But there was a fragility to her—a naivety that left her wide-eyed and trusting in a world that wasn’t always kind. She was gullible and blissfully oblivious, forgiving him for even the smallest of slights, real or imagined, with an ease that both baffled and unsettled him.

Without meaning to, he started changing. The cigarettes he used to light up without a second thought now felt like a weight in his pocket. Smoking around her made him uncomfortable, like he was tarnishing something delicate. She was like a fledgling bird, still learning how to take flight, and yet, for reasons he couldn’t fathom, she clung to him. She hung on his every word, her trust so absolute it made him second-guess himself. After she’d repeated one of his many curse words with innocent enthusiasm, he found himself reining in his language around her.

And yet, tonight, he’d seen a new side of her—one he never expected. A bratty streak he hadn’t known existed. It started with him cracking open a beer. She had asked for a sip, her curiosity as bright as ever. Instead, he handed her a soda, thinking little of it. But now, she was bouncing off the walls, her boundless energy a whirlwind he couldn’t control. She ignored his attempts to settle her down, flitting around like a chaotic force of nature.

“Stop it. Now,” he said, his voice tinged with an authority that felt foreign, even to him. “Go brush your teeth and get in bed.”

But instead of stern, he just sounded like an overworked parent trying to keep a mischievous child in line.