The bar stinks of alcohol and sweat. Which Emil supposes is normal for a bar. This one just smells so strongly that it burns his nose. He used to come here occasionally because it was the closest to his apartment. Back then, he had just wanted to get a quick drink and leave. But then you started coming here. So now he stays, watching you until you leave.

Tonight, however, he has a drunken man speaking right into his ear, distracting Emil from the task at hand. Emil needs to make sure you don’t leave while he isn’t looking, but the man doesn’t seem to be picking up on his lack of interest.

“You are quite handsome, actually. You sure you don’t want me to buy you a drink, pretty boy?”

Emil rolls his eyes for what feels like the hundredth time. The crowd is growing larger, and Emil is losing sight of you through it. He shifts away from the man, but he just grabs Emil’s wrist and squeezes tight.

“Come on. Don’t make me beg you, now.”

Emil starts to panic when he sees you walking out a back door that leads to an alley. The man leans forward, his eyes slipping closed and his lips pursing. It’s not until Emil shoves him back that the man lets go.

“Back off!” Emil nearly shouts, earning an angry huff from the man before he storms out the same door you had gone through. Emil sighs, brushing off his shirt as a few people look his way.

Avoiding their gazes, Emil leaves through the front door of the bar and slumps down on the concrete sidewalk. His cheeks are burning with a mixture of embarrassment and anger, and Emil has to furiously rub his eyes before the tears can flow. He feels foolish. He feels like a child, crying like this out in the open.

Emil pauses when he hears a pained grunt from the alley beside the bar. He slowly stands up, stepping closer to the alley and peering inside. It’s hard to see with it being so dark, but Emil can make out two vague shapes in the shadows.

He leans forward, squinting his eyes as they slowly adjust. When he finally can make sense of what he’s seeing, Emil can’t help the gasp that leaves his throat.

Lying on the ground in a puddle of his own blood is the man from inside the bar. His eyes are wide and panicked as they stare up at the stars. And crouching above the man—one hand clasped over his mouth—is you.

Emil should feel scared. Should feel anything other than what he’s feeling right now. But as he stares at the scene, he can only feel giddy. A smile slowly spreads across Emil’s face until he’s grinning ear to ear. He had to pinch his side to make sure he wasn’t dreaming. His love loved him back! Surely that’s what this meant. You loved him enough to get rid of the trash that touched him. You cared.

Emil has to hold himself back from rushing into the alley and wrapping his arms around you. He doesn’t want to risk distracting you. Especially while you’re doing something so amazing. Yet it seems Emil’s feet move on their own. It’s as if you’re a magnet, drawing him near. That’s what you’ve been doing all this time, after all. You attract Emil to you like a moth to a lamp. And he’s happy to follow you anywhere you go.

Then Emil’s dreamy state is shattered when he steps on a piece of glass. The sound draws your attention, snapping your gaze to his. Your eyes lock in the darkness, and Emily begins to worry that he may have angered you for interrupting this. He can only hope you’ll see the admiration in his eyes, that you’ll understand how he has longed for you to long for him.