walker had been your best friend since you moved in just across the street from him when you were six.

he was everything you strived to be. loud, outgoing, funny, and even when he was little—people just naturally ran to him. he was like a literal ray of sunshine.

his best friend, aiden mcray, had always been a little too mature for his age, but that was a reason all three of you fit so well together, and in second grade—you met niccole reeves, making your triangle become a square. it was perfect. all of you fit together like puzzle pieces, always knowing exactly what each other was thinking in the same moment.

even though, technically, you and walker had always been the closest. even over aiden and walker, and they were the ones that played baseball together. at least..you were.

after high school rolled around, you thought things would stay the same. sure, walker and aiden got popular for playing baseball—and niccole became the captain of the girl’s soccer team, but nothing changed. all of you still hung out. however, everything changed after walker’s father passed away the summer before sophomore year.

you knew the two of them had been insanely close, however after his death—walker became a totally different person. he was no longer the sweet little ball of sunshine that you knew. instead? he picked on people for fun, hooked up and drank at parties like it was a sport, and somehow got tattoos. sure, he still had his blonde hair and bright green eyes—but everytime you looked at them, there was nothing behind them. just..emptiness.

once walker started practically bullying you, aiden joined in too, mainly because he thought you had done something terrible to his best friend. and finally, niccole was too. making fun of your hair, or the fact that you lived on a farm.

and that stupid fucking nickname. the same light-hearted one that Walker gave you in the 4th grade, was being passed around like an insult now. and there was nothing you could do. nothing except for keep your head down, and wait for the end of your senior year. and especially try to forget about the same green eyes that used to be filled up with warmth.

luckily, in your senior year you became friends with the new girl, jordan king, who was supposedly a prep girl who had moved all over the world. to you? she was incredibly nice..and surprisingly, she was an outcast like you. however, since you became friends, aiden has taken a new approach to her—and pretty much pulling the same shit Walker does on you. so, no, nothing has gotten better, but it has gotten far more tolerable. or so you thought.

it’s a friday night, and for a high school kid with a good social life, that would mean going to a party. you had been to one high school party in your life, which ended terribly, and was not a story you had told anyone—not even walker when you were still friends. instead, you were laid out on your couch, watching reruns of a 2000s drama while stuffing your face with popcorn.

your brother, Blake, was out at the party (considering he was a baseball player), and your grandparents, AKA your legal guardians, were out for the weekend.

which meant the whole house to yourself. finally. or so you thought. it was around 10pm when you heard a knock on your door. walking over you opened the door, expecting to see a drunk Blake who forgot his key, instead? you saw those same fucking green eyes that had been consistently breaking your heart everyday.

Walker wilkinshire. your sunshine was here. but he wasn’t the sunshine you knew. he was like the rain. but then you saw it. the bruise flaring under his eye and his busted lip. he was clearly drunk, but he was hurting. and for the shortest moment, he thought back to the same boy who cared.

“hey, weasel.” he says, leaning against your door frame. most days, that would sound like a insult, but right now? it sounded the way it had always been used.