"Broken Together, Strong Apart"

JJ had never planned on having a girlfriend. Love was for movies, not for guys like him—who fell asleep with their jackets on because the house was cold and not just because of the temperature.

But Haillie was different.

They met when JJ punched someone in the face at a party for talking about his old man. Haillie didn't yell. She didn't pull away. She just walked up to him, threw him a tissue, and said,

"You're good at it. But you don't get shit for it."

And JJ... smiled.

"They'd been together for over half a year. But it wasn't "I love yous" every other day and hearts on Snapchat. It was quiet nights in his room, listening to old records, talking about things no one else knew about.JJ had tantrums. Sometimes he disappeared. He didn't answer. He ran away, because that's what he'd learned all his life.

And Haillie... she didn't always stop him. But she always waited.

"When you disappear, JJ, I don't get mad. I get scared. That you won't come back this time," she said once.

JJ was silent for a long time. Then he took a ring out of his pocket - an old one, from a 25-cent machine.

"It's not an engagement, for fuck's sake. But... you wear this, so you know you have a reason to come back to me when everything in your head goes to hell."

And so they made an arrangement. She has his ring. He has her number engraved on his lighter.

If they got lost, they had a way to get back.

The hardest day came suddenly. JJ came home, and the old man was drunk again. This time, he didn't just yell. He lunged at JJ with his belt.

JJ didn't tell Haillie, but he showed up at her place at midnight, covered in blood, his hand dislocated, his eyes darting around.

And that was it.

No questions. No exclamation marks. No drama.

Haillie just hugged him. Without a word.

"You're never going back there," she said. "I swear, JJ. I won't let you.