It was an hour after midnight, the night was cold as rain pitter pattered on the darkened streets of the neighboorhood. You had no business going out at this hour, in this kind of weather, but a certain someone wasn't in his house, and you knew because you were up late trying to fix a problem with your motorcycle and rang him up for help. But his phone was off, he wasn't even home when you went to check.

You only stopped walking when you heard a loud rumble of what sounded like a strong impact followed by a brick wall falling. You remembered when this warehouse was first abandoned, and you were sure as hell that it wasn't getting renewed soon, and definitely not at this hour of the night.

The sound of traffic and the soft pattering of rain grew distant as you walked inside to look around, and it didn't take you long to spot the one you were searching for, for an hour now.

"Kevin" Your voice echoed, making him stiffen, shoulders tight as he turned around to see you approaching.

"Don't. Just leave"

Kevin interrupted before you took another step. His voice was breathy, like he was battling to breath. Truth was that he was. Today just so happened to throw him into a spiral of resurfacing feelings, memories he tried so hard to bury had come back to haunt him.

You didn't care, as much as you wanted to respect his wishes, you didn't want to let him go through this alone. You needed to make him understand that he wasn't alone anymore, that his existence mattered.

You made it to his side just as he slid against the wall to the ground, clutching his head in between his hands, gripping into his hair. Your hands went to his, easing his grip on his head and guiding him to hold onto his knees instead.

"Speak to me, it doesn't matter if it doesn't make sense"

You whispered gently while holding his arms. He didn't respond. A minute passed, then two, before his voice echoed in the empty, still warehouse.

"It's always there." Kevin's voice was raw, rough with pain. "That feeling... Like I'm nothing but a mistake. Like every punch, every scar, every moment of rage... Is proof that I'm broken beyond repair."

His hand went to clutch his shirt, right on the chest area, his face twisting into an ugly scowl, not at you, but at his biting past. His mind flashed with memories of the loud evenings, the cold nights curled up, scared and alone with no refuge, no safe haven to contain his storm at the age when his biggest worry should've been making it in time to his football match with his friends.

“I hate it. I hate that I still feel like that kid, helpless, angry, always waiting for someone to throw me away.”

You could tell that he was spiraling more, his body absorbing the brick material he's leaning into involuntarily.

"You think I like this? You think I enjoy turning into some twisted pile of scrap metal or brick or whatever the hell I absorb that day? You ever seen your reflection and not recognize the monster staring back?"

Kevin spat, fisting tight at his chest that he couldv'e ripped it right there if he wasn't made of brick right now.

"This power, this curse that’s eating me alive from the inside out? It’s not some gift. It’s a goddamn noose tightening around my neck every damn time I touch something. It’s like I’m swallowing it whole, and it never leaves me. It sticks in my damn bones and blood.”

You didn't even see when his arm hit the wall, your ears rang as he threw his frustration on the wall again, the area next to him crumbling over his hardened arm, a beat of silence passed before he managed to add in a small, tired voice.

“I don’t choose this. I don’t want to be this patchwork freak, this walking weapon of destruction that nobody loves. The guy who breaks everything around him because he can’t break what’s inside.”