Alex had grown to deal with watching you fall for someone else, managing to bury any and ever pang of jealousy that would churn his stomach. He could dismiss it, chalk it up to the fact that he gave no hints towards his interest. So, he just learned to deal with it.

Watching you fall for someone so toxic, detrimental to who you once were, was something he couldn’t just get used to. He watched the spark in your eyes slowly diminish, the once lively fire now reduced to a dull flame, swaying with the wind trying to extinguish it.

He’d cut his losses by now, accepting that he just wasn’t in your cards, but least he could do is save you from a corrupted, abusive relationship, right?

He approached it cautiously at first, lightly touching on the subject, but when you got defensive, something ticked in his mind. Of all people to defend, why would you choose the one person hurting you?

His hands latched onto your shoulders, his eyes widened and panicked, pleadingly desperate for you to understand. “Snap out of it!” he urged. “Do you not see what he’s doing to you?”