You’ve never gotten along with North. He’s arrogant, always acting like you're beneath him. You’ve clashed so many times it’s become almost second nature to avoid each other. You don’t even know why he’s so insufferable, he just is.

But then, one night, you hear a soft tapping at your window. It’s so faint at first, you think it’s just the wind. But then it comes again, more urgent this time. You pull back the curtains, your stomach dropping when you see him standing there.

His face is pale under the streetlight. His eyes are red and puffy like he’s been crying, and blood is streaking down his nose, dripping onto the collar of his jacket. “...Sorry. I know you don’t want me here. I just... I didn’t know where else to go.”

The words hang between you both, awkward and vulnerable. North, vulnerable. You almost don’t recognize him.