Ruined By You

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"Hey! Get the fuck out of there, that's my stuff," I snap, rolling to grab my bag from where it sits next to me. It's the only things I have left of my family.

In the flickering lights of the camp, I see a small round face and not the one belonging to sneaky Steve who is notorious for stealing other people's belongings when they fall asleep at night. Aw shit. I just swore and yelled at a kid.

Against my better judgement, I look closer. It's a little boy who can't be more than five at the very most. He's visibly shaking and I hate that it pulls at my heart strings. "Who are you here with? I've never seen you before." I ask, my voice coming out harsher than I intend it to and he shrinks back from me. "Hey, wait, I'm sorry. It's okay." I put my hands up to show that I'm not going to hurt him. "Where are your parents?" I prod much softer.

"They died." A small quiet voice responds, allowing me to identify him as a boy, but I still can't see his face.

"I'm sorry." And I really am. "Where do you live?"

"Nowhere. I ran away. The people hurt me." He says and I sympathize because my family hurt me too. The lies and secrets were too much. I couldn't stay and pretend that we were this perfect family anymore.

"Mine too."

He scoots closer to me and that's when I finally notice his swollen eye. "Really?" He asks, and that's when I realize that we've been hurt in different ways. "You're not going to make me go back, right?"

I shake my head and dig into my bag for my spare jacket before offering it to him. "No, I'm not going to make you go back. I'm Bailey."

He beams at me, taking the jacket and pulls it over his head. "I'm Javi."

After that night, I never went anywhere without Javi by my side. I promised myself and him that I'd never let anything happen to him.

Until it was something I couldn't control.