Scars Between Us

Chapter 1

The air was cold, dark clouds covering the sky.

Everyone in the park seemed to enjoy the weather-except them.

The tension between them thickened; Nani's eyes filled with tears, which now started falling upon hearing Sky's last words.

"𝐼 𝑐𝑎𝑛'𝑡 𝑑𝑜 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑎𝑛𝑦𝑚𝑜𝑟𝑒, 𝐼'𝑚 𝑠𝑜𝑟𝑟𝑦."

With that, Sky turned and walked away, without looking back.

Nani's knees gave up beneath him, and he fell to the ground with a heavy thud. Tears flowed freely from his eyes, now mixing with the raindrops.

The clouds grew thick and heavy, and rain started pouring down.

Everyone around him rushed to find some shelter-except Nani. He remained there on the ground, crying under the rain.

A piece of paper was in his hand, a paper he was clutching so hard it was already soaked.

He cried and cried until his breath grew shallow. His body trembled; a panic attack overtook him, and then his eyes closed, and everything went black. The distant sounds of people calling for an ambulance echoed in his ears...

Then Nani stirred awake.

He was sweating, his breath shallow.

He took the glass of water from the bedside table and drank it in shaky gulps. Tears filled his eyes once again.

A flashback from 4 years ago—a memory that still haunted him, replayed in his mind. He lived it every night, nearly every night, it came back to him in his dreams.

He was lost in his thoughts when a soft, sleepy voice came from behind him.

"Papa."

Nani turned and looked in that direction. His 4-year-old son, the only light in his life, the only reason for his existence.

Nani removed the tears from the back of his hand and crouched close to his son, who was now sitting on the other side of the bed.

"Hey, baby... do you need something?" Nani asked gently, cupping his son's cheeks.

The baby shook his head.

"No... Why were you crying, Papa?" he asked in a sleepy voice.

Nani looked at his son, tears threatening to well up again, but he composed himself and said softly, "Bad dream."

"Don't cry, papa... Rayan here. Rayan will take care of you."

The baby stood up, removed the tears from the corner of Nani's eyes with his small hands, and pressed a sweet kiss to Nani's cheek.

Nani's heart ached, he hugged his son tightly, tears falling once more.

They stayed there for a moment until Nani broke the hug, wiping away his tears. "Now... let's get back to sleep. You have school tomorrow."

Nani lay his son back down on the mattress and then lay close beside him, wrapping his arms around the small body.

The baby fell asleep immediately, safely in his father's embrace. Nani remained awake for some time, lost in thought, but eventually, he fell asleep, too.

His life was hard, he'd lost everything-the person whom he trusted and loved with his whole heart, his hope to live. But then, against all odds, a new hope blossomed within him: his son.

To Nani, his son was everything. As long as his son was by his side, Nani believed he could face anything and endure whatever came in his way.

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