Stay

Luna has had enough. She was tired of her father, always coming home and arguing with her mother. It had been happening ever since she was a child. All she ever did was cry on the floor, with the door against her back. She always heard shouting and yelling and glasses breaking, every. Single. Day.

This time, she wanted to leave. She wanted to be free from all of the chaos at her home. She knew, leaving through the front door would be terrible idea because that's where the madness happens. So, she decided to leave through her bedroom window. There was a big tree, right outside. She opened the window, silently without making any noise, and climbed out to the roof. She has never climbed a tree before but she had to try. She grabbed one of the branches that was very near to her, and climbed and stood on the big branch. She slowly climbed down through the trunk of the tree and reached the fence. She climbed over that as well.

Luna took a deep breath before breaking into a small jog. She jogged on the sidewalk, sometimes looking up to the dark sky and the bright full moon. It calmed her for a while. She stopped when she reached a river on the side of the road. There was a big tree near it. A bigger one than the one near her home. "Home". She couldn't call her house a 'home', anymore. She hated it. She hated going home, everyday, only to hear her parents shouting at each other.

Luna walked towards it and knelt down beside the river and looked at her reflection. Her eyes were a bit red, her cheeks were stained with tears.. just the sight was enough to make her shed a few more tears.

"You alright?", asked a british accent. She looked over to her left to see the silhouette of a boy.

Luna: I can't see you.

The boy came closer towards her, the dim moonlight showing her the figure. He looked like he was in his twenties and he had a dark blonde hair and stunning blue eyes that twinkled in the moonlight. He sat down beside her.

Boy: Are you okay?

Luna: Why'd you care?

Boy: Oh, I don't know, a girl came to the place where I was chilling at and starts to almost cry?

"Alright, I'll leave you to your peace, then.", Luna said as she got up with tears lining in her eyes.

"Wait!", the boy stopped her by getting up, quickly and holding her wrist.

Boy: Stay... I didn't mean to upset you.

Luna looked at him up and down. She stood silent for a while. She sighed and took her place back, the blonde sitting down beside her.

Boy: I-I guess we'll have to introduce ourselves...

Luna nodded.

"I'm Harrison.", the boy smiled and held his hand out.

She looked at his hand, sighed and took it.

"Luna.", she shook his hand.

Harrison: Beautiful name.

Luna:*smiles*Thanks...

Harrison: So... Luna, how long have you lived here?

Luna: My whole life. You?

Harrison: Same.

Luna: Hm. What have brought you here? Like, why did you come here?

Harrison: I couldn't sleep. I was distracted. Don't think I'll be able to sleep for a few hours.

Luna: Oh...

Harrison: What about you?

Luna: What?

Harrison: Why are you here?

Luna: Oh, um... it's.. complicated..

She started fidgeting with her fingers and didn't dare to look into his blue eyes. Harrison noticed that she was a bit nervous,

Harrison: I'll try to understand but.. only if you tell me..

Luna looked at him, with hope and sorrow in her eyes.

Harrison: I won't tell a soul. I promise.

She fell silent, again. He looked like a trustworthy person, right?

'One time. One time, only.', she kept repeating to herself in her head.

Luna:*sighs*Okay... fine... I trust you.

Harrison turned to her, eagerly waiting for her to speak.

Luna: ...Ever since I was young, my parents... always got into these.. arguments. They've always argued about everything. Every. Little. Thing. They didn't care about where they were doing it. Let it be a wedding, an event or anything. They didn't care. When I was young, it was only through words but now, it's gotten worse. Way worse. My dad always came home, drunk and starts yelling at my mum, who always shouts back at him. They were physical and mental violence between the both of them...

Harrison: and... you?

She fell silent, again. Harrison noticed that she was trying to fight back her tears. It was only a few minutes before she started speaking,

Luna: I was scared. Ever since I was young, I was scared of going home. It felt like hell. Whenever I was with them for a wedding or an event, I could see the people looking at me with pity, I hated it. At home, I would always be in my room, hearing them shout and yell curses at each other. I had no other choice but to cry. Cry until it was all over. My whole life, I've been crying and fearing. I've been crying all of my anger and sorrow, away. But this time, I've had enough. I've had enough of their arguments and the chaos that they've always caused. I've had enough of crying, every single second of my day... so, I snuck out of my window and came here for comfort and some silence and peace.

Luna covered her face with her hands. Harrison assumed that she was crying and.. he was right. After a minute or so, he heard muffled sobs that escaped her lips. He slowly put his arm around her shoulder and kept her head on his shoulder. She removed her hands from her face when she felt it,

Luna: I'm sorry...

Harrison: For what?

Luna: Crying.

Harrison:*chuckles*Its okay, love. Crying is okay. It's a natural response to pain.

Luna:*sniff*Yeah, yeah, I guess so.

Harrison: Is there anything I could do for you?

Luna: ...Stay. I want you to stay.

Harrison:*smiles* As you wish

Luna: For as long as I want?

He brushed a strand of her hair behind her ear,

Harrison: Okay.

They sat there in comfortable silence and lost track of time. They didn't care, though. Harrison waited for the girl to feel okay and he didn't care how long it took. Luna, on the other hand, felt comfortable and safe in the boy's arms, two feelings that she never felt with her parents and the feelings that longed for ever since she was young.

After a few minutes,

Luna took a deep breath and sat back up. She looked at her watch and turned to Harrison, who was already looking at her.

Luna: I think I better leave.

Harrison: Wait, really?

She nodded.

Harrison: Why?

Luna: My mum always checks up on me, every late night. If I'm not there, she'll probably kill me.

Harrison: I don't think I'll let that happen.

Luna smiled.

Harrison: Are you feeling okay?

Luna: Yeah... Yeah, I'm okay.

Harrison: Are you sure?

Luna: Mm-hm.

Harrison: Okay, then.

Luna: Thank you... for y-y'know... listening.

Harrison:*smiles*No problem.

She got up from her place and walked towards the road, Harrison's eyes following her, making sure she is actually okay. She stopped in her tracks and turned around to look at the blonde,

Luna: Can I meet you here, tomorrow?

Harrison smiled and nodded. She smiled and turned to the road, waving her hand without looking back. The blonde smiled and waved back, even though she couldn't see it. The girl walked all the way home, eagerly waiting for the next day, for the first time in her life, to chat with the stranger again.