He wasn’t just my best friend.

He was arrogant. Tormented. Reckless.

I shouldn’t have wanted him, but I did. I still want him.

Now, five years after a drunken mistake of a night, he’s back.

And something has changed. Dark under-eye circles mar his pretty face, and his mouth no longer smirks as readily as before.

I should know better than to trust him with my heart again, but I can’t forget how he breathed life into me back when we were kids. His darkness merged with mine and became something else.

Something brighter.

We clicked together like two jagged, leftover puzzle pieces.

My best friend. My partner...

He wasn’t just my best friend.

He was arrogant. Tormented. Reckless.

I shouldn’t have wanted him, but I did. I still want him.

Now, five years after a drunken mistake of a night, he’s back.

And something has changed. Dark under-eye circles mar his pretty face, and his mouth no longer smirks as readily as before.

I should know better than to trust him with my heart again, but I can’t forget how he breathed life into me back when we were kids. His darkness merged with mine and became something else.

Something brighter.

We clicked together like two jagged, leftover puzzle pieces.

My best friend. My partner in crime. My ride-or-die.

As he spirals further into self-destruction, I need to find a way to protect him from his harrowing past.

Before it breaks us both.