Looking up at the flaking ceiling directly above my bed, nothing in particular ran through my head. Instead, my head was simply filled with dull, static noise. My greatest, and only, concern in this moment was the flaking paint. My eyes scanned across each individual paint flake and evaluated how close they were from falling down from their clinging spot on the ceiling. The verdict: they were no closer to falling now than they were on any given day. They were always like this.

One may argue that I should probably be concerned with greater things than paint chips, especially considering I had just broken up with my girlfriend, but I would argue that this was such a regular occurrence that it didn't really matter any more than the paint chips. Relationships never last; especially not ones you form in school. That's what they always say, isn't it? I suppose that's why 'high school sweethearts' is such a novelty.

Rolling over and onto my side, I looked over at the open window. The cool breeze flowed through the room and graced my skin with a refreshing touch of the outside. I liked to keep my window open like that, especially when I slept. It was comforting to sleep in the chilly night air. I use the term 'sleep' loosely because I don't do much of anything resembling sleeping these days; the angry, red clock-numbers on my bedside table say it's almost three in the morning, attesting to that fact.

Another strong, cool breeze swept through the room and I kicked off the covers, heading to the window to admire the view. Looking out, the world seemed still. There was no hustle and bustle of neighbours or cars; the only sound I could hear came from the natural world. I saw a shadow in the tree line at the end of the garden, moving quickly towards the woods. I smiled, knowing that it was probably my neighbour's cat again. He's a bit timid, not really fond of people, but he likes to say hello sometimes. Admittedly, he reminded me a little of myself.

When it was nice out like this, and I couldn't sleep, I quite often would go for a little stroll through the town. Usually, the night ambience would calm me down and tire me out a bit so I could nod off. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. It was worth a try tonight, either way.

My mother had work in the morning, so I couldn't use the front door unless I wanted to be hung, drawn and quartered. Never one to be deterred, I grabbed my jacket and slipped my shoes on. I liked to use my bedroom window as an exit quite a lot of the time, preferring to not answer any questions about where I was going and when I would be back.

As I stepped up onto the windowsill, knocking over a can of whatever and leaving a small puddle in the process, I looked all around once again. Admiring the view, I appreciated just how calm everything was once again; the shadows of small furry animals moving through the night being the only sign that the earth wasn't frozen still.

The streets were empty, lined with parked cars and lit street lamps but free of people. I could see woods for as far as the eye could see, beginning at the end of the garden and expanding deep into the horizon, only the tops of the trees peaking out the further the eye travelled. It was quite relaxing out there and I often felt drawn to a walk around the forest trails. However, I'm not quite dumb enough to stalk the woods at night, alone, so I usually settle for the park instead.

I shimmied across the window ledge, beginning my usual routine of sneaking out, and balanced along the roofs gutter before sliding down the drain pipe at the edge of the garage. Admittedly, I had done this a million times, so I was practically an expert at it by now.

Feet finally on solid ground, I set off walking down the dimly-lit, suburban streets. I plugged in my earphones and nodded my head along to my music as I grooved down street after street of houses and parked cars, just enjoying the night. Before long, I found myself at the edge of the forest, stood still at the edge of the tree line. Slightly breathless at the sight, I had naturally stilled as I looked in awe at the dark outline of what looked like a large deer hidden in the shade of the trees, seemingly looking right at me.

This town was full of wildlife due to it being located slap-bang in the middle of a massive forest and national park. We were surrounded by trees and little woodland creatures. I suppose that's why I love this town so much. I knew some people hated the small-town atmosphere and couldn't wait to get out, but I never want to leave. Ever since I was a child, I had loved animals to the extent that I had demanded to go vegetarian at just ten years old. I waved at the deer before moving on down the tree line path.

I strolled towards the rusting children's park that sat on the forest edge, spotting Mike and Mick in their usual spot on the swings. They nodded at me when they saw me approaching and I did the same, settling down in my usual spot on the slide. The cool metal cooled what skin I had exposed and soothed what stress I had lingering from the catastrophe breakup. Mike and Mick were twins; they were sort of annoying and one-track minded at times. However, as you can imagine, not many other people are up at three in the morning so company is company as far as I'm concerned.

"Haven't seen you in a while, Cam." Mick greeted me, taking a long puff from a cigarette.

"Where have you been?" Mike took his own drag of the same cigarette, barely glancing at me for even a second.

"Here and there." I shrugged, deciding to lay back and focus on the stars instead of the nicotine-breathed twins.

"Ever the mysterious loner." Mike teased, "How's her majesty, anyway? We barely ever see you when you're in one of your relationships."

"We broke up."

The words left my mouth effortlessly with no twang on my heart strings or thick-feeling in my throat. I knew that one glance towards the boys would reveal sympathy, shock and possibly incredulity. I could tell what was going through their head: why on earth would you break up with a girl like that? All they think of is sex. Mike wasn't too bad, usually, but Mick was consumed by it. It plagued his mind, as far as I'm concerned.

"What happened?" Mike asked cautiously, ceasing his consistent swinging.

"The usual demands: stop going out at night, put more effort in, say I love you, do this, do that..." I trailed off, listing all the usual problems with all of my past relationships.

Glancing over at the boys, the moonlight beamed down on them from above and I could see the same confused expression slapped on each of their faces. At moments like this, you couldn't really tell them apart. Despite being identical, usually they had their individual tells to tell them apart. Right now, however, I only knew which one was which because they were sat in their designated swings. One more glance at their confused faces and I could tell that they wouldn't understand my issue, so I just shrugged.

"Clingy." I gave the excuse that every guy accepted instantly.

They both nodded, finally understanding. Well, they thought that they understood. I don't really understand it myself. The more relationships that I enter, the more I realise that they're just not for me. I don't click with people, for some reason; they don't understand me and I just don't feel anything towards them. Not a spark, not love, nothing.

"Does that mean she's single?" Mick chirped after a moments silence, making Mike slap him over the head.

"Go for it." I laughed at him, knowing he's not her type anyway. Too talkative.

"You go through girls like Mick goes through boxes of tissues." Mike teased, making me grimace at the thought.

At that, the boys started chatting away about who in our sixth form they would 'smash'. I zoned out, counting the number of stars I could see. Being in the countryside, we don't get much light pollution, so I can see them a lot more clearly here than I ever could if I was in the city. I don't know many constellations, but I think they're pretty anyway.

Letting my thoughts drift away until Mick and Mike were white-noise to my inner voice, I considered that perhaps I'm just not built for relationships. I mean, maybe I'm just not destined for that kind of lifestyle. I'll be a bachelor forever; it can't be that bad. Some people lead very fulfilled lives without a partner, and are probably happier sans relationship arguments.

I knew that deep down, however, I had been craving somebody lately. That's why I had given this last relationship a go, despite my other ones failing miserably. I craved somebody who would understand me. It wasn't that I wanted to be with anybody in particular, I just don't want to be alone.

Worst comes to worst, I'll just get a dog, or maybe two. Okay, probably three. Depends how I'm feeling.

I had been so zoned out that I hadn't noticed a shadowy figure approaching the park, the moonlight casting a dark shadow across their features from their downturned cap. Looking up in curiosity, I peered through the darkness to try and make out who it was.

The big, beefy, red face of my good pal Doug came into view. I cringed, whenever he showed up things tended to turn sour. Mike and Mick looked absolutely terrified and I sighed deeply, sitting up straight on the slide and clicking my knuckles. He was marching towards us with determination, glaring at the boys intently. They must have done something to piss him off. Big mistake.

"Doug!" I greeted with fake enthusiasm, making his thick neck turn towards me. He looked worse than usual.

"Don't try that fake-nice shit with me." He snarled, spit flying through the air, "You think you can chat shit about me? I will always find out. I have people everywhere."

"I haven't chatted shit?" I frowned, wracking my memory for a time when I had even bothered uttering a word about this waste of space.

"You said that I looked like a bulldog with rabies." He deadpanned, his snarl being accompanied by a crazy look in his beady eyes.

"Well, shit. Yes, I did say that." I trailed off, seeing the beefcake get angrier, "But I meant it in a positive way! Somebody has clearly twisted my words out of context. Clearly, I meant that you have the intellect, strength and poise of a... bulldog. You know?"

He furrowed his eyebrows for a second and I drew in a sharp intake of breath, hoping my bullshitting had worked. I really thought he was dumb enough to buy it, but Mick went and ruined it by sniggering. Doug sent the both of them a hot glare, matching my own one at Mick, before turning to face me with a face like thunder. He took a step towards me and I gulped, backed up against the slide already. Jumping to my feet, I added around the slide slowly, ready to run and abandon those idiots.

"Don't fucking move, or else." Doug threatened, reaching into his pocket.

My face paled at that moment and I didn't care to look, but I'm sure Mick and Mike's faces did too. I couldn't be sure what he was reaching for, but I had an idea and I certainly didn't want to hang around to confirm my suspicions. The twins looked, wide eyed, from Doug's hand deep in his pocket to me. They, like me, had scrambled to their feet and within a blink of an eye had darted off in unison, leaving me in the dust.

How dare they abandon me. Well, I suppose I know deep down that I would have done the same. I mean, I wasn't an idiot and there was no way in hell that I was going to follow Doug's instructions to hang around because I was for sure going to be shanked whether I obeyed him or not.

Turning quickly on my heels, I sprinted like my life depended on it (which it probably did if he really was reaching for a knife of some kind). Over the sound of my own heartbeat banging in my ears and my laboured breath, I could hear Doug yelling after me. Despite my better judgment, I glanced over my shoulder, to check he wasn't hot on my heels like the bulldog he is.

What I saw surprised me.

Doug was now mid fist-fight with some tall, muscular guy dressed entirely in black. It was clear that the guy he was fighting could handle himself because he was absolutely handing Doug's ass to him, but with whatever Doug had in his pocket, I wouldn't be surprised if it ended pretty badly. A feeling swirled in my stomach making me feel sort of nauseous and I almost gagged for a second. That wasn't a good sign.

I felt guilt surge through my veins; I felt inclined to run back there, but what use would I be? It wasn't like I could help him in this fight in any way. It would be stupid for me to get involved. I mean, it's not like I even know him, so why would I risk myself like that? It was selfish of me, but I tried to convince myself that I didn't care.

Wherever the guy came from, which seemed to be out of thin air, I didn't care to question it. I was just relieved at the head start it gave me to run away. The guilt was eating me up, however. That guy could get stabbed. Unsure of what to do, I pulled out my phone and anonymously reported the fight to the emergency services as I continued to run. I must have sounded like a lunatic, out of breath and panting out in strained-voices that a bulldog-looking teenager wielding a knife (allegedly) was brawling with a black-clothed figure in an old kids park by the woods.

It probably sounded like a prank call.

As soon as they had taken the details, I quickly hung up and continued on my run home, holding my aching chest. I think I smoke too much to be running for this long without some permanent damage done to my heart, or something.

I finally reached home, climbing up my drain pipe as quickly as possible (which with my poor upper body strength, took a while). I clumsily shuffled along the window ledge and stumbled through the open window, slamming it shut and drawing my curtains. My lock had broken a while back, so I didn't bother with that, but I definitely will not be sleeping with it open tonight, no matter how calming it usually is. Kicking off my muddy shoes, I tore off my jacket and dove into bed still fully dressed.

The covers were pulled over my head as I panted into the stagnant air under my duvet, my breathing laboured from running like a lunatic all the way back here. I was struggling to calm it down and regain my composure. I was certainly not used to exercising in any capacity.

The stitch that had developed in my side was stabbing, pardon the irony, and my lungs felt like they were going to collapse in on themselves. Even still, I refused to peep out from under the covers for fresh air. As cocky and confident as I act sometimes, tonight scared me. If it hadn't been for that random person fighting Doug, tonight could have ended quite differently for me. God knows I'm not the fastest runner. Plus, Doug plays sports, so he would've had me in no time with his feral running speed.

Despite myself, I couldn't help but wonder who had told him what I said? It was only a side remark, some banter in the hallways amongst friends, which couldn't have been overheard by anyone. Nobody was in earshot. Regardless, I'm not surprised Doug took it so seriously, knowing his ego, but whoever told him would have known he would react like that. Knowing my luck, it was probably one of my ex-girlfriends.

Rolling over and onto my side, pulling the duvet down, the angry, red clock numbers lit my face up harshly with their light. They say it's almost five in the morning. The sun would be rising in a few hours, and I couldn't wait. I had never wanted daylight more. It felt safer. I mean, what could he do during daylight hours? Jack shit.

As I laid there, my mind kept spinning and replaying the events of tonight. Sometimes it would end with me in bed, as it did tonight. Sometimes, however, my version of events would end with me bleeding out in the rusty old park. Cold and alone. I shivered at the thought.

I should find out who that person was and thank them... If they're still alive.