Nico's POV

From my perch on a small, stained armchair, the only one that lived in our cramped house, I could see the situation perfectly. My father, face cherry red with rage, screaming at my mother with a half empty can of beer clutched tightly in his right hand, other empty cans scattered around him in a disorderly fashion. My mother, meek and cowering, was huddled in a corner, hands covering her cheeks where I could already see dark bruises forming. My heart broke just a little bit when I saw my kind, gentle mother being yelled at by my father, who must have been at least fifty pounds larger than her.

"You can't do anything right!" I heard him bellow. My mother gave a small whimper. "All I ask for is one decent meal a night, and a cold beer when I get home. Is this too much?"

"N- no, sweetie," she stammered. "I just-" Before she could continue, my dad raised his hand again, and I averted my eyes, wishing I could also block out the cries of pain coming from my mom. When the sounds of beating had stopped, I peered through my fingers, only to find my dad staring right at me with cold, loveless eyes.

"And you! Boy! Get over here. Just because your mother messed up doesn't mean you get off scot- free. Get over here, now!" Legs trembling in fear, I pushed myself off of the chair and made my way over to my hulking father without falling flat on my face.

"Don't think I didn't notice the mess you made! After all I've done for this family, the least you can do is clean up after yourself." He raised a strong, muscled hand, about to strike him, but my mother grabbed his arm and pulled it down.

"Honey, please, don't do this. He's only a child." He wheeled on her.

"Oh, I'm not done with you. You just wait your turn." My mother gazed at me with big imploring eyes, mouthing run. My courage said to stay and defend my mom but when my dad turned on me again, hand raised to strike, my fight or flight response took over and I bolted out the door. I could hear his heavy footsteps pounding on the weathered wood of our house behind me, but he gave up when I rounded the corner.

I was already a block away when I felt safe enough to stop running. We lived in the poor part of New York City, and strange sounds echoed all around me. I felt as if the shadows all had eyes on me. Even so, I leaned against a brick wall, clutching a stitch in my side as I caught my breath. I could still hear my mother's cries of pain echoing in my ears like an awful sound recording that wouldn't stop playing. I needed to go somewhere to clear my head. Sighing, I stood up straight and started to walk, looking for any place where I could see the stars.

Will's POV

The baby was crying again, the puppy was barking and I was in the thick of the chaos, sitting in front of a mountain of extremely difficult homework from various honors courses that I had yet to do. The noise was making my head pound, like someone was smashing a hammer against the side of my skull.

"Will, can you clean up the dog pee?" My mother asked, carrying Lucy, our newborn baby, in her arms. My second youngest sister Charlie trailed behind her, clutching at her dress.

"Mom, I have a ton of homework," I groaned. "Can't Ben do something? He never helps." My mother pursed her lips, and I could tell from her expression that she was disappointed in my lack of interest in helping.

"Will, Ben is only twelve. You, being the oldest, have more responsibilities."

"But mom-" I began.

"But nothing, William. Please help. You know I'm in over my head here." Sighing, I got up from the table, our puppy jumping up onto me. I grabbed the cleaning solution and an old sponge from underneath the sink, which was filled to the brim with unwashed dishes. I didn't need her to tell me where the pee was. I could smell it.

I scrubbed hard at the spot of pee with the soap filled sponge, my hands and knees pressing hard into the uncomfortable rug. Lilac, our puppy, was barking loudly at a casual passerby taking a late night walk. I kept scrubbing, but I had no effect on the smell of pee that had so quickly taken over the entire house. When I could scrub no more, I lifted myself up and put the cleaning supplies back underneath the sink. I sat back down at the table with relief, ready to get a start on my homework.

"Will?" My mother said, placing Lucy on the table in front of me. "Will you take Lucy up to the bathroom? She needs a diaper change." I could feel anger growing in my chest. Everything was happening too fast, and I couldn't deal with it. I pushed back my chair, and started to make my way through the door, leaving my mom to pick up Lucy and scurry after me.

"Will, where are you going?" she asked.

"Out," I replied simply, pushing open the door. A cool breeze danced across my face, and I could almost feel the stress melting away. "I need to clear my head." I walked out the door and closed it behind me so Lilac wouldn't escape. I could hear my mom's shouts of "William!" echoing behind me but I didn't care. I'd deal with my punishment for leaving when I got back.

As I walked down the quieter, more suburban streets of New York City, I could feel my headache melting away. Once in a while I could hear the distant sound of a car alarm or faint shouting, but I was finally at peace. Although, there was one place I knew of that would make me one hundred percent better, and I would even be able to withstand my mom's torrent of scoldings when I got home. Energized, I started to run, cold wind whipping at my face. When I saw the small park, abandoned by all but me, I came to a halt, ready for the solitude that my small refuge had to offer. But when I got closer, a slight problem arose. because, as it turns out, I wasn't the only person who knew of the parks existence. because someone was already there.

Nico's POV

As soon as I heard the crunching of leaves I sat bolt upright, thinking that my dad had somehow found this small abandoned park and had come to punish me. But as it turned out, my guess was completely wrong. He was a tall, good looking blonde boy with light blue eyes and a smattering of freckles across his face. He looked to be about my age. As he stepped forward to greet me tentatively, I saw that he was my age. it was Will Solace.

I didn't know much about Will. We were polar opposites, and we tended to stay away from each other. He was the class president, and he took every honors class the sophomore class had to offer. But obviously we had something in common. After all, we were both at an old abandoned park at nine thirty p.m. Normal teenagers don't just show up in an abandoned park, so far away from the hustle and bustle of the city that everyone else seemed addicted to, unless they had a reason. Will laid down next to me and we looked up at the glittering stars that you could only see in this special place for what seemed like endless eternities. It was Will who finally broke the silence.

"It's Nico, right?" he asked. I nodded.

"Will Solace. I know you. Every one knows you."

"So, Nico, do you come here a lot? I haven't seen you here before."

"It's my first time. But I'm guessing that you do?"

"All the time. It helps me de- stress." He flipped onto his side to face me, and I did the same, staring into his beautiful blue eyes that seemed to hold the earth.

"So," he said. "You know I come here to de- stress. What's yours?" I had figured that question was coming. After all, normal teenagers don't just show up to quiet abandoned parks so far away from the city.

"It's my dad," I began carefully. "He's always drunk, and he's always hitting my mom and me. Tonight she told me to run, so I did. And I ended up here." Will nodded slowly, seemingly still processing the information. Then, he reached out his arm and I crawled closer to him, curling up next to his chest.

"Do you ever spend the night out here?" I asked tentatively. Will nodded his head. "How do you do it? Go to sleep out here, I mean."

"It's easy," Will murmured. "Just look at the stars." I nodded, and we stared up at the twinkling night sky together, watching stars shine down on us from above. Slowly, I felt my eyes begin to droop. Wills' eyes fluttered closed, and we fell asleep together in that abandoned park that no one goes to underneath a night sky of stars.

Hey guys! I feel like the ending was sort of rushed, so sorry about that. I'm really busy and also tired, but i still got this done. on a related note, I haven't started the special one for 10k yet but I'll get it done soon, I promise. Like i said, I've been really busy, but that's not a great excuse. I hope you liked this one, though.

Nina