KYROS SHOVED THROUGH THE busy streets of Los Angeles, one hand on his backpack, the other in his pocket. His fingers fumbled with the black piece of metal in his pocket, itching to take it out and light it. He took a few more steps before turning into an alleyway. He quickly placed his back to the wall, leaning most of his weight onto the dirty brick. His hand brought out a rolled cigarette which he placed in his mouth and held between his two lips. His other took out the lighter he had been fidgeting with not five minutes ago and lit the cigarette. Kyros took a long drag, letting the toxic smoke fill his lungs, and held it there for a moment before exhaling and letting the light grey smoke escape. 

His stiff posture visibly relaxed and his shoulders slumped as the nicotine made its way through his system. A few more drags of his cigarette, and he was down to the stub. His fingers flicked the stub onto the ground and black boots snuffed it out while his hand reached for the cigarette packet. His long fingers flicked the box open and his face screwed up in distaste as he noticed he was out of cigarettes. Kyros sighed and shoved the empty cardboard into his jacket’s pocket. His fingers continued to play with the lighter, striking it to light a flame then letting it extinguish. The orange glow the flame gave off captivated him, his eyes following the flickering light. It enraptured his entire body, his arm subconsciously bringing the lit lighter closer to him, a moth drawn to a flame. 

Kyros’ trance-like state was broken as he heard loud footsteps drawing closer. His head snapped towards the direction the sound was coming, and he shoved his lighter into his pocket before balling his hands into fists, ready to defend himself from any potential threats. The owner of the footsteps drew closer and Kyros’ face paled as he looked at their face. He turned on his heel and immediately began to sprint away from the person.

Fuck, Fuck, Fuck, Fuck, Fuck! Why did it have to be him, how the hell did he find me? I thought I lost him!

His feet pounded against the hard concrete as he attempted to escape. The footsteps behind him grew in volume as the person made pursuit. He threw a glance over his shoulder and immediately regretted it as he stumbled over his feet, and he had to slow down to regain his balance, or he would have fallen.

The few seconds were all the man in pursuit needed to catch up to Kyros, the man grabbed his arm and prevented Kyros from moving any further. Kyros scanned the man up and down and forced a smirk to appear on his face to hide the fear he was feeling.

“You’ve looked better, officer.”

The man’s face turned even redder than it was before the remark. Kyros, however, was right; the officer had seen better days. Over a few months, the officer had put on at least eight pounds, making him noticeably overweight. His face was a bright scarlet compared to Kyros’, and his chest was rising and falling rapidly as he tried to regain his breath. After a few more moments, the officer shot a glare at Kyros and spoke up.

“Kyros, you know you can’t go anywhere alone, especially if you have given your parole officer the slip… again…”

Kyros rolled his eyes, “It’s not my fault that they’re oblivious.”

“Even if that is the case, this is the third time this month, I’m going to have to bring you into custody.”

Kyros opened his mouth to protest but was cut off by a blond man appearing in the alleyway and interrupting them. Kyros’ brow furrowed at the stranger.

What’s a random person doing in an alleyway?

The blond man looked startled to see them there but quickly regained his senses. His eyes lingered over Kyros’ form briefly before shaking his head slightly. Kyros was curious as to why his gaze had lingered but decided not to question it while he was in the predicament he was in.

“God, I’m so sorry I took so long! Nasty queue at the register.”

Kyros looked at the man confused.

What the hell is he talking about? Is he talking to me?

The man continued, ignoring Kyros’ look of confusion. “Oh hello, officer! I’m so sorry I didn’t see you there! May I ask what your issue is?

The police officer looked as equally confused before he spluttered out a response, “Kyros is away from his Parole officer by himself, which is strictly prohibited.”

“Oh?” The man’s eyebrow quirked up. “Well I’m awfully sorry for any issue I may have caused officer, I had run out of cigarettes, so I ran to quickly get some, I wasn’t aware that it would be a problem since I was only leaving him for a brief moment.”

Kyros’ head was whipping from the stranger then back to the officer at a rapid rate.

“Oh, well if that is the case,” the officer began, “then I suppose that it’s not a problem.”

Kyros’ eyes widened as he looked at the officer, his face portraying his disbelief.

What the actual fuck is happening right now? What is this dude’s problem? I’ve never even spoken to him before, why is he helping me? Why does he think I need help? Do I seriously give off that much of a  ‘damsel in distress’ vibe?

The blond stranger shot the officer a dazzling smile. “Perfect! We’ll be on our way then! Again, so sorry for the hassle officer!”

The man walked over to Kyros and swung his arm around his shoulder and proceeded to walk out of the alleyway. Kyros, still dumbstruck at what was occurring, allowed the man to guide him out of the alley, not processing what was happening. 

It wasn’t until Kyros and the man were a good ten feet away from the alleyway before he turned to the man, his head swimming with confusion.

“Who- What- How- Why- What the actual fuck was that? Can I get an explanation as to why you wished to treat me like a damsel in distress? I was perfectly fine by myself! I had everything under control! Wait, never mind that, who the fuck are you! I’ve never even met you and you’re acting as though we’re best buddies!”

The man looked at Kyros with a bemused expression which angered Kyros.

“I’m glad to see you shave some spitfire Ica- Kyros. And to answer your question, I noticed you were in a bit of a situation there, and no offence, by the way, the officer’s eye was beginning to twitch, I wouldn’t say you had it under control… I’d seen you around campus a few times, so I figured why not help you out? You’d always seemed like a chill person,” the man shrugged.

“You still haven’t answered my other question. Who the fuck are you?”

The man chuckled. “My name’s…” the man paused as if to think for a moment.

Kyros deadpanned. "Do you seriously not remember your own name? Jesus Christ, how did you get into our college?”

The stranger shrugged, “To be honest, I’m not sure myself. And my name is Hayden.”

“Hayden?”

“Yup, Hayden.”

“You don’t look like a Hayden.”

“What kind of statement is that? It’s not like I got to choose my name or anything like that…” Hayden seemed to chuckle nervously. “Anyway, what do you think I look like?”

Kyros looked at him and with a monotone voice replied, “You look like an asshole.”

“Why thank you, darling, you really do know how to flatter me.”

Kyros’ face blushed a dark scarlet before he realized and was taken aback. 

What, why am I blushing? He’s just some egotistical jerk, the fact that he called you darling and looked so damn hot- stupid, he looked stupid- while doing it shouldn’t affect you like this! Catch a grip on yourself Kyros, you are a strong, independent man, you don’t need any boy making you blush to ruin everything for you!

He resorted to glaring at Hayden which the receiver of the glare found very bemusing.

“What’s got you annoyed darling?” He asked, quirking that infuriating eyebrow again.

“Don’t. Call. Me. Darling.”

“No offence darling, but that was adorable. It was like watching a kitten try to roar like a lion.”

Kyros glared at the older male, displeased at the comparison. His eyes shifted over to the side as he struggled to think of a comeback. At last, he thought of one and smirked triumphantly as he delivered it.

“Well, at least I don’t sound like I’m from the 18th Century!”

Hayden’s face reddened at the remark. Kyros smirked at the sight before he decided to announce his departure.

“Well, despite how much of an absolute joy it has been talking to you, I best be getting home. Curfew and the like.”

Hayden looked startled at the announcement and opened his mouth to protest. Kyros, however, cut him off very fast by placing his index finger on top of his lips and letting out a long ‘shh’. The blond man complied and looked at Kyros with doe eyes as he began to leave.

Kyros didn’t once look back at Hayden as he left, instead opting to throw his hand up and wave goodbye. “I guess I’ll see you around!”

Hayden smiled at the back of the retreating figure before his brow furrowed. Were those-?

“Also, thank you for the cigarettes! Very thoughtful of you considering I just so happened to run out today!”

Kyros saw the look of surprise on Hayden’s face as he threw his head back and laughed while walking backwards. He smirked to himself before his body gave a powerful jolt to the left. His body went flying before he landed five feet away on the cold, grey asphalt, smacking his head as he landed. His vision swam and blurred slightly before it began to worsen. His eyelids felt heavy as he looked forward. The last thing he saw before his vision turned to black was Hayden’s baby blue flip-flops.

Nice to finally meet you, Hayden.