But you'll never be alone,

I'll be with you from dust till dawn.

And I made sure of that. I remember when you came home from the bar, bleeding out.

I slapped my hand over my mouth as I saw the crimson staining your white graphic tee.

Your usual fluffy hair was drenched in alcohol, I could smell it from across the room as your curls stuck to the back of your neck and forehead.

As I approached, ...

Ever since you came home from the hospital,

despite your sharp features being different from my own,

I cradled you in my arms.

I was there for you when those mean girls judged your Asian features

at an all white school.

I was there for you when you came home with a black eye

and split lip.

I was there for you when I played Barbies with you because you had nobody else.

I was there for you when...

As the car door closed, he murmured, "This is getting too dangerous for both of us."

Those were the last words he ever said to me. We had both sat in silence for the rest of the ride before I got off at the gas station.

The look on the beautiful boy's face broke my heart.

A muscle in his face twitched hard, and I noticed the way his vein covered hands gripped hard on the wheel before the beaten ...

They key they'd given me still fit the lock, but the house no longer felt like home... It hadn't in a long time. Memories of a past life flickered behind my eyes. Pain. Tears. Jealousy. Violence. As I opened the creaking door my throat closed up. The smell of burning bacon. The bandages around my arms erupted in pain and I itched maniacally. Red seeped through the bandages, and my vision began to ...