'We've heard and seen it all; no one's talked us out. The problems that have come haven't yet torn us down.' – 'Always Attract' – You Me At Six.
JPOV
It was a chilly night and again I was forced to walk home because Maria had totalled my car. She'd been drunk and had run it off the road. That had been the final straw…I'd ended out relationship that night.
Maria and I had been high-school sweet hearts, it had been my first serious relationship and I'd worshipped the ground she walked on, I was love-sick and foolish. It took a turn for the worst when Maria became alcohol dependant. I kept telling her to stop; it would cause her to become aggressive and manipulative. My parents, who were like family to her, had disowned her after she'd thrown a vase at me. But, naively I continued to go back and try and help her.
I had gotten her to attend an alcoholic's anonymous group and she'd asked me if she could borrow my car to drive there when hers was in the shop. But she'd been intoxicated, at midday, she'd been under the influence of alcohol and had run my car of the road, earning herself a bad neck sprain and me a hell of a lot in repair bills and our relationship was then over.
4 months had passed and I still couldn't pay for my car to get fixed up, my parents had refused to help out because they said I'd brought it on myself for staying with Maria and so I was walking home on a Friday night, in the freezing cold, in New York city on my way back from yet another failed attempt at getting Maria to sort her life out.
We may have not been a couple, but I still cared, I'd spent the majority of my teenagers years with Maria, and I wasn't likely to ever forget how I'd once felt, I wanted her to get better, she'd had so many dreams, and had so much potential, it was a shame to see it go to waste.
I sighed and flicked my cigarette butt into a nearby drain, I buried my hands deep into my pockets to save them from the dropping temperature, I was only a few blocks from my apartment and I quickened my pace.
The hooting of drunks and tinkling of smashing glass was a background noise to the dark, cold night. People were celebrating the arrival of the weekend and a part of me wished I could join them, but the other part knew that, given the opportunity, I wouldn't.
I scuffed my feet along the frosty path as I turned onto a quiet, run down Side Street, about half way down there was a small alley that cut through the other side of the block, a bit of a shortcut home.
I turn the corner and stopped dead in my tracks, I blinked hard a few times because I couldn't believe what I was seeing.
Huddled in a ball, back firm against the wall was a girl; I couldn't tell how old she was as she had her face hidden in her arms, which she had crossed over her knees.
She didn't move but her breathing was laboured and she seemed absolutely terrified.
After a moment she moved her arms down and raised her head to look at me.
When her eyes met mine, I gasped, they were a breath-taking green, she looked petrified, and so, so lost. She seemed to hold this strange maturity, as if she had been forced to grow up to fast. I'd never seen a single person look so broken, and I knew she was in pain, from that one glance, I knew.
I quickly crouched beside her and tried to let her know that I wouldn't hurt her.
"Are you alright?" I murmured.
The second the words were out of my mouth she was crying. I raised a hand to brush away the moisture that fell.
"What do you want?" she asked, her voice cracked and I picked up on the trace of fear in her words. My heart bled for her, I had no idea who had put her in this situation but I couldn't believe she automatically assumed I would hurt her.
"I want to know if you're alright…" I said again.
After a moment of hesitation she met my eyes again.
"No, I'm not…" she sobbed and I had an overwhelming urge to hold her to me and make her promises I had no way in keeping.
I stood up and held a hand out to her, having decided that I would take care of her, even if it was only giving her a place to stay for the night.
"Come on, I'll take care of you…" I assured her.
There was a small pause before she slipped her hand into mine.
I smiled in encouragement as I pulled her up off the ground.
"I'm Jasper, by the way…" I informed her, feeling ashamed that I hadn't introduced myself sooner.
"Alice…" She murmured shyly, looking down at her feet as she followed me further into the alleyway.
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