They will try to hurt you, but you shan't give in.
A smirk played on Chris' lips.
He watched Artemisia from the factory. He noticed her flinch at the children, he noticed her at stand-still for a couple of minutes. He noticed the single tear which rolled down her cheek. He noticed the young girl's shaky breath apparent in the December weather, her rubbing her hands together to help fight off the cold. He noticed her sniff and carry on with her work as if nothing had happened prior to it.
He noticed it all.
He managed to grasp the idea of empathy, the idea of trauma, the idea of being heartbroken.
The emotions which had disappeared not too long ago were coming back to him, slowly, but surely. He noticed the details as a coping mechanism for being alone. Not only when it came to friends but also when it came to family.
There would be times where he would stare at the ceiling in the dark, making no noise so the hostel owner wouldn't whip him again, and the realisation that no one stays would hit him like a barrel of beer rolling down a hill.
She didn't make him feel alone, and he didn't want to continue to be himself anymore. He had just gotten used to the horrid remarks of his roommates, but she came into the picture, he would rather keep to himself than to drag her into the mess created by his title.
He had just gotten used to the horrid remarks made by his hostel owner. The remarks which made him want to disappear.
But to them, he was deaf.