stay with me

"Look," she smiled, holding out her hand full of seashells to the young boy. "Aren't they pretty?" The boy nodded and took the shells into his hand, dumping them into the purple bucket beside him.

"Let's look over there!" he said with a smile to the woman, pointing towards a small tide pool. He started running and the woman stared at him lovingly.

It was her birthday that day, and she had decided to spend that day with her child down at the beach. She had never been happier.

"Mom!" the boy yelled running towards her with a handful of shells from the tide pool. Some of them fell from his hands, creating a trail behind him. "I got some! Look, look!"

She smiled, "Wow!" she said. "That's a lot of shells!" The boy nodded happily and put them in the bucket, reaching out for his mother's hand. She gladly took it as the walked around on the beach, the sun shining brightly in the sky.

Several hours had passed. The mother watched her child play in the ocean waters as she sat on the sand, a small smile on her face. She felt joyful watching her son smile so carelessly, as if he had no worries in the world.

The boy wandered back to his mother and sat beside her; she immediately wrapped her arms around the boy. "Look," she said, pointing toward the distance. The sun was setting. "It's beautiful, isn't it?" He nodded. "There's something on the other side of that sunset, something more beautiful than this."

She looked at him, squeezing his shoulder, "I want you to keep going until you reach the other side," she said, "because there's something waiting for you there, something much greater than anything you could ever dream of."

He opened his eyes.

Jiu sighed and sat up in his bed. He had always been a victim of his dreams, and he hated how emotional he was after he had woken up from them.

Throwing his sheets to the side, he got out of bed, stretching his arms and legs. Afterwards, he threw on a shirt and walked out of the room. His father was never home anymore, so he didn't have to worry about bumping into him as he walked down the hallway that lead to the living room. Jiu looked around the house—he had forgotten how lonely it was since he was always out on the streets, only coming home to sleep before he went out again the next morning. When was the last time he had sat down with his father and had a proper conversation with him.

About six years ago, the same day his mother left him to go to the other side.

He didn't care though—soon, he wouldn't have to deal with the loneliness any longer. He slipped on his shoes after putting on his usual black hoodie and left the house.

To his surprise, May had been waiting outside for him. She smiled when she saw him. "Hey, Jiu," she said. "How've you been?"

Ever since the day at the cemetery, Jiu hadn't seen the girl. He didn't know if she was embarrassed or if something had happened at home, and as much as he hated to admit it, he had started to care about her.

"Oh," he said, stuffing his hands into his pocket. "May. What are you doing here?"

She shrugged, "I had no where else to go," she said. "I wanted to see how you were doing, too."

A small smile appeared on his face as he closed the front door behind him. "I'm flattered," he said, walking toward the girl.

She scoffed, "Don't get ahead of yourself."

As they walked away from the boy's house, Jiu smiled, staring down at his torn shoes. He didn't know he could miss someone as much as he had missed May the last week and a half, but he did; and being with her after a while made him feel happy.

Something he hadn't felt in a long time.

"Let's go somewhere," May said, snapping the boy out of his thoughts. "Somewhere quiet where no one would dare to go."

Jiu was silent, thinking. "The only quiet place around us is the woods, near the highway." She smiled. "You don't wanna go there, do you?"

"That's exactly where we'll go," she said.

"What? No wa—" Jiu was cut off when she grabbed his hand and started running down the street, a smile decorating her face.

He smiled.

+++

"Come on," May said, pulling Jiu through sea of trees. He hurried behind her, stepping over logs. Every time he would set his foot down, dead leaves would crunch under his weight. He chuckled to himself quietly, the memories of him jumping in piles of leaves coming to his head.

"Here," May said, stepping out into the clearing. "We're here, Jiu." She turned around to look at the boy with a tired smile.

He looked around. It seemed as if she had brought him to the middle of nowhere. Jiu stared at May, confused. "Why are we here?"

May sat down on a log, sighing. "I used to come here with my brother when we were younger," she said. "I always end up here from time to time when I need to be alone." He nodded and moved forward, sitting beside May but keeping his distance.

"Your brother," Jiu started, "how close were you two?" He'd never been one to care about people's personal lives, but when it came to May, everything was different. Even though they'd been strangers only a few weeks ago, he felt like he could trust her.

"I would do anything for my brother," she said, looking at him. "He was the only person I had, the only one I felt safe around."

"Oh," he mumbled. "It must've been nice, to have someone to count on and trust."

May's brows furrowed in confusion. "What do you mean by that?"

"I've been alone all my life," Jiu said. "Even when my mom was still alive, I was still alone. Before I was the sad, depressed kid everyone knew for trying to kill himself every month, I was still lonely. I've never had anyone by my side, May."

The girl looked at him sadly. She knew it must've been hard to live a life without someone to depend on, and it only became worse when his mother had died. She knew what it felt like, but she could never fully understand the pain and sorrow Jiu felt.

"You have me."

Jiu's head turned and he looked at May with the same blank look he had given her the day they met on the bridge. "What?"

"You don't have to be lonely anymore," she said with a smile, her eyes twinkling, "because you have me now."

Jiu couldn't remember how he ended up on the ground with his face buried in his knees, sobbing as May comforted him with a hug. But what she had said had triggered something inside of him, making him break down.

He had always wanted to hear those words from someone, anyone. He had always wanted to make sure that he had someone to rely on when he needed them. He had always wanted to feel loved, even if it was by the wrong person. And May made him feel that way.

For the first time since his mother's death, Jiu felt loved.

"You can cry," she said softly, hugging him as he leaned on her. "It's okay, just cry. I'll be here for you whenever you need me."

He looked up and stared at May with glossy, red eyes. The look he gave her hurt her, but the words he said made her heart break.

"Stay with me. Please."

She smiled at him and nodded, a tear escaping her eye. "Okay," she said. "I'll stay with you." Jiu smiled and looked back down, his head resting on her chest with his eyes closed.

"Always," May mumbled once his cries had calmed down. "For as long as you need me, I'll always be here for you."