How the trauma started

It all happened during his sixteenth birthday. Everything was going fine. Or so I had thought.

We were in a small, cheap restaurant. The furniture was wooden but looked like it might shatter at any moment. Behind the counter sat the owner who did not look friendly in the slightest. He was a man with a black beard and a matching mustache. His hair was curly and looked as if he hadn't washed it for weeks.

Feeling a little guilty about my decision, I looked directly at Zak, who had sat opposite me looking rather concerned for his chair, and apologized. "I'm sorry! I was not able to find a cheap restaurant with better hospitality."

I followed Zak's gaze as he eyed the stained table in front of us with uncertainty. I quickly said, "at least they have good food, would you look at that?" I pointed out that when the food arrived. To convince him, I took a bite out of the pasta sitting idly on the table. It took me a moment to register that it did not taste bad. It tasted horrible!

Zak laughed lightly at my expression as I stared at the steak with pure disgust. "It's fine, Zyne! I like it." He told, his lips closed in a smile. "I mean, yes, it's a bit gross, but I like it. I like it because you prepared it for me. Thank you so much!"

Upon hearing that, I could not help myself from breaking into a grin. As long as he likes it, I thought.

I picked up the glass of water and Zak followed. "Happy fifteenth birthday, Zak!" I cheered.

Zak started digging in. I did not want to eat any more than I already had because it was my treat for him and the dish was barely enough for two people. While he continued eating, I focused my gaze on his face. The face that I once used to be jealous of. His hair was jet black and his eyes were a beautiful shade of green. His pale skin was flawless. Give him fresh clothes and a bath and he'll pass for a model.

While I was busy admiring his looks, I hadn't realized that Zak had pushed the plate toward my end of the table and was looking right at me. I cleared my throat.

"You eat too." Ordered Zak, motioning his head towards the steak.

"I'm not hungry," I responded. "Besides it's your birthday. You should be the one eating."

Zak observed me for a moment before speaking, "you're fidgeting."

That was it. Just two words. Yet they made perfect sense. Of course, Zak knew me the best. Of course, he would have known about my fidgeting habit. About me fidgeting whenever I got hungry.

Without further ado, I started devouring the food. It tasted horrible, but it was better than nothing. Considering, that I was starving, it was even a decent meal.

"Zyne" I heard Zak mutter in a serious tone. My head shot straight up.

He was looking at me with the kind of seriousness on his face that was supposed to be rare for him. He continued staring for a while before blurting out, "Thank you, Zyne."

I let out a gentle laugh. "You've already thanked me before" I reminded. His expression did not bulge.

"It's not about the meal" He admitted.

I frowned.

"Four years ago. On my birthday." Zak hinted, looking at me for an answer.

"Yes?" I encouraged.

"You told me you'd stay with me till the end. You told me you'd be there for me. And you were. You are." His voice cracked. I detected a hint of tears in his eyes. "Thank you, Zyne! Thank you very much!"

I was taken by surprise when he embraced me. Zak had always refrained from any form of physical contact. "I don't like touching" He would insist.

By this time, Zak had already started sobbing into my chest. I started panicking. I had never known what to do when people cried. I started to awkwardly pat his head as he kept sobbing into my already crippled t-shirt. One part of me was extremely concerned for my t-shirt while the other part believed that comforting Zak was more important right now. I went with the first one.

"Stop, Zak! You're ruining my shirt!" I pleaded as I pushed him away from me. His eyes were all puffy and red. His hair was messed up due to my pets. He giggled. "You're such a jerk, Zyne. You could've waited for me to stop crying" He whined, but his face held a tiny smile.

"Not trying to ignore your previous statement or anything" I started, looking Zak from up to down, "but do you think we could do something about your clothes right now?"

Zak followed my gaze and gasped. He was covered in pasta and water. So was the table in front of us. We hesitantly turned our heads sideways to notice the owner glaring at us with an expression of pure hatred. Zak and I took it as our cue to run. And we ran.

Our legs had given up by the time we reached a park. We stood there panting heavily. It would've been fun to run if the old man hadn't been chasing behind us. He had literally tailed us for ten minutes.

"I don't get it. Why would the old man be so furious over a dirty table?" I grumbled.

Zak had stopped panting and was looking directly at me now. I could see the mischief in his eyes as he suppressed a grin by biting his lower lip.

"I mean," He started framing slowly. "We did not pay for the meal *and* messed his table up." He was grinning now.

"WHAT?!" I exclaimed. "Shit! We need to go back!"

I started moving only to be stopped by Zak suddenly gripping my arm with both his hand. The grin had left his face.

"Come on!" He argued. "It's not often that we make this mistake. It's fine if it's only once, right?" He looked at me hopefully. When didn't see any change of expression on my face, he added, "Besides, it's my birthday. I know you want to give me a present."

He waited hopefully for my answer, as he looked at me pleadingly.

"Fine," I responded, sighing. "But just this once."

Zak broke out in a delight. He started jumping up and down like a kid, while still gripping onto my arm. I couldn't help but laugh at how adorable he looked.

"Listen, Zak" I interrupted. " I need to go somewhere real quick. Could you wait here a second?"

He nodded.

I started walking back in the direction we had run. I had to pay the owner. Or else, I would be regretting this in the future. I would rather use my dinner money to get Zak a present than use unfair money. It was not like we ate together so he would still get to eat his dinner. I could survive one night without dinner.

When I arrived I could not find the owner anywhere. I waited for about fifteen minutes but there was no luck.

I went back. There was a huge crowd gathered on the sidewalk. Out of curiosity, I pushed through the crowd to the front. I gasped. A dead body. It was a complete mess of blood and flesh. The head was tilted sideways. The blood was making it impossible to see the face as the body lay lifelessly on the ground.

Horrified at the sight, I began to take out my phone to dial nine one one when I noticed something. The person's ring finger. It was badly injured but the ring remained. The ring.

My heart started pounding worse than ever. I felt a lump rise in my throat. My knees buckled and my legs gave up. The ring was the last thing I saw before my vision started blurring.

"Zak" I let out in a strangled voice.

And everything blacked out.