00| PROLOGUE

IT WAS another busy December night.

Coffee shops and restaurants were filled up with customers. Roads remained alive with cars. Gift shops stayed open even after the sky darkened, children and adults both coming and going after picking their favorites. Whoever came out of the stores rubbed their hands covered in wool trying to keep them warm from the uninvited chillness.

Meadows was crowded as well. People came in rushing, in hopes of staying warm and acquiring their meal. The manager kept them waiting in the front politely informing them that there were no seats.

It was loud. Laughter filled up in the space. Old men and women, with families and children, ate in silence while workers and youngsters toasted to an endless night.

It was one fine night, special for countless reasons. Everyone was enjoying their night, drinking booze left and right. They laughed among themselves like fools- forgetting they needed to see daylight.

On such a table in Meadows sat Yuvaan twirling a glass of whatever drink they poured, wondering to himself if there was a way to get out of there. It wasn't like he hated company. No. In fact, he adored those who were sitting along with him, sobbing along with his friend who got rejected that morning.

All of a sudden one of them started laughing to themselves which soon got loud, catching the attention of people from other tables. Yuvaan, although confused, watched his friend with a smile, waiting for him to spill out what made him laugh. The laughter slowly died down and he slammed the glass on the table.

"Remember when Ezra got punched by Lisa?" Sean hiccupped laughing again. When no one responded his eyes narrowed flickering between his friend."Do you guys not remember Ezra getting punched by Lisa?" He asked, looking genuinely confused.

Yuvaan's lips twitched. Everyone's attention focused on the boy who was giggling to himself. Yuvaan moved the plate from before him once he noticed Sean's head was about to crash on the table. He placed his hand under the boy's head and gently rested it on the table. The boy shifted on the table and coughed.

"Punched by Lisa? When was that?" Calla wondered in drunken haze. "I don't remember anything like that."

"I think I remember something like that." Said Conan from the edge of the seat, flushed red from head to toe, looking ready to fall anytime soon. "It was during...uh...Joe's birthday. Yes, Joe's birthday. Isn't that right Yuvaan?"

Yuvaan nodded, bringing the glass of water to his lips. He sipped the water and placed it right next to another glass with a clink. The golden drink remained untouched and Yuvaan didn't make any haste to pour it down his throat like how everyone was doing.

"Speaking of Ezra, where is he?" David questioned looking around. "Didn't he tell you that he'll be here before we start? We are almost ready to leave and there's no sight of him."

Yuvaan fidgeted with his fingers underneath the table. He licked his lips and glanced down. David was right, Ezra did tell them that he'll join them before the event starts. And Ezra never went back on his words. At Least not until today.

Yuvaan's hand reached out to his phone on the table, fingers sliding above the screen. He constantly kept on picking it up and placing it down, unsure of what he should do. Eventually, he gave up and grabbed the phone. He slid out of his seat, almost knocking down the waiter who was walking behind him holding another set of drinks in his hands. Yuvaan quickly apologized and looked up at the only sober friend of his. David's eyes flicked up at his in question.

"I'll be back in a moment." he said walking out of the restaurant.

He skidded his way through the crowd, walking into the dark side of the building where it was empty and silent. He pressed his phone against his ear and waited.

"The number you are dialing is not..."

Groaning softly he pulled back his phone. The dial screen blinked back into his contact list, the bright screen illuminating his surroundings. He scrolled down and up again, finger staying right up on a particular contact but never pressing it.

"Goddamnit!" he whispered. He watched his breath turn into a misty cloud and disappear before his eyes. Not knowing what to do he fidgeted with the sleeves of his jacket, leg tapping constantly on the pavement.

The phone rings suddenly, startling him and he quickly accepted it without looking at the caller id.

"What the hell Ezra?! Why the hell were you not picking up your damn-"

"Yuvaan." a breathless plea.

Yuvaan stopped mid words, letting the other speak. The other side of the line remained silent.

"Where are you?" he questioned as softly as he could.

"The orphanage." his heart stuttered.

"Which one?" he found himself asking

"The one which they picked."

Yuvaan cursed under his breath, his feet already moving towards the light where the bustling street welcomed him in its wake. He quickly raised his hands before the taxi which was about to pass by him and stopped it. The warmth from the heater covered him the moment he glided inside the car and his almost frozen nose and hands twitched in relief.

The guy had lost his senses- he remembered someone saying that in the school corridor. Yuvaan disagrees.

Ezra, for one, didn't have any sense in him to lose.

Ezra.

That guy always did this-make him worry about his existence. But Yuvaan had no say in this matter either. After all, he was well aware of the mess he would have to deal with the moment he agreed to be friends with that idiot.

The phone vibrated in his hand and the classic Samsung ringtone followed. He checked the phone only to close his eyes and take a deep breath before picking up.

"Yeah, mom?"

"Yuvaan? Vave it's so late! Where are you?!

"I-uh." he stuttered. He was so into the process of worrying about his friend that he forgot there were some issues he had to deal with on his own. He rubbed the crease between his brows wondering how he was going to deal with this. "tsk."

"Yuvaan?

"Mumma I'll call you later I promise. I gotta go now." He hung up and turned to the driver.

"Excuse me can you please speed up a little? It's a bit urgent."

The driver nodded. Yuvaan leaned back on the seat as the car sped up, a sigh leaving his mouth as he watched the sky darken up slowly as they rushed past the town. He closed his eyes and opened them again. In order to pass the time he glanced down at his hand resting on his lap, moving them slightly under the lights from the shops. His mind played a familiar scene in his head, of a certain brunette moving his hand under the sunlight, observing the shadows with a childlike smile on his lips. After that, he would bring up his hand near his left eye to make a fox sign using his fingers and look through it. Yuvaan mirrored the moments from his memories, unknowingly smiling a little at his actions.

He heaved a breath. His hands came up to hide away his eyes from the lights. What am I doing? He wondered.

After fifteen minutes, the car pulled up near a building. Several cars and other vehicles rushed through the road, hiding away in the dark, meters away from the building. Yuvaan mentally thanked the authority who decided to place the lamp post next to the orphanage which if they didn't would have made him stand in the dark hooting like an owl.

The night breeze moved in his direction silently like a ghost, leaving goosebumps on its trail. He shivered and rubbed his hands together on instinct. It didn't take much time to find Ezra. He was sitting in the front lobby of the orphanage wearing just a plain red shirt with his sweater folded in his arms. Before he saw it Yuvaan knew it, causing his heart to drop to his stomach. Without wasting his time, Yuvaan rushed toward the boy praying to all the gods he knew that the boy was not going to do what he thought he would.

He yanked the door open, still shivering, and watched with wide eyes as Ezra rocked the figure in his hands awkwardly, cooing softly as he could. The life in his arm moved suddenly and he froze, unsure. Slowly Ezra glanced in his direction and gave him a tight-lipped smile.

He heard bikes pass through the front and people screaming their lungs out with blazing horns. The clock on the wall hit twelve and the fireworks lit up in the sky.

Boom!

Yuvaan ran his fingers through his hair.

Happy new year! He heard them say. Ezra and he kept their eyes locked the entire time. The baby in his arms shifted and this time, Ezra did not glance down but held the baby close to his chest while cowering under his best friend's glare.

Yuvaan laughed in disbelief and Ezra flinched at the sound.

"You must be fucking kidding me."