He was in front of our table, with his hand on Maverick's shoulder, probably talking to him before I got back from the washroom.

"I thought you died," The Falcon Hybrid wondered out loud.

"Sir, do you know each other?" Maverick asked, looking up at Vulcan.

"Oh, yes! We were classmates," Vulcan said enthusiastically, then he strode towards me, "it's good to see you Puma," he says as he opens his arms for a hug, I take a few steps back but it was too late.

The tall Falcon Hybrid squeezes the life out of me, while I uncomfortably remained still in his arms.

He sets me free, his arm still around my shoulder, and makes an announcement, "since this is a happy reunion, everything is on me!" He declares.

Happy reunion? In whose mind?

He's just like before, an obnoxious bird with no respect for my boundaries.

"C'mon, let's sit!" He says as he pushes me inside the booth and takes the seat right beside me, he gestures to the waiter and asks for his usual drink, and a second round of our drinks.

He then turns his head to stare at me, his arm still around my shoulder.

I avoid his eyes, looking around the table my companions were also staring at me so I settle with looking down at the table.

"Wow, you didn't change much, still as baby-faced as ever," he notes, "seriously though, where have you been all these years?" He asked.

Stuffed in a basement, I answered in my head.

"I mean everyone thought you were dead, if you were alive you should have come to the school's reunion," Vulcan said.

"Why would you think he was dead?" Asked Noir.

"Oh, his family's house burnt down, and at school, his sister was like, 'he was injured so badly'" Vulcan imitated Paloma's obnoxious fake crying, "she was so vague about it, everyone thought he died, and no one dared to bring it back up because she would get upset, I never liked that bitch," he explained, shaking his head and taking a swig from his whisky.

Don't they know it's rude to talk about someone else in front of them, he's also disclosing my personal matters with no regard for my privacy.

"Man, Valkyrie, would be ecstatic to see you!" He smiled fondly.

I remember his twin sister, another Falcon Hybrid, as twins we would get paired up with the Falcon twins for the amusements of the school.

While I never got along with Vulcan, his sister Valkyrie was a lot easier to be around.

Both said what was on their minds, but she wasn't as obnoxious as Vulcan.

"So, what have you been up to?"

"... None of your business," is my answer when I don't want to share.

"C'mon man, I'm curious what my long-lost friend has been up to," Vulcan said, turning his body around to better face me.

"You're not my friend," I corrected him which from the look on his face, it annoyed him.

"So what? Now I gotta ask your other friends to find out more about you?" The Falcon Hybrid asked cocking his head in Maverick and Noir's directions.

"They're not my friends," I said truthfully, "they know nothing about me and they'll never will."

"..." the other side of the table was silent.

Vulcan turns to them and smirks, "hurts, doesn't it?"

At this point, we were pretty close to each other, an annoyed-looking Vulcan takes out his cigar and uses a fancy-looking lighter to light it up, the lighter ignites a tiny flame.

In that dancing flame, I see myself burning alive, my painful screams echo in my head, and the skin on my body began to itch.

That tiny flame sets me off.

So close to my face, my hand instinctively slaps it away, sending it flying and smashing into the whisky glass, shattering it.

Pieces of glass flew in different directions, Noir had yelled from shock, then itched near his mate for security.

Mr. Raynard just watched, while Vulcan got irritated.

"What the fuck Puma?!" Yelled Vulcan.

I was panting, and the palm of my hands felt clammy, I need to get out of here, coming here was a bad idea.

"Move..." I told Vulcan.

"What?!" Vulcan asked but in an irritated tone.

"I said fucking move, you bird shit!" I yelled at him while I shoved him away, breathing really hard.

I might have struck a nerve with the name-calling because he grabs my wrists and restrained me.

"Who the fuck are you calling bird shit?" Vulcan repeated.

His mouth moved again as he spoke but I didn't catch it, I was having a panic attack while being jerked forward and backward.

Maverick pulls away Vulcan from me, while Raynard pulled me back, forcing Vulcan to release me.

Noir comes to my side putting himself between me and Vulcan.

"You gotta breathe Puma," Noir said.

I'm trying, "I can't... too much...smoke," in my mind that's what I believed, if I were to breathe, I'd be breathing smoke.

Noir tries to reassure me and get me to calm down, but it doesn't work.

Then I suddenly turned around to face Mr. Raynard.

He clasps the back of my neck with his hand and pulls me closer, "listen here you damn bird,-" Raynard begins.

While Noir reprimanded him, "Raynard that is no way to speak to someone having a panic attack!"

Raynard ignores his brother and continues, "You're gonna inhale and exhale on my command, understood?" He asked to which I nodded my head.

"Inhale,..... exhale,..... inhale,..... exhale,..... good, keep going, inhale,..... exhale,..... inhale,..... exhale,....." I did as he ordered, and we kept at it until I was able to calm down.

"..." when I came to my senses, I felt the wetness on my cheeks, I used the back of my hand to wipe the tears that managed to escape, "thank you," I said to Raynard, then he removes his hand from my neck.

I'm gonna miss the feeling of his hand on my neck, it oddly felt grounding.

I turn around and Noir is looking at me worriedly, I avoid his eyes, "please move, I'd like to leave," I asked him.

"Ah, okay," he nods and slides out of the booth.

I slide out of it as well, Vulcan who was standing aside blocked by Maverick, pushes the latter away and grabs my hand.

"Where the hell are you going? We're not done talking yet," Vulcan says.

I look at his big hand and then up to his face, "there's nothing to talk about, I don't know what kind of memories you're holding onto to warrant such entitlement, and even if we're friends, I still don't owe you shit," I stepped closer to him, standing my ground in front of his tall figure, "I don't owe you an explanation, I don't owe you my time, and I don't owe you an apology, so Vulcan, respectfully, fuck. Off." I said as I shrugged his hand off.

I place a hundred dollars bill on the table before I turn around and leave, it should be more than enough to cover my drinks.

This way I won't owe him anything.

We had made too much of a scene, and I feel like I'm under a magnifying glass, I can sense their curiosity, and I hope Noir and Maverick will not try to prey into my life.

I'm not worried about Mr. Raynard because I'm sure he could care less.

I leave the expensive-looking lounge and I'm back into the corridor, I plug my ears again as I get closer to the front of the club.

It's crowded, even more than before, but not to the point to warrant an emergency, the guards are keeping things in order.

I walk by the walls and soon I'm outside, I breathe a sigh of relief, "I'm never coming back here," I mumbled, this place has everything I dislike.

A crowd of hybrids, loud noise, alcohol, fire, and to top it off, Vulcan.

Vulcan, damn that Falcon Hybrid, my mind wanders to the past as I walked home, It was Friday, two days before the house fire, I was walking through the corridor on my way to class, and I had been called by the principal again and missed the bell ring.

At the same time, Vulcan and his friends were skipping class and hiding in one of the empty classes.

I could hear them talking.

"Why are you fixated on Puma?" One friend asked.

"Yeah, do you have a crush on him or something?" Another friend chided.

"What? Don't be gross," I could feel Vulcan's eye roll from his tone, but what he had said next really taught me something, "I just like seeing his bad luck unfold, it's quite entertaining to see his reactions, he is easy to rile up." Vulcan laughed.

"You're sick," his third friend said while the other two laughed alongside him.

I shouldn't have been hurt, nor disappointed, but I was, his words were true though, I was easy to rile up, and I was full of hope that my bad luck would end one day, so the never-ending look of disappointment was fun to watch, I don't think anyone understood why I was still hopeful, and neither did I.

Why was I fighting with my bad luck? If I'm unlucky then I'm unlucky, there's no reason for me to argue with it, instead, I should be neutral about it.

I guess that was the day I realized that I should just accept it, and accept that this is who I am.

When the end of the day came and Vulcan tried to joke around with me, I didn't say anything and ignored him.

"Dude, did you break him?" I heard one of his pals ask as the distance between us increased.

I don't think he broke me, or is it considered so? I just know that enough is enough, and have had it with something or someone to the point where I seem unlike myself, this shouldn't always be considered as being broken, but rather I want a break from this person or thing for an indefinite amount of time.

That was my last day at school before the fire burnt our house down, and almost burnt me down with it.

Sometimes, I think... that I'm still alive because of my bad luck, that I'd have been lucky to die, albeit in a painful way, but that would have been my indefinite break.

A break from life sounds nice.

I unlock my apartment and stand at the doorway, the quietness and the darkness of this tiny little place bring comfort to my heart.

Other than the added open kitchen, or rather kitchenette, and the blacked-out curtained windows, this apartment has the exact layout of the basement that I spent four years in before I turned eighteen.

Nobody likes darkness or coldness, I didn't bother to turn the lights on, even when I was in the basement, it frightened everyone, it's not like they would come down to the basement a lot, after all even the servants would use the dumbwaiter lift.

I walk in and shut the door.

Hours pass, and I had been sleeping, but I was startled awake by the urgent knocking on my door.

There was a commotion in the corridor, I could hear both Maverick and Noir outside.

I wanted to ignore them but they knocked again and Noir was getting louder.

Opening the door, I see two drunkards and Maverick.

"So sorry to disturb you Puma, but can you let Raynard sleep at your place?" Before I could say no, Noir cuts in.

"Hey you bitch, what you said earlier was hurtful," Noir said getting in my face, "like it or not, you're my bitch," he says poking my chest with his index finger.

"What?" I asked feeling out of it this late in the evening.

"You mean friend, Noir," Maverick corrects him as he pulled him gently into his apartment.

"Yes, I declare us friends!" Noir's loud deceleration fades as Maverick shuts his door.

"I'm counting on you, Puma!" Maverick says before retrieving back into his apartment.

"Wait!" I called, at least if I were to let one of them stay it would have been Noir since he stayed here before it seems tolerable.

"Do you need help, Mr.Raynard?" I asked the drunk Fox Hybrid.

"I'm fine," he shook his head.

Yeah, right, if I let him be he will fall asleep while standing.

"C'mon you can take the couch," I gesture for him to come in, he pushes himself off the wall and almost lost his balance.

I help stabilize him, and he throws his arm over my shoulder, leaning some of his weight on my body, "oof!" I grunted.

We stumble through the short distance to my couch and I dropped him just like I did his brother.

"Why is it so dark in here?" Mr. Raynard asks.

"That's because your eyes are closed," I answer his question as I took his shoes off.

I hear his hum while I put his shoes aside, "Mmhm," then I unfold the blanket and drape it over him.

I watch him get comfortable before his breathing evens into a slow rhythm.

I make sure to lock the apartment door before I get in bed myself.

I don't remember when I fell asleep, but I remember no longer hearing Noir through the wall, instead, I heard Mr. Raynard's breathing in and out.

I woke up feeling overheated, the room was still dark since the curtains are blocking the sun, I sit up and notice the sleeping figure beside me.

I sigh, seriously, again?

I check the time, it was already eleven, I think that's more than enough time for him to wake up.

"Mr. Raynard, Mr. Raynard," I called shaking the Fox hybrid, "wake up," he stirs and sits up while groaning.

He looks around confused.

I stand up and walk around the bed to the windows, I close my eyes and open the curtains, he groans and avoids looking at them.

Yeah, have a taste of my misery, I do close it a bit though, and leave just enough of the window visible so he can see his way around.

He clears his throat, "is this your place?" He asked as he looked around the small open space.

"Yes," I answered as I folded the blanket he left on the couch.

"What am I doing here?" He frowned, mainly looking at my bed, which he was still occupying.

"Maverick brought you here, Noir is staying with him," I explained in case he wondered about his brother's whereabouts.

"Uh," he makes a noise while scratching his head, his pointy ears that sit on top of his head are kind of down, "can I use your bathroom to take a shower?" He asked.

"No, go ask Maverick," I answered as I walked to the bathroom myself, grabbing some clean clothes while at it, "it's the first door to the left," I said before I closed the door.

I can hear him through the door, "geez, you don't have to be uptight about it, he didn't even hesitate to say no, it's just a damn shower," I heard him talk to himself before I opened the water tap.

I take my regular cold shower, I'm pretty sure he'd have hated showering here, and would give me shit about it.

Once the shower is done, I listen to the noise outside, the quietness of my apartment tells me that Mr. Raynard has already left, so I dry my body with a towel and wear my underwear before exiting, not bothering with the rest of the clothes I brought in with me, and just settling for the underwear.

I was drying my hair with a towel, my view obscured by the said towel.

I dump the clean clothes on the bed and walk to the window with the open curtain to close it, but before I could do so, I hear a faint "Oh my Luna!"

I turn around slowly to look behind me, Vulcan was standing in the middle of my tiny foyer, my apartment door wide open with Noir's head peaking from behind Vulcan's shoulder.

While Noir had a look of horror, Vulcan had a look of anger.

What could he possibly be angry about?