“I have…Asthma.”

He wasn’t lying. It was the entire reason he wanted people to stand by him. He hated that he had a disease he was born with. Asthma. Struggling to breathe. He never wanted people to take pity on him and say behind his back that he failed. He wanted to win on first try.

Blake stood. “Fine. You help me, I help you. Let’s see if you’re as good as you think.”

And just like that, an uneasy alliance was formed.

Lucas helped Blake take down the man they owed, proving himself as more than just a kid with a bold claim. And in return, Blake stood by him, bringing others into their growing group.

Lucas had gotten what he wanted- support, strength in numbers.

He never told anyone about his act, but he helped Blake beat people who stood in their way.

Two years later, Lucas thought he was slacking off from his purpose. He thought he was just helping Blake but Blake wasn’t helping him as much as he had to.

That’s why Lucas caught Blake alone, and told him that he wasn’t helping him the way he wanted him to.

Blake blinked, startled. “You’re saying you don’t need me?”

“No, I don't,” Lucas said.

Blake’s fists tightened. He wanted Lucas to stand by him. As much as he hated to admit it, but Lucas was stronger then Blake, he always was. Blake was happy that Lucas joined him. He had someone who was tougher than him, that’s what he wanted.

But when Lucas told him that he didn’t need him, for the first time, Blake felt it. Fear.

Lucas didn’t fight like others. He didn’t just hit; he calculated. And Blake? Blake was just another piece on the board.

From then on, things changed.

“Boss,” Blake called him, first as a joke, then as habit, and finally because he didn’t know what else to call him.

Lucas never corrected him. Why would he?

But then, Lucas saw Ash punch Blake squarely on the face. Lucas watched him, fascinated.

Sure, he didn’t want anyone to stand in his way, but he felt impressed. Impressed by Ash trying to fight a battle everyone knew he wouldn’t win.

It wasn’t like Ash was part of the popular crowd. He didn’t have a reputation to defend or a point to prove. He wasn’t strong enough to take on Blake and his gang, but he still stood there, fists clenched, ready to fight.

Lucas couldn’t look away.

That was the moment Ash caught his interest. The boy who didn’t back down. The boy who wasn’t afraid.

‘What drives him?’ Lucas had wondered. ‘Why does he care so much?’

Lucas punched him later, told him to give up, masking a boss who was warning him to stop and trying to show himself as a genuine classmate who cared.

“Stay safe.” he told Ash, but internally laughed at his act.

He heard after school that Blake’s lackeys crossed their paths with Ash, and came back injured.

He was truly impressed. No one had the courage to hit the members of his group with a brick. So, he tried to stay close with Ash. Jason came along too. But Lucas would just observe Ash. He didn’t want people to die, or to face Blake who might just kill you out of pure rage. That’s why, he just asked him to stop, and let Blake do whatever he wanted.

When he was with them, he felt like he wasn’t surrounded by people who wanted company, or simply stuck with him ‘cause he was popular.

He felt like he was with companions. Allies. No, friends.

And so, the day came when Blake told him about some ‘freak’ who sent him a threatening letter.

Lucas said to control it himself. Just hanging out with Ash and Jason, told him to stop his desire to kill that man, who took everything from him. Who made it hard for him to breathe freely.

He spent his time mostly with Ash and Jason. He liked it.

But it wasn’t about having friends, not in the way Noah might’ve thought when he asked if he were friends with Ash.

“Yeah.” He said, “We’re friends.” He wanted it to be true. Not some words, but trust. For Lucas, all it mattered was trust. He didn’t just want people around him; he wanted people to believe in him, to rely on him, to see him as more than a boy with cheap tricks up his sleeve.

Lucas grabbed the grass from underneath, gripping it tightly. Just remembering what happened was getting on his nerves.

Ash and Jason, though, were different. They didn’t need to be impressed or coaxed. They didn’t look at him like he was some popular guy in the school, and they didn’t pretend to be anything they weren’t.

Ash, especially.

Ash didn’t laugh at Lucas’s jokes, not like everyone else did. He didn’t force a polite chuckle or nod along. Instead, he’d stare at Lucas, completely unimpressed, and say, “That’s not funny.”

At first, it was jarring. Lucas wasn’t used to that kind of honesty. But over time, he found himself looking forward to it.

Ash didn’t sugarcoat anything. He didn’t put on a front or try to hide behind fake smiles. He was blunt, sometimes to the point of being harsh, but it felt real.

Jason, too, was straightforward. He didn’t go along with things just because Lucas said so. He’d challenge him, argue with him, even tease him.

The story has been illicitly taken; should you find it on Amazon, report the infringement.

It was real.

They weren’t like the classmates Lucas had grown up with. Those people laughed too hard at jokes that weren’t funny, nodded too quickly at ideas they didn’t agree with, and stayed close for reasons that felt hollow. They didn’t trust him. They just wanted something from him.

But Ash and Jason? They didn’t need anything from him.

And maybe that was why Lucas started spending more time with them.

Walking Ash to school every morning had become a habit. He didn’t even remember when it started. It wasn’t like Ash had asked for his company- he probably didn’t even want it, but Lucas showed up anyway.

Ash would sigh, sometimes roll his eyes, even telling Lucas to leave. But Lucas didn’t mind it.

Mrs. Luke was another reason Lucas liked coming over. She was kind in a way Lucas didn’t know how to explain, and the warmth of her home reminded him of something he’d never really had.

And Noah. Noah’s curiosity and energy made Lucas feel like someone who belonged.

Still, Lucas couldn’t shake the doubts swirling in his head.

The notes Blake had been getting- the ones that made him furious and scared, had stopped. It had been days now, and Lucas couldn’t help but notice the timing.

Could it be Ash?

No. It didn’t make sense.

Ash was honest, too honest. He wasn’t the type to sneak around leaving threats. He faced things head-on, even when he didn’t stand a chance.

But then again...

Lucas felt the unease creeping in. He didn’t want it to be true.

He liked the mornings with Ash, liked how Noah would chatter on about superheroes and Mrs. Luke would offer him breakfast like he belonged there.

And he liked the way Ash would tell him off, the way Jason would make fun of his hair or his terrible taste in music.

Lucas liked feeling like a part of something real.

But then, one day, Blake told him he fought someone in the gym. Lucas brushed it off. Then, he came to know who he beat.

Jason.

Lucas was furious. He had clearly told Blake many times to stop beating innocent people who just are minding their own business. But Blake told Jason challenged him.

Lucas went to the hospital. Looking at Jason, all beaten and bruised, made his blood boil. He didn’t know why he was angry- it wasn’t like he wasn’t the boss of the gang, anything Blake did should’ve been acceptable to him. But the fact that he beat Jason, his friend.

He asked Jason about what happened; called Ash too. They went in together, and came to know that Jason only challenged Blake because he wanted to know who the boss was.

Lucas was thunderstruck.

‘How the hell does Jason know there exists a secret boss?!’

‘Why on earth was Blake talking about having a boss in the first place?! I clearly told him to keep his mouth shut!’

But Lucas convinced himself later. It wasn’t like Jason knows who’s the boss, right? Everything would turn out in his way, he told himself.

He hung out with Jason a bit longer.

And then later, Blake told him he received a letter in the hospital. Lucas' suspicion only grew deeper. Maybe it was just some wicked coincidence.

Maybe Ash wasn’t the one.

But still, he couldn’t shake it off. Later, he beat Blake, and told him to keep his mouth shut.

Time passed by, and then he grew sure of it was Ash, sneaking, hiding around, sending Blake threatening letters.

Lucas’ job, as the boss, was to stop him, and make him regret crossing their path. But his job as his friend? It was to let him know that he can tell him anything. That he can trust him. That it isn’t too late to stop. To ensure that he has to stay safe for his sake.

The actual truth was; he was scared.

Scared of how he would behave if it really is Ash sneaking around. Scared of how he would’ve to take Ash out of the way just to prove his loyalty to Blake.

Blake was what he needed- after all.

He knew that Blake was a worthy pawn for him; he could be the best person to back him up in his plan, and to help him achieve his goal.

But nothing worked his way.

Ash was the person who did all the threatening, and Lucas was the one to stop him. He asked Ash to stop, and told him not to come on 02 October.

But nothing ever worked, did it? He told Ash that he has to trust him, and everything will turn out okay. Ash told him he did, he did trust him. So why?

Lucas grabbed at his hair and pulled them a bit. He could hear the trains honking in distance, when he saw someone else coming and plopping down on the opposite side.

‘I bet he’s disturbed too.’ Lucas thought when he saw that person- lying down on the grass, and staring at the sky. He couldn’t make out the details, just someone who was tired, and his clothes looked all dirty.

But then, his eyes caught it.

‘Isn’t that…Ash?’

Lucas stood up, relieved, thinking he should go and apologize and make things clear from his side. But then, looking at Ash, still blood sticking down his temple to the eyes, and limping, he changed his mind, and sat down. He slumped his shoulders and looked at him.

He looked so…broken.

Lucas kept on sitting there, hoping Ash wouldn’t notice. And then moments passed, and Ash kept muttering stuff to him, which he couldn’t muster up the courage to go closer and listen.

‘I…what is he doing?’ Lucas suddenly looked at Ash startling when a distant train honking was heard. And then Ash chuckled to himself, and then almost like he had planned everything, started to walk towards the train tracks.

Lucas’s heart clenched as he watched Ash stagger toward the train tracks. Every step the boy took felt like a stab of panic, rooting Lucas to the spot. His mind raced, but his body felt frozen, the honk of the approaching train growing louder in the background.

What is he doing?!

Ash was limping, his head slightly tilted as if the weight of his thoughts was too much to bear. Then it hit him.

It’s my fault.

He stood abruptly, his legs trembling beneath him. This wasn’t the plan. Ash wasn’t supposed to look like this. He wasn’t supposed to be walking toward the train tracks like he had nothing left to lose.

Lucas’s chest tightened, and his breath hitched. He had never been this scared before- not when he faced Blake, not when he’d made his first big move as the “Boss.” This was different.

And it was all his fault. He was the reason Ash looked so tired, so broken that he was just about to take his own life.

The train honked again, louder this time.

“Ash!” Lucas called, his voice cracking.

Ash didn’t turn. He didn’t stop. Lucas felt guilt, regret. Lucas didn’t know it would rattle Ash this much. Maybe Ash was ignoring him, he thought.

Lucas’s body moved before his mind could catch up. He sprinted, his legs burning with every step. The train was closer now, and so was Ash, standing on the tracks. He didn’t know why he moved, hell, he never thought he would do this.

He was doing all of this to kill that man. But now? Saving someone who should be better off dead seemed…the right thing to do. He did it. He saved someone, while he should’ve been killing that man. The man who made it hard for him to breathe.

“ASH!”

Lucas reached him just in time, grabbing him by the side and hurling him off the tracks with all the strength he could muster. They both went down hard, tumbling onto the rough ground beside the tracks just as the train thundered past, the ground shaking beneath them.

When they stopped rolling, Lucas scrambled to his knees, his chest heaving. His hands were shaking, his entire body tense.

This is all my fault.

Ash lay sprawled on the ground, his breathing uneven, his eyes closed.

And then, out of sheer desperation, Lucas did the only thing he could think of. He balled up his fist and punched Ash square in the face.

How could he do this?!

Ash’s head jerked to the side, and his eyes snapped open, wide with shock.

Lucas grabbed him by the collar, his voice trembling with rage. “What the hell were you doing?! Are you insane?!”

Ash’s eyes shot open.