Rose-tinted Glasses

She thought she knew him.

"Keep your morals away from me," he bit out. "I like you and all, but you don't get to go around judging me according to your narrow view of the world." He snorted and ran his fingers through his hair. They got caught in some of the many tangles and he yanked his hand away to stare in disgust. Grimy and roughed up, only clean at the stark white bandages she tied. He jerked away and moved towards the sink, stripping off his shirt. He hadn't the time to really wash up, but damned if he planned to run around covered in blood.

There was a quiet shuffling behind him until, "I care about you. I don't like seeing you hurt." Her head hung low and her hands clenched in her skirt. Chewing on her lip, she grasped for something to make him understand without setting off his temper again. Usually he cheerily appeared with new recipes for her to try or grand adventures to tell. She flinched as he cursed and scrubbed more vigorously at the stains in his clothes.

She thought he attended the college, possibly a culture studies major based on all the foreign food and languages he dabbled in. She first met him at some free food event on campus. He offered to help carry all her boxes of left overs back to her dorm when he spied the tower she already collected. Her eyes widened in mortification but he laughed, adding a few more with a wink before taking half the stack and letting her 'lead the way.' He managed to sneak his number into her phone without being caught, so when his face popped up with directions to another free food event a few weeks later she hesitated. She decided to show at the last minute only to find him grinning and pulling out two bags filled to bursting with to go boxes. A trend developed until he eventually started bringing the food straight to her. It was sweet and he was funny and she started to like him.

Then he called her in the middle of the night and started talking low, fast, and urgently demanding that she hurry to the bad side of town and pick him up in her car before hanging up. She got there to find him bleeding in an alley. Far from being a student, apparently he made deliveries for drug dealers and lived on the streets. She's lost and realizing that she may never knew him at all. It's frightening and painful but she wants to make him stay and stop making these bad decisions. She can help him get better and find a real job, become an actual student and---

"I'm leaving town tonight. We probably won't see each other again. I'm sorry." He pulled on his shirt and left, never even turning to face her. The door closed with a click. Her head fell to her hands and she wept.

Author's Note

First ever piece, looking for constructive criticism,