I couldn't let it happen.
The boy's despair pressed into me, stronger than anything I had felt since the rooftop. His thoughts were simple but brutal: If no one wants me, then why stay?
I seized control, just as I had with Elias. My small hands trembled as I pulled the thin blanket tighter around us, whispering words into the dark. Words that weren't his but mine:
"You are not nothing. You are not trash. Someone wants you—someone has to."
The boy resisted. His pain fought me, curling back into the thought of escape through silence. But I held on, forcing my breath to steady, refusing to let the darkness win.
And for the first time, he hesitated.