Damian stood frozen on the old oak path, the phone still clutched in his numb fingers like it might burn him if he let go. The wind had picked up, rattling the bare branches overhead and sending a fresh swirl of dead leaves across his sneakers. Alex's footsteps had long since faded into the quiet of the park, his words still replayed in Damian's head.
He didn't know how long he stayed there,maybe a minute, maybe five. His legs felt like they belonged to someone else. The hoodie sleeves he'd pulled over his hands were damp now, not from the cold but from the sweat that had broken out across his palms the second Alex had said Zayn's name like a warning.
