The Promise

Some friendships break; theirs ended in a sacrifice too big for the world to understand.

The Promise

Liam and Avery had been inseparable since childhood--two boys who found each other in the worst parts of life and held on like brothers.
Liam was calm, gentle, always lost in books.
Avery was chaos and sunshine--loud, wild, and always dragging Liam into trouble with a grin that could disarm the world.
Everyone used to say, "Avery protects Liam."
But that wasn't the truth.
Liam saved Avery, quietly, a thousand times over.
From fights.
From loneliness.
From himself.
They grew up in a rough neighbourhood where wrong choices waited at every corner. Avery was always one step away from slipping into that darkness--until Liam pulled him back, again and again, with patience that never ran out.
"Promise me something," Avery said once, sitting on their favourite rooftop.
"If life ever gives you one spot on the lifeboat, take it. Don't look for me. Don't try to be a hero."
Liam smiled. "What kind of friend takes the boat alone?"
"The kind who wants to live," Avery said quietly.
They dropped the conversation, but the promise hung between them like a quiet truth neither wanted to accept.



Years later, on a rainy night, Avery made one reckless mistake that changed everything.
A gang he had cut ties with came back for him--angry, desperate, looking for revenge. Liam was with him when it happened, just walking home from the bus stop.
"Run," Avery wispered. "Liam, go!"
But Liam wouldn't leave him.
They ended up cornered in an abandoned construction site. Avery knew what these men were capable of. Liam didn't belong in this world--not even for a second.
So Avery made the decision in one heartbeat.
Before the attackers reached them, Avery shoved Liam behind a concrete pillar and stepped out alone.
"Leave him," he said. "He has nothing to do with this. It's me you want."
Liam tried to move, but Avery shot him a look he had never used before--begging, commanding, pleading all at once.
And then the world erupted.
By the time police sirens cut through the night, it was over.
Avery lay on the ground, bleeding, still breathing--but barely.
Liam dropped beside him, voice breaking.
"You idiot... why did you do that?"
Avery gave a weak smile, the same reckless grin he wore as a kid.
"Because... you're the one good thing I ever had. I wasn't letting them take you too."
Liam shook his head, tears falling onto Avery's shirt.
"We were supposed to grow old, you moron."
Avery's voice softened.
"Hey... I kept my promise. I took the hit so you could live. Now you keep yours--go live, Liam. For both of us."
Liam held him until his breathing faded into the rain.