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Daniel 's Angel

Blessing_Osei_2022
7
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Chapter 1 - 1:'The Boy on the Balcony‎

‎The first time I saw him, he was crying.

‎Not loud. Not shaking. Just still — like someone who had given up even on pain. He sat alone on a crumbling balcony two floors above me, legs pulled to his chest, hood up, shoulders hunched like he wanted to disappear into himself.

‎It was raining. Not the hard kind. Just that soft drizzle that makes the whole world feel like it's whispering.

‎I was only passing by. Backpack on one shoulder, headphones in. But something told me to look up. And when I did… I saw him.

‎He didn't notice me watching. His head was bowed, and his hands gripped the metal railing like he couldn't decide whether he wanted to hold on… or let go.

‎I stood there, frozen. I didn't know him. Didn't know his name, or his pain, or what had driven him to sit there alone in the cold. But I felt something.

‎A pull. Like the world had drawn a line between the two of us — and somehow, I'd just crossed it.

‎"Are you okay?"

‎I don't know why I said it. He couldn't hear me. My voice barely made it over the wind. But I said it anyway.

‎He didn't answer. He didn't even look. Just wiped his face with the sleeve of his hoodie and pulled his knees closer.

‎And that's when I made a decision that would change everything.

‎I took the stairs.

‎I didn't have a plan. I didn't know what I was going to say, or how he'd react, or if he'd tell me to leave him alone.

‎But some things don't wait. Some people are standing too close to the edge for you to just walk away.

‎So I climbed. One floor. Then two.

‎Until I stood in front of a rusted metal door with peeling paint and a sticker that read "Room 27."

‎I knocked once. Silence. Then again. Still nothing.

‎I almost gave up — but then I heard it.

‎A soft, shaky voice from the other side.

‎"…Who is it?"

‎"I'm nobody," I said honestly. "I just saw you on the balcony… and I got worried."

‎There was a long pause.

‎Then the door creaked open — just a little.

‎And there he was.

‎Daniel.

‎His eyes were red, his lips chapped, his voice barely a whisper.

‎But even in that moment — even with the sadness all over him like a shadow — I thought…

‎He's beautiful.

‎Not the usual kind of beautiful. Not polished or loud. But the kind that hurts to look at. The kind that makes you want to stay.

‎"Why do you care?" he asked.

‎It wasn't angry. It was real. Like someone who had been invisible for too long, and didn't know how to handle being seen.

‎I looked at him and said:

‎"Because someone should."

‎And that was how it started. Not with love. Not with sparks. Just a boy, a broken voice, and a moment that held more weight than either of us could understand.

‎I didn't know then that Daniel carried secrets. That people whispered about him in school hallways. That he had scars — not all of them visible. And I definitely didn't know that being close to him would cost me everything I thought I knew about myself.

‎But I stayed anyway.

‎Because he was crying…

‎And I was the one who saw it.

‎--