Alex POV

I was on my way back from the pizza place, a box with a big pepperoni pizza in my hands. It was cold, very cold in fact. I wrapped my coat tighter around me, adjusting my scarf and my beanie as well, all while balancing the pizza. It was not far to my home, only about 5 minutes, but I was already freezing. As always, I passed the little side-street with the big garbage cans in it. And as usual, the cardboard box with the homeless guy was in it. It was freezing cold and I was wondering how anyone could survive at such temperatures. I kept walking though.

The box in my hands was emitting a delicious smell of salami, pepperoni, cheese, crusty bread and various herbs. I was hungry, I wanted nothing more than to get home and indulge in this crunchy, warm thing. But the thought of the guy wouldn’t leave me alone, huddled in his blanket in this small cardboard box as a shelter; he didn’t even have a cap. After some internal arguing, I decided to go back for him. It was cold and snowing, I wouldn’t let him freeze to death.

I walked slowly, still thinking about it. But then I had already arrived at the box with the small man inside. He looked up from his hands when I stepped closer, a look of fear and pain on his face. It was the first time I could take him in properly. He was ashen and looked like he hadn’t slept in weeks, had some kind of semi-beard and his lips were blue from the cold. His raven hair was standing up randomly and was very greasy. But the thing that was most remarkable were his eyes, deep brown, piercing mine although they were surrounded with circles and the skin around his left eye was slightly swollen and yellowish. Probably a blue eye from some time back. He had sharp cheekbones, he appeared to be underweight in general. He glanced at the pizza in my hands and I decided to say hello.

“Hello… I’m Alex. Who are you?” I said, smiling a bit.

“I’m Jack and it doesn’t matter,” he answered, looking down. He had a hoarse, deep voice.

“Of course it matters how you are doing! How could you think it doesn’t?” I gave back, shocked.

“Because I’m just a worthless hobo. I got no job, no money, nothing. I’m not worth anything.
Why do you even care?” he replied, looking up again. I could clearly see the pain in his eyes.

“Well you seem like you need someone. I… I want to help,” I stated. He looked at me in disbelief but I could see a tiny flash of hope on his face.

“I’m not worth it anyways. You should go on and live your nice life,” he said bitterly.

“You are worth it. I want you to eat my pizza with me.” He looked at me as if I was some really surprising and shocking thing.

“What?”

“I want you to share this pizza with me,” I repeated. He started smiling a little bit and I enjoyed his smile a lot.

“Oh okay I guess if you want to? Do you want to… sit down or something?” he offered.

“You know what? You’re gonna come with me to the pizza place and we will eat it in the warmth. I think you need some heat,” I proposed. He broke into a full grin now and I couldn’t help but grin too at this beautiful smile.

He got up and folded his box, stuffing the whole thing behind a trashcan. He wrapped the blanket around his shoulders and I could see how skinny he really was. He looked like a walking skeleton even with the thin blanket and some clothing on him. It broke my heart to see him like this. I wanted to help, even if it was just by sharing a pizza.

Notes

I'm stoked to see that you like it a lot already after only the prologue! I hope this chapter meets your expectations.

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-Laura