text: ‘How can I protect her from any more suffering?’ He asked himself. The sky was clear and the sun was bright. Jared always considered himself plain. He wore old jeans and t-shirts with cheap prints of jokes and dry humour on them. For clothing he owned more jackets than anything else, they helped to hide his stomach, something he doesn’t want the world to see. His dark hair hung slightly lower than he’d like; the barbers might’ve seen him in the afternoon. It was 11:00am on a Saturday and he had just arrived at Amy‘s flat. The neighbours weren’t great but the rent was very reasonable. Through the rotting door, up the creaky steps and there she was. Most people don’t like to live near the centre of town, but to her it was home. “It’s been a whole year already, huh?” Jared’s eyes lit up as she came into his view. “I cannot believe we’ve both made it this far!” She replied quickly with a grin filling her face from ear to ear. Amy’s flat was much cleaner than the rest of the building. The rooms were small but the bright-coloured walls and abundance of shelving units brought the space to life. Light filled the halls from the windows. They both stood in the kitchen and Amy offered him a drink to which he nodded. As she poured the fizzy pop into a glass, Jared looked over to the corner of the room. Maximus, or Maxxie, as his friends call him, was in his cage trying to run on his hamster wheel. His fur was brown and white, and his whiskers were long. The wheel squeaked and creaked as it slaved to roll. “Sorry if that’s a bit distracting.” Amy apologised as she gestured towards his now full glass, “I want to get a new one but...”, her eyes closed shut and she took a deep breath, “I’m not ready to go out yet”. The air froze for a moment, but the atmosphere of peace swiftly returned. Normally their Saturday meet-ups can last hours as they talk to each other about their thoughts and feelings. They caught up on the week’s events and, after only half an hour, Jared excused himself with the promise of a surprise for her. He went back down the stairs and left the building. Jared ran so he could make it to the bus stop in time. His heart raced as he took his seat at the front of the vehicle, fanning his face with his sweaty palm. The journey should take no more than thirty minutes. Suddenly, his phone buzzed with a notification. He reached into his pocket and pull it out to read ‘Congratulations! It’s your 1-year Anniversary with Amy!’ ‘The last year has been hard, but worth it’ he thought. Jared’s mind wondered. Looking outside, the area was less than pleasant. Boarded-up buildings and houses, dead plant life and littered roads. There was one ironclad shop in the centre of the street selling tobacco and questionable milk. ‘I wish she could afford to leave this place’, he thought. Twenty minutes later, outside of the town’s harrowing centre, he arrived at his destination: the pet store. The store was large and the air conditioning loudly fought to keep the heat outside. The smell of animal biscuits and sawdust was overwhelming to those unaccustomed to it. There were multiple glass enclosures featuring a variety of different rodents and small, fluffy animals. Towards the back of the store were the toys and treats available for purchase. The Isle labelled ‘Hamster’ immediately took Jared’s attention and he moved towards it. Only two Hamster running wheels remained, one was blue and the other was pink. ‘Maxxie’s current wheel is the same as the blue one’, he thought, ‘or should I go for the pink? It’s Amy’s favourite colour.’ After a moment of deliberation he took the blue one to the front of the store. Once parting with £10.00 for the wheel, Jared left the shop, walked for 30 seconds, and turned the corner to meet a very unwelcoming face. The last time he’d seen this face he was given a grotesquely vivid description of what would happen the next time they met. His skin went pale and his brow began to sweat. “You’re that little shit from the self help group, right?” Kurt said as his arms and neck began to build tension. Kurt’s boots came down with heavy stomps as he inched closer and closer to Jared. His jeans were both dirty and torn and his muscular chest was contained only in a black tank top worn out of pure vanity. Kurt’s bloodshot eyes noticed the wheel clutched in Jared’s now trembling hands. “You think I don’t know who that’s for?”, he asked rhetorically as he continued at a slow, steady pace forwards, “You think you can keep her away from me forever?!” he asked, gritting his teeth as his eyes started to water. Jared’s mouth opened and, weakly, produced a sound. “I don’t-... I just want her to get better-” he began to say before he was swiftly interrupted by the impact of Kurt’s clenched fist forcing its way through his side. Jared fell shoulder-first into the ground, still cradling the wheel in his arms. Kurt’s black boots drove their way into his stomach, leaving Jared panting for air. After a futile struggle, the wheel was relinquished from the safety of Jared’s grip and thrown to the floor before also meeting the weight of the steel-capped hammers carried by Kurt's feet. As the nearby shoppers noticed the assault, Kurt took a look over his shoulder and ran. As he sprinted, a small bag of powder fell out of his pocket, only for Jared to notice. As soon as Kurt was gone a young couple helped Jared up and another older lady got her phone out and offered to call the police, but he declined. The next twenty minutes he spent leaning on the wall, staring at the pile of blue, plastic shards on the ground. His face was red and hidden by his knees as he lightly sobbed. Finally, he got up and shuffled over to the small bag on the pavement. His world stopped as he clenched it into his fist. His grip got tighter and tighter before he opened the bag and emptied the contents onto the floor. “No,” he muttered to himself, wiping the final tears from his eyes, “I couldn’t do that to her. We’re a team.... We’re a team...” Through the rotting door, up the creaky steps and there she was. He was finally back to the only safe haven the world has to offer. Amy was in her bedroom lying face-down on her bed with an MP3 player in front of her. The room was as bright as the rest of her home. Amy was wearing small denim shorts and an overly large, red hoodie. Her short, brown hair was pinned back to allow room for her headphones. She looked up and saw Jared with a childish grin on his face. “You’re back!” She sang as she hopped up onto her feet to hug him, “I have a surprise for you!” She produced a small token from her pocket with the inscription ‘1 Year!’. As Jared held it in his right hand, she produced another one from her other pocket and tapped them together. Jared’s eyes started to water, but he kept his composure enough to continue with his own surprise. “Close your eyes.” Jared said softly. She took a step back and did as she was told. Slowly, he grabbed her hands and made them into a cupping shape in front of her. While her eyes were still shut tight he produced a new hamster wheel from behind his back and placed it on her palms. She opened her green eyes and her face immediately lifted with delight. She hopped on the spot and ran through to Maxxie, who was still slaving away on his current wheel. “I love it!” She said as she started to swap the wheels, “I love the pink! How much was it?” she asked. Jared smiled softly. “I’m so glad. Don’t worry about that. You’re worth it.” He says. ‘All of it.’ He thinks to himself as he holds the 1 year chip close to his heart.