Proprietorial love

1

Daniel was only 8 when he met his best friend. Though, maybe 'ran into him' would be a more apt description.

Daniel and his mother had been wandering around the city, one of their rare sightseeing days as his mom collected trash on the ground and took care of her son after school. Daniel himself was busy with all the sights on the wealthier side of town, so much so he had unintentionally strayed a bit farther from his mother than he had intended.

Due to that, he hadn't heard his mother's warning for him to stay close and wandered off far enough to get lost.

"Mama?!" The young boy couldn't help but call out "Mama! Mama!" In his panic, Daniel ran and ran, eventually bumping into someone and falling onto the ground.

When Daniel looked back up, he saw a fallen little boy right in front of him. The boy himself was small, maybe smaller than Daniel, with bowl-cut hair that hid his eyes and a scraped knee from hitting the pavement too hard.

"I'm so sorry!" Daniel yelled, ignoring the sting in his palm to help the little boy stand up "I wasn't looking and I bumped into you! Are you ok?!"

The little boy seemed shocked, before hesitantly nodding and looking around in question.

"I lost my mama..." Daniel sniffled, the tears threatening to come back. It was nice that the little boy hadn't let go of him though, even if his knee looked to be bleeding.

The little boy suddenly seemed alarmed, grasping his hand tighter and pointing behind Daniel, as if trying to ask him something. Daniel didn't understand what his new friend seemed to be saying, but he thinks he knows what he meant.

"I don't know where I last saw my m-mama..." Daniel sniffled again "I know she was close to this store that sold a..." Daniel furrowed his brow and tried to remember what it looked like. "It sold bags, not like my school bag though! It was kinda small and expensive looking." He formed a shape between his hands like it could help the other boy understand.

The other boy did, surprisingly, his face seemed to brighten up and he started walking determinedly behind Daniel, grasping his hand as if asking to follow. With the thought of another boy helping Daniel find his mama, Daniel hadn't hesitated in following.

In the end, Daniel hadn't gone that far from his mother, they were only walking for a little while before his mama found him and hugged him tight enough that Daniel thought she was never letting go. In that little moment, Daniel hoped she wouldn't.

When mama saw his new friend standing awkwardly to the side with blood on his knee, she hurriedly took what little cash she had on her person to buy him a box of bandaids.

"Thank you for helping my son." She smiled kindly at the young boy and patted his head "I don't know what I would have done if I lost him forever."

His friend seemed to flush red at that, looking down at the concrete bashfully. "Do you want to wait with us while your parents find you? You must have gotten lost as well." She offered.

His friend hesitantly shook his head, pointing back to the direction he came from.

"Your home is just up the street?" A nod. "Then I and my son and will walk you home, it worries me to think you'll be walking back all alone."

His friend seemed even more bashful at that but agreed to let the mother and son walk him home.

Daniel found that his friends' name was Jay and he was part of a wealthy family. They both promised to meet again next week.

They played together at the park in the city for a long time, always under the watch of Daniel's mother and Jae's butler. They built and talked and ran and played together for years, they became best friends, they grew up together and talked about their hopes and dreams together.