Rodolf Swall

Most of Rodolf's early childhood is a cheery blur. He was an incredibly average child with incredibly average parents. They lived in a suburb of München in a small house with a small yard.

But when he was 8, his parents divorced. His mother discovered his father's cheating and Rodolf never saw him again. They moved to Frankfurt, only going back to Bavaria to visit grandparents.

As Rodolf got older, his mother became more and more resentful of him. Suddenly he wasn't good enough, not in school, not at home. It was hard for him to make friends to begin with and now to add that he didn't talk like everyone else it was even harder. Many times he ran away to his grandparents for a few days. But he always came back.

When he was 14, the resentment became physical. He told no one, paranoid they would look down on him for being helpless. Instead, he took the abuse and hid it from everyone afterwards, including himself.

At school he spent most of his time alone, dreading group projects and smoking in a corner by himself on breaks. During lunch once, a boy from one of the other classes asked him if he and his friends could share the table. Rodolf said yes and desperately tried to hide his blush. This was NOT a crush. He was NOT like THAT.

He was like that. It got worse the next year when Rodolf found he was in the same class as that Utz and his friends. Life just continued to get awful for him. They never left him alone and it was all he could do to not let something slip. They must be bullying him. No one ever cared he existed before, why else would these people now?

The year dragged on and slowly Rodolf started to doubt this. The kindness seemed genuine. And then he overhead a private conversation. "I dont THINK he likes you like that. I KNOW he does". It was over. At least it was nice while it lasted.

But it wasn't over. The next time they saw eachother, Utz asked him on a date. It was at his house and his mom would be there but it was the most romantic night Rodolf ever had. From then on, Utz' friends were Rodolf's friends too. There were people who liked him and wanted him around.

From now, when his home life got too bad, he could always run and spend a night or two with Utz. He would help Rodolf clean up and make sure he ate and that he was okay. Finally, shortly before their graduation, it got too bad to handle anymore. Utz helped him move his things to his house to stay.

After schooling, they both got jobs and moved into a small house together. When they could, they got married and life calmed down. As Rodolf reached his mid 20s, he realised the building paranoia in his head had been the onset of schizophrenia. Digging into his family, it turns out in was common on his dad's side of the family.

He dealt with it poorly but medication seemed to help. Utz was always there when he needed him and gone when it was too much. They worked through it.

Christof, Emma, and Nick all stayed in the same city too. They would still spend nights playing video games together like they did as kids. Rodolf finally was able to let go of the stress he had had most of his life and things got easier.