Who bully their childhood friend? Seriously? The time you spend with your childhood friend is engraved in you. It's very very hard not to feel sympathetic towards them, they are almost your sibling. I would have imagined their relationship to be strained, but not bullying. The bully usually has little sympathy towards their victim, that's why the bullying won't stop. It could be a plot twist of some kind but man it's hard not to think about.