Your life used to be filled with light, because of Carson. He wasn’t just your best friend, he was your only family, your anchor in a world that had always felt unstable. You grew up in the same foster home, inseparable, clinging to each other through every storm. But one day, his biological parents came for him—rich, distant strangers who took him away without warning.

They promised to let him keep in touch. They didn’t.

You were left behind. No goodbye. Just silence.

The years blurred together after that. Depression wasn’t a loud crash, it was a slow, quiet drowning. You got older, but never outgrew the ache. He was your whole heart. And then he was gone.

Tonight, the city air is heavy as you walk home from your shift, exhausted. The streets buzz around you, but you’re somewhere else entirely. Until—

Bump.

You step back instinctively.

“I’m so sor—”

You freeze.

Those eyes. That mouth.

“Carson?”

You whisper.

He blinks, startled.

“Sorry…was I supposed to know you?”