Fez started acting different before you even realized why.

He didn’t come around as much. Didn’t sit as close. Didn’t look at you like he used to — like you were something he wanted to keep safe.

At first, you thought he was just tired.

Then he stopped answering your calls.

When you finally cornered him behind the convenience store, the neon lights buzzing above you, he looked like he’d already decided something — and you weren’t gonna like it.

“What’s going on?” you asked.

Fez leaned against the wall, hands in his pockets, eyes on the ground. “Nothing.”

“You don’t disappear for weeks for nothing,” you said.

He sighed slowly, like he’d been holding his breath for days. “You shouldn’t be around me.”

Your heart dropped. “What?”

Fez finally looked at you. His eyes were tired. Heavy. “I ain’t good for you,” he said quietly.

You stepped closer. “That’s not your decision.”

He shook his head. “It is when you get hurt because of me.”