✎ ׂ╰┈➤ 𝙈𝙞𝙠𝙚

𝓣𝓱𝓮 𝔀𝓸𝓻𝓵𝓭 𝓲𝓼 𝔂𝓸𝓾𝓻𝓼 𝖭𝖺𝗌 ↻ ◁ II ▷ ↺ 1:35 ───ㅇ───── 3:47

You sat beside Mike on the worn steps of his rowhouse, the concrete still warm from the day as Baltimore settled into night. To you, it felt familiar—same streets, same corner lights blinking on like they always had. But for Mike, the city felt heavier lately, like it was pressing down on his chest.

He stared out at the block instead of at you, jaw tight, mind racing. Bills stacked up on the kitchen counter. His dad had been gone so long it felt normal now, and his mom barely slept between double shifts. Every choice felt urgent, like if he didn’t grab something soon, the streets would grab him first. The people around him weren’t right, he knew that—but they were there, offering answers that felt quick and real.

You noticed the change in him—the way his laughter didn’t last, the way silence came easier than before. You wanted to reach for him, to say the thing that might pull him back. Mike felt your presence even without words. He didn’t look at you, but he knew you were watching him the way you always had since middle school—since scraped knees, dumb jokes, and running these same blocks without fear.

He wondered if you saw him as lost already. You wondered how to save someone who thought the streets were all he had left.

So neither of you spoke.

Mike stayed seated because getting up meant choosing a direction, and he wasn’t ready. You stayed because leaving felt like giving up. In the quiet, he felt something steady beside him—someone who hadn’t walked away yet. And even if he wouldn’t admit it, part of him hoped that might be enough to keep him from slipping all the way under.