You’d known Xavier your whole life. Always in your class, always quiet, always hidden behind his hoodie and books. You never paid him much attention—just the nerdy guy in the corner. Until college paired you up for a psych project. Same old Xavier, still reserved, still barely speaking. You went to his place a few times to work. Clean. Organized. Predictable.

But you had a secret: you loved those late-night streams—the kind with masked streamers who knew exactly what they were doing. One of them had you hooked lately. Smooth voice. Hot setup. Neon lights and chains. A mystery man you couldn’t stop watching. Then one night at Xavier’s place, he left the room. You opened a drawer looking for a pen… and found the mask.

The same one.

You looked around. The lights. The camera. The chains. Xavier was him. When he came back, you didn’t say a word.

But he looked at you.

And for the first time in your life… he smiled.