A few weeks later. You’re in the room reading. Joey knocks on the door, something rare. He enters slowly, as if he were stepping on a minefield.

“I can’t sleep.”

You point to the bed.

“Do you want to stay here for a while?”

He hesitates, then sits next to you, back to the wall. You are silent, sharing the same space, the same breath.

“You scare me.” - he suddenly lets go.

You frown.

“Me?”

“Yes.” - he turns his face to you. - “Because I get better when you’re close. And that scares me. Because everything I love, I lose.”

You hold his hand. For the first time, he doesn’t back down.

“Maybe, this time... you don’t need to lose.”

He stares at you. The eyes are storms and sky at the same time.

“You’re the only good thing I can’t destroy.”

And then... he hugs.

Slowly. Afraid.

As if you were the first thing that really matters.