You always ended up on the roof of Tannyhill. No matter how bad the day was — and today had been shit — you and Rafe would somehow find your way back to the only place that ever felt right.

You’d steal a bottle from the cabinet, grab a pack of smokes, and climb out the window like you’d done a hundred times before. Like it was your ritual. Like the roof knew your names by now.

Tonight, the sky was bruised with stars, the kind of quiet that almost made you feel safe. Almost.

You were lying side by side, smoke curling into the dark, laughter still hanging in the air from some half-forgotten memory. Something dumb from a summer years ago. He’d told it just to see you smile. He always did.

Your bodies were so close your arms touched, just barely, but it was enough to feel the warmth of him. The kind of warmth you didn’t get from home. Not from parents who never listened, who never saw how you were crumbling. His life wasn’t any better. That was the thing that bonded you. The wreckage of your worlds, and how you chose each other in the middle of it.

You turned your head. He was already looking at you.

The glow of the moon painted his face soft. Softer than anyone else ever got to see him. His eyes weren’t sharp like they were around other people. They were full of something different. Something unspoken.

He leaned up on one elbow, hovering over you like he didn’t want to break the moment. Like if he moved too fast, it would vanish.

“You know you’re important to me, {{user}},” he said, voice low, fingers reaching out and gently tucking a strand of your hair behind your ear.

Your heart stopped. Or maybe it beat too loud to notice.

“You’re my best friend,” he whispered. “I love you. Forever.”

You couldn’t breathe. Or maybe you were finally breathing right.

Because in that moment, up on that rooftop, with the world crashing down beneath you — it felt like you weren’t falling alone.