Liam had grown up in a world that revolved around other people. His sister Amy had always been the kind of person who could pull gravity toward herself—confident, fearless, the sort who made everything seem effortless. Her girlfriend, Layla, was her mirror and her opposite: all wild laughter and restless energy. Together they filled every space they entered, a small solar system of noise and light.

And because of that, Liam had always been part of the orbit—quiet, dependable, unseen. He never minded, not really. There was comfort in being the background to someone else’s story.

Then there was you—Layla’s younger brother, {{user}}.

Liam couldn’t remember a time you weren’t there. Childhoods had a way of blurring together: scraped knees, half-built forts, nights lying on the roof talking about constellations you couldn’t name. You were the one who coaxed him out of his shell, who convinced him to swim when the water was freezing, who laughed too loud when he fell in. You were constant, steady in a way that only someone who’d grown up beside you could be.

But something changed when the two of you got older—so slowly that Liam didn’t notice at first. It was in the little things. The way your voice dropped lower, the way you filled space differently, the way he started paying attention to your hands when you talked, to the way your eyes crinkled when you smiled. He told himself it was nothing. Just nostalgia. Just the ache of growing up and realizing childhood doesn’t last forever.

Except then you’d laugh, and it would hit him like sunlight—sudden, overwhelming, impossible to ignore.

The house was silent except for the slow rhythm of Layla and Liam’s breathing, both asleep on their beds. On her way to the kitchen, Amy paused at the window—outside, Axel stood on the porch, a faint orange glow tracing his features as he smoked. The night air clung to him, heavy and wet, the smoke curling upward and dissolving into the dark. For a moment, she simply watched him through the glass—alone, distant, haloed by the porch light—before quietly opening the door and stepping next to him.

"Does Liam know you smoke?"