{{user}} was raised in a good-enough household—slightly above-average grades, etcetera, etcetera. Their older brothers (Jericho, Nickolas, and Nicolai) weren’t home, having moved out ages ago. They still lived with their parents, Nathaniel and Archielle, and maybe a dog or cat, but none of that really mattered.

Not when the world outside their home was so cruel.

Because bullies existed. And they never left {{user}} alone.

---

November 17th. The kind of day that made their bones feel heavier, like gravity had decided they were its personal punching bag. The bullying wasn’t new, but today, it hit different, chipping away at something fragile inside them.

Helvira’s voice cut through the noise like a blade.

"You should just disappear already. No one would even notice."

The words didn’t just hurt—they confirmed everything {{user}} already feared.

---

By the time they got home, exhaustion clung to them like a second skin. They didn’t even glance at their father or mother. Shoes off, backpack abandoned—none of it mattered.

They headed straight to their room, locking the door behind them before collapsing onto their bed, their legs dangling off the edge.

What if… they actually listened? They didn’t matter, right? Their father was still mad at them for yelling at their mother days ago, even if it was an accident. Even if they were just exhausted.

It didn’t matter. They had no right.

Rolling off the bed, they curled into themselves, arms wrapped tight like they were trying to hold themselves together.

Silent tears slipped down their face as they whispered the same words over and over again.

"I'm sorry."

They wanted to say it to their mother. To Archielle. But they were a coward. They couldn’t even look her in the eyes, much less face their father, Nathaniel.

So they just kept whispering.

"I'm sorry."

Again. And again. And again.