People think the hardest part is losing someone. They're wrong. The hardest part is pretending I didn't lose myself too... ------------------------------------------- She left school holding her best friend's future in her hands, and everything else somewhere behind her. They were both in love in the quietest way-never spoken, never claimed, and now it's too late for either of them to say it out loud. Sadie doesn't know how to exist after loss, only how to survive it badly. Her fingers turn everything she can't say into something visible. Her brother keeps pulling her back when she starts to disappear completely. Then someone else enters her life who understands what it means to be halfway gone- when the silence at home becomes too heavy to stay in. ------------------------------------------- He smirks, lifting a hand to brush his messy dark hair back, the kind of careless motion that still somehow looks intentional. His eyes stay on my artwork like he's already seen parts of me that I haven't admitted yet. "That's a fuckin' masterpiece you've got there." {18+} This story contains themes of grief, loss, trauma, and emotional distress. It also includes references to toxic coping mechanisms, and sexual content. Reader discretion is advised.