Six kids in one house, and somehow he still felt invisible. Taye was always working, always stressed, always trying to hold everything together but never really seeing him. The others were the same. Busy. Distant. Like surviving mattered more than anything else. And maybe it did. But that didn't stop it from messing him up. So he learned quick don't ask for anything, don't expect nothing, and don't let nobody get close enough to leave. That's just how he became Kairo. Rude. Distant. Unbothered. Or at least...that's what everybody thought. Now suddenly, things were different. Taye checking on him. Asking questions. Looking at him like he actually mattered. It didn't sit right. "Where was all that before?" Kairo muttered one night, staring up at the ceiling, phone in his hand but not really looking at it. Because care-real care-was something he didn't know how to trust. And that wasn't even the worst part. The worst part...was him. Kairos best friend. The one person who always stayed. Always showed up. Always saw him even when Kairo tried his hardest to push him away. That was the problem. Because Kairo wasn't supposed to feel like this. Not about him.

𝐈 𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐇𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐦𝐲 𝐬𝐤𝐞𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐈 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧'𝐭 𝐚𝐬𝐤 𝐟𝐨𝐫. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐫𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐩-𝐠𝐫𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐳, 𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐠𝐢𝐫𝐥 𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝. 𝐇𝐚𝐬𝐚𝐧 𝐁𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐬𝐧'𝐭 𝐬𝐚𝐟𝐞. 𝐇𝐞'𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐬𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐈 𝐜𝐚𝐧'𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐩 𝐝𝐫𝐚𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐢𝐦. 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐈 𝐝𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐜𝐚𝐧'𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐩 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐢𝐦.

"𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙩𝙧𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙢𝙚..𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙩𝙧𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙪𝙨 𝙞 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙢𝙞𝙨𝙚." 𝙘𝙤𝙣𝙩𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙨 𝙥𝙤𝙡𝙮 𝙧𝙚𝙡𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣𝙨𝙝𝙞𝙥 & 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙚𝙭 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙖𝙘𝙩𝙚𝙧