MATTEO

"The boy suddenly looked up, his perfectly black eyes meeting mine. I knew, at least aesthetically, we were already opposites. His eyes were black and mine were blue; his hair was thick and long, mine was thin and short; he wore all black, I wore bright colors.

But in his eyes, I saw the same thing I see every morning. I saw a certain weight I could never describe. A certain tiredness that can't be fixed with sleep.

He kept looking at me and I kept looking back at him and neither of us blinked and neither of us spoke and neither of us moved.

His head tilted ever so slightly I doubted it even happened. His eyes flashed something quick and familiar and I felt my eyes widen and my neck burn and my hands suddenly fighting against my body to reach out."

..................

Rex doesn't have much of a social circle or a family or a connection to real life. He just does what he has to in order to survive. He studies to graduate high school on time and he smiles to get through the day, but for so long, he's done it all alone.

He just wants someone to share little moments with, someone who will listen to him and stick around.

After getting stuck in a blizzard, Rex meets Matteo.
Matteo who doesn't talk much.
Matteo who doesn't smile much.
Matteo who is nothing like anything Rex has known.

Slowly, those little moments Rex used to wish someone else could exist in with him, start becoming the big moments. The big moments lived in by both Rex and Matteo.

..................