After You Walked Away

"𝖨 𝗌𝗍𝗂𝗅𝗅 𝗍𝗁𝗂𝗇𝗄 𝖺𝖻𝗈𝗎𝗍 𝗁𝗈𝗐 𝗅𝗂𝗍𝗍𝗅𝖾 𝗂𝗍 𝗐𝗈𝗎𝗅𝖽𝗏𝖾 𝗍𝖺𝗄𝖾𝗇.

𝖠𝗇𝗒𝗍𝗁𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝖻𝗎𝗍 𝗇𝗈𝗍𝗁𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝖻𝖾𝖼𝖺𝗎𝗌𝖾 𝗂𝗇 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝖾𝗇𝖽 𝗍𝗁𝖺𝗍𝗌 𝗐𝗁𝖺𝗍 𝖨 𝖼𝗁𝗈𝗌𝖾. 𝘕𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝖠𝗇𝖽 𝗍𝗁𝖺𝗍𝗌 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝗉𝖺𝗋𝗍 𝖨 𝖼𝖺𝗇𝗍 𝗎𝗇𝖽𝗈"

𝖬𝗒 𝗆𝗈𝗍𝗁𝖾𝗋 𝗁𝖾𝗅𝖽 𝗆𝗒 𝖿𝖺𝖼𝖾 𝗀𝖾𝗇𝗍𝗅𝗒 𝖻𝖾𝗍𝗐𝖾𝖾𝗇 𝗁𝖾𝗋 𝗁𝖺𝗇𝖽𝗌. "𝖸𝗈𝗎 𝖺𝗋𝖾 𝗅𝗈𝗏𝖾𝖽, 𝖬𝗂𝗅𝗈."

𝖳𝗁𝖾 𝗐𝗈𝗋𝖽𝗌 𝗌𝗁𝖺𝗍𝗍𝖾𝗋𝖾𝖽 𝗌𝗈𝗆𝖾𝗍𝗁𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝗂𝗇𝗌𝗂𝖽𝖾 𝗆𝖾 𝖼𝗈𝗆𝗉𝗅𝖾𝗍𝖾𝗅𝗒.

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After Lucas made the decision to leave their hometown, Milo stayed behind like someone choosing to remain on a sinking ship, aware of the risk but unwilling, or unable, to step off.

To everyone else, he looked unchanged. The same familiar Milo quietly drifting through days, brushing off concern with half-smiles and tired jokes. But beneath the surface, something was slipping. Headaches he never spoke about. A growing reliance on things no one asked about too closely. A slow, private unraveling that blended so well into his "usual self" that it became invisible.

The question was never whether Milo was changing, it was whether anyone would notice in time.

Because while the world kept treating him like he was still afloat, he was already starting to sink, and the only distance his head seemed to measure anymore was how far he was away from his grave.