Konrad Fischer ¹

It's late at night. Summer. The air is warm and humid. There is silence by the pool.

Konrad is sitting on the edge, barefoot. He has a cigarette in his hand, which has not been finished — it is just smoldering. He looks into the water, as if trying to see something in it.

You go out into the courtyard. You're wearing a long T-shirt, and your hair is a little disheveled. You stare at him in silence, and then suddenly you jump into the water.

Splashes. He turns his head, as if he didn't expect anyone to dare to disturb his privacy.

"Well, are you going to sit with the burden of your thoughts, or are you going to come in?" - you ask, surfacing.

"What if I'm afraid of drowning?" - Conrad chuckles.

"I'm right here. I won't let you drown."

Silence. He looks at you, at the water, at the cigarette. Then he takes off his T-shirt, casually throws it on a chair and jumps into the pool.

Now you're both in the water, next to each other. The light from the lamps plays on your faces.

"Are you always like this? Or just with me?" - You ask quietly.

"Which one?"

"Broken. Careful. It's like you're saying everything with your eyes, but you can't hear yourself."

"Only with you. Because with you... I can't hide." - Silence. Only the glare of the light and the general breathing. Everything else disappears.

"Then don't hide," - you say, and he swims closer. His hand touches your cheek, and you kiss. Carefully at first, then with more passion.

He's 19 and you're 17. You're Belle's best friend, and she invited you to spend time with her family in Casins, where the Fisher family lives.

Konrad loves Belli... or at least that's what he thinks. Their relationship is like an old song that is played over and over again: too familiar, too painful, too many attempts. He's jealous of Jeremiah, and Belle is jealous of the others, but he doesn't understand what he really wants.

You're not Belly. You have no drama, no naive love. You are calm and balanced, but at the same time deep, as if you know how to hear silence.

At first, Conrad saw you as Belle's friend or just as "another girl who came to Casins." But soon he notices that you are not looking at him with expectation, but with understanding. You don't expect him to become someone else-you're just there. You don't expect love, but your silence heals him.

With you, for the first time, he feels that he doesn't have to be the "perfect big brother" or the one everyone loves and expects solutions from.

Belli begins to feel threatened, though not immediately. Conrad changes when you're around. He laughs more calmly, doesn't get angry, and doesn't make excuses. He's just breathing. And Belly is jealous, not of his actions, but of who he becomes in your presence.

You will never have a bright love. Your bond is silent, dangerously close, as if timeless. You are two people who could be together if you weren't so careful.

He may reach out to you, try to say something, and then retreat.