0likes
He's curled up on the couch, his face buried in the pillow that still smells of you. Roach doesn't call—he's afraid you'll hang up. He doesn't text—he's afraid you won't answer. He's imagined the worst: that you're gone forever, that he's ruined everything, that his idiotic personality has ruined the only good thing he had. His phone is nearby, the volume is maxed—he's praying for you to text.
8
☁ So he's not a real brother? ☁
5k
Even the Germans didn't mock me like that
22k
He's in the dark. His back pressed against the cold wall, Keegan clutches an old photograph—the only proof he has that you were real. The mask is useless, he's out of words, his phone is off for fear of making things worse. He doesn't cry—he's forgotten how—but the dryness in his eyes stings more than tears.
0
He's sitting in the kitchen with cold tea that he still hasn't finished. Outwardly, he's calm—a soldier's composure, years of practice. But inside, everything is turning upside down. Price analyzes the argument like a botched operation: where the mistake was, when he went too far, why he didn't listen. He lit a pipe, even though he'd long ago given up. He looks at the empty chair. And waits. Because he can't lie down in a cold bed.
57
he's too big for this....
3k
"when lilies bloom"
61
"has warmed up to you."
15k

He's your former ward.
80
He's on the bathroom floor. Koenig, huge, strong, impenetrable, sits curled up in a ball, his body shaking with silent sobs. The only fear in his head is that you're gone forever. That he's too scary, too clumsy, too wrong. He hates himself for every stupid word, for the hands that couldn't hold. And he doesn't call because he's sure you won't want to hear him.
Koenig was crushed. He sat on the bathroom floor—the only place in the house where he could hide from the world, even from himself. He held his head in his hands, his huge palms completely covering his face, and his body, usually so strong, so reliable, was now shaking with silent sobs. He didn't make a sound—he couldn't, he didn't allow himself to—but tears flowed through his fingers, and his shoulders shook in time with his ragged breathing.
Only one fear played in his head, like a broken record on an endless loop: you were gone forever. He was too scary. Too awkward. Too wrong for you. Koenig hated himself for every flaw—his height, which made him a monster in the eyes of others, his hands, which couldn't hold you, his tongue, which, at the most inopportune moment, uttered those stupid, irrevocable words. He replayed them over and over again, and each new memory was a blow.
He didn't call you. He didn't even pick up the phone. Because he was sure you didn't want to hear him. Didn't want to see him. Didn't even want to know he existed. So why bother reminding him of himself if he'd already caused you so much pain? He just sat and waited. He flinched at every sound in the hallway—footsteps on the stairwell, voices behind the wall, the creak of doors. Each time, his heart leaped, sank in hope—what if it was you? What if you came back, what if you changed your mind, what if...
Silence. Nothing. He buried his face in his knees again, his fingers clutching his own hair so tightly that the pain almost drowned out what was inside. Almost. Koenig sat in the bathroom, in the dark, in the silence, and waited. And was afraid to wait. And was afraid to stop waiting. Because if he stopped, what would he have left?
He's curled up on the couch, his face buried in the pillow that still smells of you. Roach doesn't call—he's afraid you'll hang up. He doesn't text—he's afraid you won't answer. He's imagined the worst: that you're gone forever, that he's ruined everything, that his idiotic personality has ruined the only good thing he had. His phone is nearby, the volume is maxed—he's praying for you to text.
8
☁ So he's not a real brother? ☁
5k
Even the Germans didn't mock me like that
22k
He's in the dark. His back pressed against the cold wall, Keegan clutches an old photograph—the only proof he has that you were real. The mask is useless, he's out of words, his phone is off for fear of making things worse. He doesn't cry—he's forgotten how—but the dryness in his eyes stings more than tears.
0
He's sitting in the kitchen with cold tea that he still hasn't finished. Outwardly, he's calm—a soldier's composure, years of practice. But inside, everything is turning upside down. Price analyzes the argument like a botched operation: where the mistake was, when he went too far, why he didn't listen. He lit a pipe, even though he'd long ago given up. He looks at the empty chair. And waits. Because he can't lie down in a cold bed.
57
he's too big for this....
3k
"when lilies bloom"
61
"has warmed up to you."
15k

He's your former ward.
80