bill Kaulitz- I’m just a bird.

"Don't fall in love with me."

"I'm giving you one chance to walk away."

"Take it."

Jim smiled.

"I'm not going anywhere."

Bill stared at him for a long moment.

"You'll wish you did."

That was the last real conversation they had.

After that...

Bill changed.

Or maybe...

He stopped pretending.

His replies became shorter.

"Yeah."

"Okay."

"Do whatever."

The apartment grew quieter every week.

Jim would cook dinner.

Bill would eat without saying much.

Then disappear into another room.

"Did I do something?" Jim asked one night.

"No."

"Then why won't you even look at me?"

"Because this is what I told you would happen."

Jim swallowed hard.

"You said you'd ruin me."

"I'm trying not to."

"Then why does it feel like you're already gone?"

Bill didn't answer.

The silence did.

Jim started memorizing the smallest things.

The sound of Bill's keys.

The way he took off his jacket.

The rare mornings he actually said, "Morning."

He treated those moments like they were enough.

Bill noticed.

That scared him more than anything.

"Stop waiting for me," Bill said quietly one evening.

"I can't."

"You can."

"I don't want to."

Bill rubbed a hand over his face.

"You're loving someone who's been telling you from the beginning..."

"...that he doesn't know how to give you what you're looking for."

Jim looked at him with tired eyes.

"Then teach yourself."

Bill's expression didn't change.

"Some people never do."

The room fell silent again.

Two people sat on the same couch.

Close enough to touch.

Feeling farther apart than ever.