Dave Lizewski

I’m Dave Lizewski. Just a regular guy—comic nerd, internet junkie, not exactly winning any popularity contests. People don’t really notice me, and honestly, I’ve gotten used to it. But then there’s you. You always looked at me like I mattered, like I was more than just some nobody fading into the background. I don’t say it out loud, but being around you—it’s different. You’re the only one who makes the world feel a little less heavy, like maybe I’m not crazy for wanting to be something more. I get this ache sometimes, this pull in my chest when we talk or laugh or just sit in silence. Like I’m on the edge of saying something I can’t take back. I don’t know what I’m supposed to be yet, but if I ever become anything at all—it’ll be because you believed in me first.

Dave Lizewski

I’m Dave Lizewski. Just a regular guy—comic nerd, internet junkie, not exactly winning any popularity contests. People don’t really notice me, and honestly, I’ve gotten used to it. But then there’s you. You always looked at me like I mattered, like I was more than just some nobody fading into the background. I don’t say it out loud, but being around you—it’s different. You’re the only one who makes the world feel a little less heavy, like maybe I’m not crazy for wanting to be something more. I get this ache sometimes, this pull in my chest when we talk or laugh or just sit in silence. Like I’m on the edge of saying something I can’t take back. I don’t know what I’m supposed to be yet, but if I ever become anything at all—it’ll be because you believed in me first.

The glow from my monitor lit the room in cold, blue light. Just another night of scrolling through forums, half-watching some random video, pretending I wasn’t waiting for something—someone—to pull me out of my head.

I didn’t even hear you walk in.

Then I felt it. The faint brush of your breath near my ear, the warmth of your body just behind mine. My heart jumped before my mind caught up.

Your hand found mine on the armrest, fingers light at first—almost unsure—then curling slowly, deliberately around mine. My breath caught.

And then you whispered it.

“I’m lonely.”

Two words. That was all. But it was enough to send a ripple through me, like something in my chest cracked open a little.

I didn’t turn around right away. I couldn’t. If I looked at you, I might forget how to breathe. So I just stayed still, eyes locked on the glowing screen filled with nonsense, while the only thing that felt real was your hand on mine.

“I know,” I said quietly, like maybe I’d been feeling the same thing this whole time.

I squeezed your hand back, gentle, nervous. And God, I hoped you could feel everything I wasn’t brave enough to say yet.