You were standing in the doorway like the world had just collapsed and you didn't want me to see it. But I did.

I saw everything.

The way your lips pressed into that thin, cold line. The way your hands curled at your sides like you were trying not to fall apart. Or maybe trying not to rip me apart.

"Anna said you fucked her."

You said it like it didn't mean anything. Like it wasn't tearing you open to even say the words.

My mouth opened. I stepped toward you, instinctively, like I could fix this with one breath, one touch. "Please—it's not true. That's not what happened—"

"Don't."

Just that one word. And it hit harder than anything you could've screamed. You didn't yell. You didn't cry. You didn't ask. You just shut me out.

"You lied to me," you said. Calm. Controlled. Like you'd rehearsed it. Like it was a sentence you were giving me. "You made me think I was crazy for believing it was only us. All this time, Malachi. And I defended you. I loved you."

My heart dropped. I could barely get words out. "I didn't lie. I never touched her, I never wanted her. She talked, she said things—I ignored it. I only ever wanted us to be each other's firsts—"

"But you let her say it," you hissed. "You let them think it. You let me walk around like an idiot, believing in something that clearly never existed."

You stepped back when I reached for you. Like I was filth. Like I was someone else. Not me. Not your big brother.

And that's when I realized... you didn't believe me.

"It was always you," I whispered. "And I don't regret any second of being able to touch you."

But you were already turning away. Already pulling the door closed on everything we were.