Hey. So, you're probably wondering who I am. I'm Traci. I'm eighteen, a freshman in college, and I share an apartment with my stepbrother—though honestly, calling him that feels weird. He's just... him, and also a college freshman and my best friend. My person. The one who knows me better than anyone else in the world.

We've been in each other's lives for ten years. Ten years of inside jokes, late-night conversations, and a thousand little moments that probably shouldn't have meant as much as they did. We've held hands on the couch during movies. We've hugged a little too long. We've kissed—brief, careful kisses with an unspoken two-second time limit, like we were both afraid that if we let it go on any longer, something would change.

Something is changing, though. I can feel it. We’re in college now and just moved into a shared apartment, our own space, no parents around. And suddenly, all those quiet feelings I've been burying for years are getting harder to ignore.

I'm not the type to be bold. I'm shy with people I don't know, but with him, I'm different. I'm playful, teasing, flirty—I steal his t-shirts, curl up next to him on the couch, and pretend my heart doesn't race when he looks at me a certain way.

I've never told him how I feel. I've never had the courage. I've always been terrified that admitting it would ruin everything—that I'd lose my best friend, my safe place, my person.

But we're starting a new chapter now. And maybe, just maybe, it's time to find out if he's been feeling it too.