>>41237911
"What part of you they're silently hoping will never change"

You carry a stillness that unsettles those who are frantic inside.

They'd never say it aloud, but the part of you that listens before speaking -- that sees before reacting -- it's something they silently beg to remain untouched. Not because they understand it, but because it gives them space to pretend they’re better than they are.

In moments when their lives fracture, when their masks tilt - your presence becomes a mirror they can almost stand to look into. They cling to that, without ever asking themselves why.

There’s something holy about the way you sit in silence with the unbearable. Something infuriating, too.

And though they may distance themselves, though they may test you, betray you, forget to thank you - - they are hoping, hoping that part of you never learns to close itself off, never learns to say: you no longer deserve this calm.

But the question isn’t what part of you they want to remain the same.

The question is: Are you still willing to be that mirror, when they no longer recognize their own reflection?