you are a kindness that never asks for more because you're conditioned into thinking that's all you deserve.
you tense and curl and retract. you bare your wounds with a weakened hope, hardly surprised when they place their salted fingers upon your skin.
you paint your face to keep solid, but drip and slide into age old insecurities because you're afraid if the people you love saw your pain and sharp splinters they wouldn't want you anymore.
you hold your friends up with soft arms and steel shoulders, with beautiful words and tireless ease, but never expect anyone to be there for you. because you're used to this. because this always happens.
you are comfort and strength and forgiveness. you fear drowning in your sorrows, but darling, you are the water that laps gently on a broken body, coaxing life in people who have given up all hope.
you think you are a cold, dark night and the empty light in that rusted lamppost, but all I see are the twinkling stars and all I feel is the air kissing my cheeks hello.
this isn't everything you are.
you are 3am skype calls and daily texts to make sure I'm okay without any regard to how you are feeling. you are silly snapchats in the middle of the afternoon. you are red blushes that warm your face as you try to admonish me for complimenting your writing. you are the anchor that kept me from drowning in a sea of hatred, and promised that the boy I gave my heart to wasn't worth my kindness. that I was so much more than my anger.
you are a friend and a brother and I love you with every piece of my fractured little heart. you are an inspiration. you are your wit and your charm and your sarcasm and one day, we'll sit with soft smiles and remember the year that brought us together.
