"One day, it just... got too heavy. Too much. So I left."
My eyes widen. "Left?"
"Left Florida," he says hoarsely. "Got on a plane. Went to New York. To NYU."
My chest caves in on itself.
"I needed you," he whispers. "I needed the one person who always made the world feel less impossible. Survivable..."
Oh God...
"I stayed for a week. Kept showing up at the main gates." He gives a broken little laugh. "NYU's massive, so maybe it was stupid, but... I kept hoping. Hoping you'd walk by. Just once."
My throat burns.
"But you never did," he says softly. "And when I tried calling... it never went through. Still blocked."
A small gasp escapes me.
Sam's voice from months ago hits me like a freight train.
She told me Zach was almost kicked off the team freshman year. That he was missing practices. Playing terribly. That he disappeared to New York without telling anyone—and she always believed it was because of me.
And God... she was right about part of it.
Hedidgo to New York for me.
But the real reason he was falling apart wasn't me.
It was this.
All of this.
A brutal illness stealing his family's peace.
The same sickness that had already taken their father.
And the fear that his little sister—his angel—would be next.
Who wouldn't break under that?
"Zach..." I whisper, voice cracking.
My heart squeezes so violently it feels like someone's got a fist wrapped around it, twisting.
I open my mouth, but nothing comes out—not a sound, not a breath—just this awful, heavy guilt pressing down on my ribs.
I try again, swallowing hard. "Why didn't you... why didn't you call my parents? Ask where I was? Where I lived?"
He lets out a soft, sad breath—one that sounds older than both of us put together.
"I did," he murmurs. "Your mom gave me the address to your dorm. I went. I waited outside for hours. But I still didn't get to see you."
My eyes shut tight, and the guilt hits me like a punch straight to the chest.
Of course he never found me. How could he?
Back then... if I wasn't in class, I was in the gym.
