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Her fingers brush the edge of the frame, and that's all it takes.

She folds in on herself.

The grief arrives without warning, crashing through whatever walls she's managed to build during the drive home.

I wrap my arms around her before I even think about it.

She clutches the back of my shirt.

We stand there together, crying in front of a photograph that should never have become this important.

For years, we've carried pieces of this grief separately. Different cities. Different lives. Different ways of pretending we were managing.

Now there's nowhere to hide from it.

Eventually, Maggie drags in a shaky breath and wipes her face with the sleeve of her sweatshirt. "You know what I miss most about him?"

I scrub at my eyes. "What?"

A watery smile tugs at her mouth. "He was unbelievably annoying."

A laugh bursts out of me. "That's what you lead with?"

"Absolutely. The man was a menace."

"He had many flaws."

"He stole my hiking boots."

I stare at her. "He stole everyone's shoes."

"He hid one of my favorite sandals in a tree for an entire summer."

The memory slams into me immediately.

Ben standing on the garage roof with the confidence of a man who had never experienced consequences.

Maggie yelling threats from the yard.

Me trying to negotiate peace terms between two people who treated conflict like a competitive sport.

"He told you adversity built character."

"He gave me a lecture." Maggie's eyes widen in disbelief even now. "A full lecture. While my sandal was still stuck in the tree."

I start laughing harder. "So did you become a better person?"

"No. I learned how to throw a baseball at him with surprising accuracy."

"That's growth."

"Thank you."

The laughter comes easier after that.

The tears don't disappear, but they stop owning every inch of the room.

We trade stories back and forth, each memory pulling another to the surface. Ben sneaking out of windows. Ben convincing people terrible ideas were excellent ideas. Ben talking his way through situations that should've ended with someone grounding him for life.