When Vulnerability Learns to Hide

How easily people could say, "I'm here," and still not show up, so you adapted.

You started doing that subtle math in your head before you even realized you were doing it,

the cost of being honest, the risk of being seen, the price of wanting.

You began to prefer control over connection, not because you didn't value people, but because you

valued the part of you that had to survive them. And then there was a moment,

one moment that made it sharper. Maybe it was late at night. Maybe you didn't

even want to send the message, but your fingers did it anyway. A small reach,

a small confession, something real, something human, something like, "I'm not okay,"