My Brother Left the Chat
My brother left the family group chat at 2am. No message. I keep refreshing to see if the number goes back up.
This one goes to a heavy place. If you’d rather not read it tonight, that’s a fine choice — support resources are here.
the family group chat went quiet at 2am the way it does, everyone asleep but me, and then the little gray line: my brother left the group. no message, no fight, just gone, like stepping out of a room without your coat. i screenshotted it. i don't even know who i thought i'd send it to.
mom will notice at breakfast and ask what i did, because it's always what i did. we haven't talked since the thing at dad's birthday, which wasn't even a thing, it was one sentence, and the sentence was true and that's why it landed. i typed 'you ok?' and deleted it. typed 'real mature' and deleted that one faster. left it on nothing. i keep going back to look at the chat like the member count will tick back up on its own. nine months we've been not-talking and i could've ended it in any of them, and tonight he made it easier, now there's a line that says it for both of us. i should feel something cleaner about that. mostly i'm just sitting here doing the math on how long it's been, and realizing he's the only person who'd know the answer without counting.
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