21

The room had finally gone quiet again.The text had been sent.Sam was pacing, again.Colby was sipping his third iced coffee like it was wine, Chris was playing some aggressive mobile game, Matt was chewing on his thumbnail, and Nick was aggressively refreshing Sam's DMs from across the room like a nosy little gremlin.

Sam: "She's not gonna respond."

Nick: "She literally winked at you, bro. She's typing right now."

Matt: squinting "Wait. You got the typing bubble?"

Chris: "Don't say that out loud, you'll scare it off."

⸻

Sam's phone vibrates once.

Everyone freezes.

Colby: whispers "Oh my God. Open it."

Sam: staring at it like it's a holy text "I'm gonna throw up."

Matt: "You made it this far. Don't choke now."

⸻

📲 Message from Melinda:

"I know you do Sam. And no, it's not nothing. It's a tribute to you on my body in permanent ink — but I'll never regret getting them done.That Onward and Upward one? I have that because it saved me.Just like it saved you.Next time you go visit your grandmother in the graveyard... tell her I said hi, OK, sweet boy."

⸻

Sam's face crumples the second he finishes reading.

Just one slow exhale.One full-body pause.No tears — just that look.That look you get when someone says the one thing you've been carrying for years and makes it feel... safe.

Chris: softly "...She knows about your grandma?"

Colby: quietly "She's watched everything."

Matt: "Sam—?"

Sam: barely above a whisper "She called me sweet boy."

Nick: "Dude. I have goosebumps. That wasn't just a reply. That was a fucking blessing."

⸻

Colby: slow grin forming"You realize what that means, right?"

Sam: "What."

Colby: "It means you're not just her favorite.You're her person."

⸻

Sam didn't answer.He just read the message again.

And again.

And again.

His hand drifted to his chest — fingertips lightly tracing the spot over his ribs where he almost got that Onward and Upward tattoo with her. He had never done it.

But now?He didn't want to get it because it reminded him of pain.

He wanted it because she wore it like a flag of survival.And maybe... maybe he was ready to match that.