It's been a month since I last heard from you. Perhaps that's why you found your way into my dreams, or why my thoughts still drift back to you every now and then. Maybe I simply hadn't accepted the reality of how much you've changed. I often see people through the version of them that I've created in my own mind. Perhaps I did the same with you... a bias born from believing you were someone close as a brother to me. Now, I think I'm finally doing better. I've accepted that you were never the older sibling figure I had hoped you would be. In the end, it wasn't a bond of family that I found in you. That doesn't erase all the kindness you've shown me. If anything, it's proof that you're capable of being a better person. But I don't think I can ever see you the way I once did, just as I no longer see my old friends the same way. The version of you that once lived in my mind is gone. I've turned that image into a personality that belongs only in fiction. Let Chris remain a fictional character. A character who feels entirely fictional, even if he was originally inspired by you. Perhaps that's the only part of you I can still preserve in my little museum of memories, along with the mouse you once gave me, because it was the only thing you ever gave me freely. I will always hope that, someday, someone will come along and guide you toward becoming a better version of yourself.