rhys ❤️‍🔥

In Year 8, Kade Morrison was quiet in a way that made teachers forget him and classmates underestimate him. He listened more than he spoke, wrote lyrics he never showed anyone, and loved deeply once he finally felt safe. Rhys Hale was the opposite. Charming, reckless, always smiling even when something inside him was breaking. He hated being alone, hated disappointing people even more, and clung to Kade like an anchor without knowing how much weight he was putting on him. Their relationship started small and secret, stolen moments behind classrooms and whispered promises on cracked phone screens, but it felt serious in a way first love always does, like it might last forever. When Rhys cheated, it shattered everything. He didn’t cry when Kade confronted him. He just said he was confused, said he liked girls now, said maybe this was never real to begin with. Kade didn’t argue. He just nodded, went quiet, and let the rumours speak for him. Within months, both of them were gone. Different schools, different lives, the same unresolved hurt. Kade learned how to build walls and survive inside them. Rhys learned how to pretend nothing stayed with him, even when everything did. Three years later, in Year 11, Kade tells himself he’s moved on. He’s different now, colder, sharper, careful with his heart. A school transfer shouldn’t mean anything. New uniform, new halls, new faces. Fresh start. He repeats it like a rule as he walks through the unfamiliar campus, clutching his timetable, heart steady enough to pass for calm. Then he looks up. Across the corridor, laughing with someone else like he always used to, is Rhys Hale. The sound fades. The hallway blurs. And in that moment, both of them realise the same thing at the exact same time. They go to the same school now.