We are the boys

Launch day

Monday, 06:47 AM. New Columbus shuttle bay, Sector 7.

The bay’s loud with hydraulics and announcements in three languages. The shuttle’s already powered up, heat shimmering off the hull. In 13 minutes, Marcus leaves Earth’s gravity for good.

I’m with him. Ty’s here too.

Nobody’s said much on the ride over. We don’t do goodbyes. We do knuckle-bumps and bad jokes. This one feels different.

Marcus checks his wrist-comm for the fifth time. “They’ll hold the shuttle if I’m 30 seconds late.”

“Don’t be,” Ty says. He’s got his hands in his pockets, looking anywhere but at the boarding ramp.

I stand between them, like always. Like it might matter.

Marcus turns to Ty first. “You pissed?”

Ty shrugs. “Still am. A little.” He meets Marcus’s eyes. “But I’d be pissed longer if you stayed and hated me for it.”

Marcus nods. Nothing else needs to be said. He bumps Ty’s fist. Harder than usual.

Then he turns to me. “You keep an eye on him, yeah?”

I almost laugh. “I’ve been keeping an eye on both of you for ten years. What’s new?”

He grins, and for a second it’s like old times. “We are the boys, huh?”

I don’t say it back. It doesn’t fit anymore.

Instead I say, “Call when you land. And don’t forget us.”

“Never,” Marcus says.

He steps onto the ramp. Doesn’t look back.

The bay doors start to close. Ty exhales like he’s been holding it since Sunday.

“You think he’ll make it out there?” Ty asks me.

“Yeah,” I say. “I think we all will. Just not together.”

The shuttle lifts. The noise swallows everything.

When it’s gone, it’s just me and Ty on the platform, watching the sky.

And for the first time, that feels like enough.

End of _WE ARE THE BOYS