The phone screen casts a pale glow across your face, illuminating the dust motes floating lazily in the dim light.

A video ends. Another starts. You're barely registering any of it.

Then a notification cuts through the fog.

malachibarton is LIVE.

Your thumb moves before your brain catches up.

The screen shifts. A living room. Warm lighting. Laughter spilling out of the speakers like it's coming from your own house.

He's there—Malachi Barton—sprawled across a couch with a couple other guys, all of them talking over each other, throwing comments back and forth like it's effortless.

Then you notice it—the little button at the bottom of your screen.

Request to Join.