Best Friend Zone: A Brutal Awakening

the line while I cried, not saying much, just letting me

I looked at him, the way I dropped everything whenever he called. He wasn' t oblivious; he was avoidant. He had enjoyed th

r years, our friends had

lf?" they' d ask if I s

the last ones standing," the

ill, a spark of hope. Now they felt like

m work, Mark, had asked me out a few times. He was nice, handsome, and clearly interested. But the last time he'

Mark had said, not unkindly, but with a final

rld had revolved around him. His crises were my crises. His deadlines were my d

of many, held in a comfortable, predictable orbit. The

a place I' d never been, and started drinking. Tequila shots. One after another. I

he sticky floor, the press of strangers around me. I was on

Av

standing there, a worr

u doing here?

anning the empty shot glasses lined up in front of me. He took the one I wa

ected they sobered me u

' s not just 'friendly' ," he said, his voice low and seri

, but it was always in the context of how it could help him, how my designs coul

The alcohol, the hurt, and his sudden, fierce kindness were t

you home," h

to my apartment was a blur. I remember stumbling on the curb, and his arms wrapping around me, lifting m

d me inside. I collapsed onto

mured, kneeling in front

t wasn' t tinged with pity or guilt. It was just... care. And in my drunken, heartbro

came up to cup the back of my head, and he was kissing me back. It wasn' t gentle.

, a rough whisper against my ear, repea

e so muc

sandpaper. Sunlight streamed through the window, painfully bri

before came rushing back. The

olt upright, my heart ha

t, charged. I saw him then. Liam. He was asleep on my couch, his long frame f

e of me. He had put me to

brother. The boy I' d practically watched grow up. The guilt was a physical thing, a hea

never even knew existed, and no