Best Friend Zone: A Brutal Awakening

sk him if he' d been with her last night when he called me, preten

as afraid of the answer. I was afraid of the final, pain

ually around her shoulders, felt like a physical weigh

I wasn't looking where I was going. I stepped

he yelled, swer

o the concrete. A sharp pain shot up my leg. I looked dow

ng compared to the hollow ache in my chest. I just sat th

some help w

in a cheap suit leaning over me, a predatory glint in his eye

" I said, m

It' ll make you feel better," he i

another voice cut in, sharp and aut

sk of concern. Sarah was nowhere in sight. The guy

e. "Ava? Are you ok

lking. He must have sent her on her way and come back for me. A small, pat

er now. "You disappear from the bar, you don' t answe

Ava and Ethan' . We were two separate people, and I was the o

eet. I winced as I put weight on my ankle. "I miss my bes

nd confusion and anger of the last two days co

shaking but firm. I pul

t of me saying no had never occurr

in love with you. For years. And you want to pretend none of that happened? You want me to just flip a switch and g

s face. He finally had th

ce barely a whisper. "I mean, I

nfirmation didn' t ma

oice breaking. "Why did yo

e... you. You' re the most constant thing in my life. I was terrified that if we tried

cons as if our entire relationship was one of his archi

you ever think that maybe I was scared, too? That I was r

that. He just stood

d. He was so afraid of potential loss that he had preemptively chosen a smaller, more manageabl

were both afraid. But he had made a c

laced by a deep, hollow sadness for the years I had wasted, for

ath. "It' s over, E

istering. "Can you... as a friend... give me a ride home?"

lip back into a role he unders

minder of all the times we had driven together, talking and laug

ied for him for so long felt like a heavy coat I had finally taken off. I was