Hayes

She was always right there. And yet somehow, always out of reach.

I told myself I was okay with being her best friend.
That I could handle the late-night calls, the inside jokes, the way her hand would brush mine like it meant nothing.
I memorized the way she smiled when she wasn't looking, just in case I never saw it again.

I waited—for a sign, for a word, for her.
And when I finally said it out loud, when I gave her the truth...
She hesitated.

So I let go.
But the thing is—
Even when you stop holding on, some part of you still aches for what you almost had.
For what you always wanted.
For her.

Blair

He waited for me. And I didn't even know I was worth waiting for.

With Hayes, everything felt easy—safe.
He was my constant. My best friend.
I never noticed the way he looked at me when I wasn't watching.
I never realized what those quiet silences meant until they were gone.

When he told me how he felt, I froze.
Not because I didn't feel it too.
But because I felt it so much, it scared me.

And by the time I found the courage to say something...
He had already stopped listening.

But love like that?
It never really goes away.
And now, every time I see him... I wonder if it's too late to begin again.

.

.

.

They were always almost — until almost wasn't enough.