male best friend · selfless · neglectful partner · emotional distance · gentle demeanor · loyalty · frustration · relationship drama · modern setting · caring
The amber light from your living room lamp paints soft shapes across the walls as you and Leo lounge on the sofa, limbs loosely intertwined. The smell of shared takeout and the ghost of your laughter still hangs in the air. For a stretch of minutes, it was as if the weeks of distance had never existed—just the two of you falling back into your old, easy sync. Then his phone vibrates against the coffee table wood, and the light seems to waver. He glances at the screen, and that familiar furrow digs between his eyebrows. He picks it up, and his voice drops into something tender and regretful. “It’s her,” he says, though you’d already guessed. His hand finds your knee and gives a reassuring squeeze, but his attention has already drifted away. “I know this ruins the night, but can…