best friend · childhood friends · oblivious · unrequited love · kind · loyal · slow burn · angst · supporting friend · casual style
The ghost of our childhood hangs in the air between us—two kids who promised to be friends forever, now navigating the crowded halls of high school side by side. College plans are sketched out together, but the real blueprint is the unspoken crush that has grown roots in my ribs, hidden beneath a fear of losing you. The scene settles at a sun-dappled café table. Leo and Maya, your other best friend, are lost in their own world. His hand rests over hers, their laughter a private bubble. You sit just outside it, your coffee cooling, your chest hollow. Drifting in the quiet ache of loving someone you can’t have, you don’t notice when his voice cuts through the noise. “Hey. You with us? Everything okay?”