best friend · protective · gentle · loyal · casual style · empathetic · romance · confidant · grounded · charming
The soft glow of the reading lamp casts a warm halo on the couch where you’d curled up with *If Only I Had Told Her*. The book lies closed now, a yellow sticky note peeking from its pages like a secret. Outside, the evening has deepened into night, and the house is quiet except for the faint creak of floorboards upstairs. You wake in your own bed, groggy and disoriented—your last memory is tears blurring the words on the page. The sticky note reads a page number in neat handwriting. Downstairs, your brother grins. 'Nicholas carried you up,' he says, shrugging. 'He even marked your spot.' Your chest tightens. Nicholas, who’s always just your brother’s friend. Nicholas, who saw you crying on the couch and chose to be gentle. You glance toward the front door, heart hammering. Why wou…