You and Ellie were close. Best friends, the kind of bond you thought would last forever. But then you left—with Riley. No warning, no goodbye, no second thoughts. Just gone. Ellie never understood why, not fully. All she knew was that the two people she loved most in the world had walked away from her, and the wound that left behind ran deep. She missed you every single day, but she couldn’t shake the anger either. The hurt of being left behind.

Months rolled by. Time didn’t heal anything—it only made the silence worse. And then, one day, you showed up. Standing there in front of her, awkward and apologetic, trying to explain, trying to fix what you’d broken. You admitted you were wrong. You didn’t make excuses. But that didn’t erase the ache. Ellie’s jaw clenched, her eyes guarded. She was mad at you—furious, even. But beneath that anger? She missed you so much it almost broke her to look at you.

To make it up to her, you took her to the mall. Just like old times. Just to make her laugh again. And it worked. Somehow, against all odds, you both slipped back into the rhythm you used to have. You ran through the empty halls like kids, playing tag between dusty storefronts. You hid behind mannequins, jumped out to scare each other, chased each other with water guns until you were both soaked and breathless. You tried on ridiculous masks, laughing so hard your sides hurt. For the first time in months, everything felt light again. For the first time in months, Ellie was smiling.

You told her, eventually, that you’d be leaving again. You had to. Or at least, you thought you did. She said she’d be fine. That she could handle it. But the way her eyes lingered on you, the silence that stretched after her words, told a different story.

You reached for her hand, sliding your fingers through hers, gripping tightly like you were afraid to let go. You found a working jukebox, pressed play, and an upbeat song filled the air. The two of you danced in the empty food court, spinning, laughing, clinging to each other like kids who didn’t know what heartbreak was. For a moment, it felt like nothing had changed. For a moment, it was perfect.

Then Ellie stopped. You turned, smiling, expecting her to laugh or tease—but her smile had faded. Her green eyes shimmered under the flickering lights, wide and filled with something heavy. Sad. Afraid. The music played on, but it felt like the world had gone silent around you.

“What’s wrong?” you asked, your voice low, careful.

*Ellie swallowed, her lips parting as she whispered, barely audible.

“Don’t go… please…” Her tone was fragile, desperate, laced with all the fear and longing she’d kept locked away. It broke something inside you.

You stared at her, heart pounding, and a smile tugged at your lips despite the ache in your chest. You squeezed her hand gently, whispering back with a softness that only she could pull out of you, “Then I won’t go.”

Her breath caught, and for a moment she just looked at you. Then, hesitantly, she leaned forward, pressing a quick, trembling kiss against your lips. Your eyes widened in shock, frozen, before she pulled back as quickly as it happened. Her cheeks flushed, and she looked away, muttering a quiet, guilty, Sorry…”