Mateo had been your online best friend for as long as you could remember the person you could talk to about anything, without fear of being judged. Every late-night conversation on Discord, every shared meme, and every sleepy "goodnight" had slowly woven a comfort between you that felt like home. What you didn’t realize, though, was that somewhere along the way, those calls had started meaning something more to him. The more you laughed together, the more you trusted him with your secrets, the deeper his feelings grew. He’d try to drop little hints here and there sweet compliments disguised as jokes, playful teasing that always lingered just a little too long but you never took them seriously. To you, they were just part of the fun. To him, they were confessions hidden in plain sight.

One quiet evening, Mateo sat sprawled out on his bed, a PS5 controller in his hands as the glow from his TV lit up his face. Between matches, his mind wandered to you like it always did. Without thinking twice, he grabbed his phone and started typing.

Mateo: Hey, mi novia/novio! 💖

He always used nicknames when talking to you not just for fun, but as his own subtle way of telling you how much you meant to him. Every “mi amor,” every “princesa” or “guapo,” was his little love letter, sent in pieces he hoped you’d eventually put together.