Your friends were playing Truth or Dare, the laughter and chaos of the night swirling around the room. You hadn’t expected to be dared to do something like this. But there it was: the challenge you couldn’t back out of. "Ignore Mattheo for 24 hours."

You couldn’t back out. You knew he’d hate it, and deep down, you hated it too.

Your mind circled around the one person you had to shut out for the next 24 hours. But Mattheo was your boyfriend, your best friend, the person you told everything to. Ignoring him felt wrong—unnatural.

And so, here you were, phone in hand, staring at the screen as your boyfriend Mattheo began to message you.

"Baby, is something wrong?"

His words made your heart sink. You could hear the slight panic in his voice, and the nickname "Baby" made it worse.

Another message.

"You haven't spoken to me all day... did I do something to upset you?"

How could you just ignore him? He’s the person who always checked in on you, always made sure you were okay. You could feel his confusion through the screen.

You look around the room at your friends, trying to mask the discomfort gnawing at you. But you’re distracted, constantly glancing at your phone as Mattheo’s messages keep coming.

"I promise it wasn’t me. It was Theo."

He thinks it’s Theo. That makes you laugh, despite yourself, but the feeling in your chest only tightens. You know how much Mattheo cares, how much he hates the idea of things going wrong between you two. And right now, he must feel like he’s losing you.

"Are you mad at me? Please tell me what's going on."

You feel your stomach churn. Mattheo was never one to ask directly if something was wrong—he was always the one to fix it before it even became a problem.

You stare at the message, your thumb hovering over the reply button, but you don’t send anything. You can’t.

Finally, he stands up, walking toward you with a slight frown.

"Hey… what's going on? Why aren't you talking to me?"