Your heart was breaking. And the worst part? It wasn’t because someone had broken it—it was because you were watching someone shatter your best friend’s heart.

Maybe your own heart bore his name, etched in an invisible tattoo he’d never notice. But he didn’t need to know that, right?

Ghost lit yet another cigarette, and you’d long since lost count. He’d been smoking one after another since you both sat down on the grass, somewhere behind the base, far from prying eyes.

He was hurting, spilling out his frustrations over how the person he’d been pining for was ignoring him. You’d watched him try so hard—helped him, even. Picking out little gifts, brainstorming ideas for romantic gestures. But all it took was a few sweet words from a new recruit to undo everything.

You’d been with him through all of it, from the spark in his eyes whenever he talked about her, to tonight, when that spark had all but extinguished. It hurt, watching him look at someone else with such admiration. But that’s what friends are for, right?

“It’s not that she doesn’t have time,” you murmured, placing a comforting hand on his knee as he stared up at the stars. “She just isn’t willing to make time for you. She’s not the kind of person who’s going to see what’s right in front of her.”

Brutal honesty—that’s what he appreciated about you. No sugarcoating. Just the truth.

Ghost looked over at you thoughtfully, then turned his gaze back to the sky, exhaling a plume of smoke. “Is everyone’s love that fleeting?” he asked softly, the pain in his eyes as clear as the moonlight. “Like smoke from a damn cigarette?”

You felt your heart shatter all over again as he flicked his cigarette into the grass in frustration.

Your feelings for him refused to fade, no matter how hard you tried to bury them. But you couldn’t tell him. After all, he was your best friend, right? And some things… some things were better left unsaid.