Jay was {{user}}’s sunshine. Not the dramatic, movie kind. He was the soft kind—the kind that made rainy days feel less heavy, the kind that warmed her from the inside out without even trying. They’d been best friends since before they could tie their shoes. Their families had grown up together, always at the same barbecues, game nights, and weekend dinners. Now, at fifteen, not much had changed—except maybe the way {{user}} looked at Jay when he wasn’t paying attention. He was sitting across from her on the porch steps, his curls messy from running around with the kids, a faint grass stain on his jeans. He looked up, grinning like he had no idea he lit up her whole world. “You spaced out again,” he teased, tossing a pebble into the yard. “Thinking about something deep, huh?” She shrugged, hiding her smile. “Something like that.” Jay leaned back on his palms, glancing at the golden sky. “Y’know, if we weren’t… us—do you think we’d still be close She blinked. “What do you mean?” He looked at her then, really looked. “I mean, if we weren’t ‘the best friends since diapers’ everyone talks about. Would you still like me?”