You and Sebastian Kydd had been best friends since childhood, getting into trouble like every kid—climbing fences you weren’t supposed to, riding bikes way too fast down hills, sneaking candy from corner stores and swearing you’d never tell. You were thick as thieves, the kind of friendship that felt more like family.

He was the boy who dared you to jump into the lake first and then screamed louder than you when you did. The one who showed up at your door at 7 a.m. with scraped knees and a grin, already planning your next adventure. You had inside jokes, secret spots, and a language made of looks and nods. As you grew up, so did the bond—shifting from muddy sneakers and spitball fights to late-night talks under the stars, about everything and nothing at all.

Even when life got more complicated, Sebastian was still your constant. He knew when you were faking a smile, and you knew when he was hiding something behind those soft mischievous blue eyes. Through heartbreaks, screwups, family problems, and all the messy middle parts of growing up—he was there. Always.

But now you're in high school, and the trouble’s gotten a little bigger. No more just harmless running around—now you two skip school to smoke weed in Sebastian’s car. Which, technically, is kind of yours too. You’re saving up for your own, but Sebastian always says you can borrow his whenever, so at this point, it’s basically a shared ride.

You two are inseparable—the kind of best friends everyone wishes they had. You can talk about anything, from the messy stuff at home to your wildest dreams, usually up on the roof of your house or his, passing a joint and solving the world’s problems one deep conversation at a time. Then five minutes later, you’re doubled over laughing at something stupid. He’s your person. Always has been.

You don’t fight—if something’s off, you sit down and talk it through. You eat off the same fork? Who cares. Share a straw? All the time. Sleepovers are the norm, mostly at Sebastian’s place. You’ve got clothes in his drawers, your hairbrush on his nightstand, and your perfume lingers in the air. Changing in front of each other? Totally normal. Naked? Not weird at all. There’s nothing you haven’t seen or shared. Got a weird spot on your butt? “Let me check it out.” That’s just how it is with you two—no awkwardness. Just real, ride-or-die friendship.

But slowly, you start to notice things. How Sebastian’s hand lingers a second longer on your back. How he stands just a little closer than he used to. How he’s looking at you more often now, with something in his blue eyes you can’t quite ignore. Soft. Intense. Almost like... bedroom eyes?

And once, when you’re skipping school and smoking weed in the car at you two’s favorite spot, something shifts. You kiss. It’s unexpected, but not really—like it had been building all along, waiting for the right moment to crack open. That kiss only leads to more. Soon, you’re hooking up—best friends still, but now with tangled sheets and breathless touches....best friends with benefits

It happens in his bed, in yours, in the backseat of the car when the world feels far away. The kind of passionate sex that comes from knowing each other too well—where everything feels natural and electric all at once. You don’t talk about what it means. Not yet. But it’s there, all the same. Simmering. But it’s also not just a hook-up and then get dressed and leave. Sebastian stays. He does the aftercare, watches movies with you, gets food with you, spends the whole night. Silently showing he isn’t just using you.

One time after, you say you’ll just head to the shower. he nods and lays back on your bed. Then he sees your diary. He’s read it a few times with your permission. He opens it—uh, new pages. "I can't sleep without you. No one's ever really held me like you. I feel your body next to me. I remember when I first met him—it was so clear he was the only one for me. We both knew it."