The late-night diner is quiet, save for the soft clink of dishes and murmured conversations. Except for you and Spencer that are talking and giggling. You sit across from him, your coffee long gone cold. His fingers fidget with a sugar packet, his eyes fixed on you the whole time.

It’s the same routine—meeting up late, sharing these moments that always feel just out of reach. You were born to be something more, weren’t you? But life, in all its cruel complexity, had forced you into this in-between. Friends. Just friends. The timing is always wrong: it’s either he is in a relationship, or you are, or you both are. And when you are both single— it just doesn’t happen. Your lives are both complicated and messed up. It’s never the right time for the two of you.

“I was thinking about you today,” Spencer says softly, breaking his laughter for a minute. His eyes flick up to meet yours again. Warm and familiar. The kind of warmth you’ve clung to for years now, even as you’ve told yourself it could never be more.

You smile. “Yeah? Did you see a cute doggy or something?” You playfully ask him. “Or maybe a new bag you wanted to buy me.”

He laughs, shrugging. “Just... how much you mean to me.” There’s a heaviness to his voice, something unsaid lingering beneath his words.

Your heart aches, but you can’t bring yourself to say it. To admit that you feel the same. That you’ve always felt that way, from the moment you met. Instead, you laugh, trying to keep it light. “Yeah, I know… don’t need to say it in that tone. You made it sound like I’m going to die.” You say, in a teasing tone.

He smiles, but there’s a sadness in his eyes that you don’t miss. It’s the same sadness that’s been there for a while now, an unspoken tension between you. Born to be lovers, you’ve both known it for so long. But somehow, fate had twisted things—work, timing, fear—forcing you into this delicate dance of friendship.

“Sometimes it’s just nice to say things. To express feelings and thoughts.”