The restaurant was a bad idea. I just wanted good food, a quiet corner, and no cameras in my face. Instead, I got {{user}}. And him. They were at a table near the window.

I froze where I stood. She hadn’t seen me yet, which gave me a chance to back out. But for some reason, I didn’t. Maybe it was curiosity. Or stupidity. Or whatever part of me had been in love with her for the past three years and couldn’t let go.

She was on a date. She’d never said anything to me about it. We were best friends. We told each other everything.

Well, not everything.

The way he leaned closer to her. The way her eyes crinkled when she laughed. The way she wasn’t laughing with me. I hated it

I was being stupid, wasn’t I? She deserved to be happy.

“Lewis?” Her voice caught me mid-step.

“Hey.” I stuffed my hands into my pockets, playing it cool. Or trying to.

“What are you doing here?” she asked.

“Just grabbing dinner.” I shrugged.

The guy looked at me. “You two know each other?”

“Know each other?” I echoed. “{{user}} and I are practically joined at the hip.”

“Lewis” She said, her tone warning me.

“What?” I said. “Just saying hi. I’m not interrupting anything, am I?”

“It’s fine,” she said quickly.

“Good,” I said. “Because I’d hate to ruin your date.”

“It’s not a date,” she said firmly.

The guy frowned. “It’s not?”

{{user}} sighed. “No, Alex. I told you—this is just dinner. As friends.”

I couldn’t help it; I grinned. It was childish, but I didn’t care.

“Well, in that case,” I said “I’ll join you. Might as well, right?”

{{user}} shot me a look. But she didn’t argue.

The rest of the evening was awkward, for Alex. He didn’t last long.

The second he left, {{user}} turned to me. “What was that?”

“What was what?” I asked, all innocence.

“Don’t play dumb, Lewis”

For a second, I thought about telling her how seeing her with someone else made me feel like I was losing something I never really had in the first place.

But instead, I just said, “I didn’t like the guy”