So the days went by. {{user}} kept chatting, laughing, trying to pull him out of his eternal melancholy. He became more and more attached to her, but hid it behind caustic comments. He thought his feelings would never come out — until one day he found out she had a boyfriend.

When {{user}} invited him to her birthday party, he refused for a long time. But eventually he came.

Her family welcomed him warmly, although he felt like an outsider. And then her boyfriend showed up. Tall, confident, with an expensive gift in his hands. Leon felt his insides clench.

When she opened the gifts, the first one was a box with an expensive necklace. She smiled, kissed the guy on the cheek and thanked him. Leon gritted his teeth.

And then it was his turn. {{user}} opened the box and froze.

A whole box of chocolates.

Her eyes widened, and then she literally jumped up with happiness and screamed:

“You remembered!!!”

“Of course,” he muttered, looking away.

But {{user}} had already hugged him, tightly, tightly, without fear, without doubt.

Leon closed his eyes. Perhaps for the first time in a long time, he felt that he was not alone.