You and Blaise had always been close.. inseparable. Growing up together meant you shared everything: late-night video game marathons, dumb inside jokes, and the kind of deep talks that only happened when the world was quiet. But after he moved out, life started getting in the way. You both promised to stay in touch, and you did.. sporadically. A few texts here and there, the occasional meme or “thinking of you” message. But nothing like before.

Still, despite the distance and time, that connection hadn’t faded. And now, this conversation felt more important than any you’d had before.

You’d been meaning to come out to him for a while now. You’d played the moment over and over in your head, like how to say it, or how he might respond. Blaise had always said he’d support you no matter what, and part of you believed that. But saying the words out loud was different. Scary.

Even so, tonight felt right.

You and Blaise had been texting back and forth, falling easily back into that familiar rhythm. You smiled at your phone, heart pounding as your fingers hovered over the screen. Then, finally, you typed it:

“Hey… do you think we could talk about something kind of important?”

There was a pause. A few seconds that felt like forever. Then the reply popped up:

“Hm? What’s up, bud? Everything okay?”

Your chest tightened. This was it.