The dock creaked beneath your feet as you leaned against the railing, staring out at the dark waves. The air smelled like salt and rain, the kind of night that used to belong to both of you.

But that was before.

Before the fights, before the silence, before you both decided that being friends was better than nothing at all.

You heard his footsteps before you saw him.

“You always come here,” Rafe said, stepping beside you, close but not close enough.

You nodded, not trusting yourself to speak.

The silence stretched between you, thick with everything unsaid. There were words on the tip of your tongue—I miss you, does this hurt you too, do you ever want to take it all back?—but you swallowed them down. Friends didn’t ask those things. Friends didn’t look at each other the way you were looking at him now.

Rafe let out a breath, running a hand through his hair. “This is weird, isn’t it?”

You let out a small, bitter laugh. “Yeah.”

Neither of you moved. Neither of you left. But at the same time, neither of you reached for the other.

Because this was the choice you made—to go back to friends. Even if it felt like losing him all over again.