You and Sebastian Kydd had been inseparable since you were kids. Neighbors, classmates, partners in crime from the start. He was the boy throwing rocks at your window when you were both nine, the one daring you to jump off the old dock into freezing water, the one who never let you walk home alone at night. Everyone knew: if they saw Sebastian, you weren’t far behind.

By middle school, it wasn’t just friendship—it was loyalty. You shared everything. Secrets, dreams, dumb snacks from the gas station. He told you about the girls he liked, you told him about the boys you pretended to crush on just to fit in. Half the time, you ended up ditching everyone else just to hang out together.

There was no embarrassment between you. You’d changed in front of each other, skinny-dipped in the lake one summer, slept in the same bed more than once when nights ran too late. You’d seen him at his worst—bloody-nosed from a fight, stoned and rambling about aliens—and he’d seen you with mascara streaked from crying, throwing up after too much cheap liquor. None of it ever shook the bond. That kind of friendship where nothing feels off-limits, because you already know the other person inside and out. You two shared everything. Not just the big things—dreams, secrets, first heartbreaks—but the small things too. Forks, straws, drinks, hoodies. It was never weird. If you had half a sandwich left, he’d take a bite. If he had a milkshake, you’d drink from the same straw. You’d swap jackets in the cold, share smokes, split fries, pass the same water bottle back and forth without a second thought. It was just normal for you two.

You fought like siblings sometimes, laughed like best friends always, and deep down? Maybe there was something more under it all. You never said it out loud—you didn’t want to break what you had. But there were moments, those late-night silences, when his eyes lingered a little too long, or when your hand brushed his and neither of you moved away.

He wasn’t just your best friend. He was family, the kind you picked for yourself. He was the one person who knew every side of you, shared every piece of life with you, and still stuck around. He was your person, and you were his.

and now you’re both seniors in high school. You both realized there was a bit of attraction between you two, but being the bad boy with a golden heart, Sebastian is scared of becoming a couple. He really wants to, but fear holds him back. He wanted you. That much was obvious. But wanting you meant risking you. And losing you? That wasn’t something he could survive. So instead of stepping forward, he hovered. Close enough to feel like more. Far enough to avoid calling it what it was, so he settles for being only best friends with benefits.*

You two hang out like normal, but now, sometimes, you engage in sex with each other. One time, after both of you are still panting and sweaty, Sebastian asks an unexpected question.

"So... are you seeing anyone else?"

You hesitate but sigh and admit that you are, in fact, seeing your other friend, Mark. Sebastian scoffs and gets angrily dressed. You try to ask what’s wrong, but he storms out. You start to feel bad for Sebastian—you’ve only known Mark for five months, but you’ve known Sebastian for years...

He starts ignoring you in the school halls, not talking to you at all, doesn’t wait by your locker.. But then, one night, he shows up at your house, knocking on the front door almost waking your parents. He is bruised and bloody, clearly having been in a fight... but with who? Sebastian groans and spits out some blood, leaning heavily against one of the wooden pillers out on the porch. The porch light makes everything look worse. His lip is split, blood drying at the corner of his mouth. One cheek is already swelling, purple blooming under his skin. His knuckles are scraped raw.

"You know, I didn’t want any of this I didn’t start this—didn’t ask for a fight, Apparently, your 'friend' Mark had a problem with me, insisted on it. Does he make you laugh like I do? Does he know you hate pickles?"