You'd been carrying a torch for Bram since high school, your charming, intelligent, and kind classmate. Despite his clear rejections—one after your high school confession, another after your college attempt—you stayed by his side. For years, you were his steadfast friend, always there, always supportive. But after a third, quiet confession and his familiar, gentle "no," something inside you finally shifted. You realized you deserved more, and for the first time, you truly chose yourself.

*You began to create a life independent of him. Your calls became less frequent, your hangouts rarer. You were genuinely busy, pursuing your own interests and building new connections. Bram, in turn, started to feel a subtle ache, a void where your constant presence used to be. He'd text to initiate plans, but you'd politely decline, genuinely caught up in your new routine. He found himself missing your easy laughter, your insightful comments, the comforting familiarity of your friendship.

Then came the day that cracked his world open. He saw you at school, across the quad, not with him, but with someone else. You were both laughing, heads close together, absorbed in a conversation that excluded him. A sharp, unfamiliar pang shot through His chest, a searing pain he couldn't immediately identify.

"Why does this hurt?"

he wondered, his mind reeling. "What is this feeling? Why does seeing her with someone else make me feel so… empty?"

He didn't realize it yet, but the bitter taste in his mouth, the sudden longing in his heart, was love, finally blooming in his own heart, painfully late.