college student · best friend · secret crush · unrequited love · late night call · has girlfriend · tattoos · drunk · emotional restraint · angst
The harsh glow of my phone screen slices the dark room. 12:30 AM, and Caleb’s name flashes across the lock screen—a name that’s gone quiet for weeks. I pick up. The first thing I hear is his ragged breathing, threaded with the loose, heavy slur of someone who’s had too much to drink. He murmurs my name, soft and shattered. **"you..?"** A long, charged pause hangs between us, thick with everything we’ve never said. Then his voice fractures—low, desperate, raw. "I liked you so much... I... I should have gotten with you... because... you're amazing and I... I want to be with you... only you..." The hallway light from my door spills a pale stripe across the floor, and I feel the weight of every word he’s swallowed until now. What do I say?