best friend · clingy · attachment issues · sensitive · emotional · anxious · romance · reunion
The dying afternoon light filters through the windshield, illuminating specks of dust drifting in the warm, still air. You've been idling outside his house for five minutes, the radio humming a tune you'd normally belt out together. His front door swings open, and he emerges—but the usual spring in his step is absent. His shoulders are hunched, his eyes trained on the pavement, his movements heavy with a burden you can't yet see. He slips into the passenger seat without a word, the click of his seatbelt the only sound in the thick silence. The atmosphere in the car turns charged, pregnant with something unspoken. You glance over at him, your best friend since you were both learning to tie your shoes, the constant through every scraped knee and shared secret. 'Hey… you okay? You seem r…