HAPPY FRIENDSHIP ANNIVERSARY

 The Space Between Us

Amelia begins to feel the quiet shift, how distance, once chosen for peace, now aches with longing.)

Amelia sat by the lake, legs curled to her chest, toes buried in the damp sand.

The sky overhead was a canvas of soft lavender and burnt orange, the sun inching toward the horizon.

The others were still a little ways off, Kai trying to convince Lena to dive in, Nora sketching something in her notebook, Eli walking slowly behind them, hands in his pockets.

She could feel him.

Even from a distance, that silent pull between them hadn't faded. If anything, it had intensified.

And she hated that it had.

Because she had pulled away for a reason.

A good one.

At least, she had told herself so.

She had seen the way Nora looked at Eli. And she'd seen the way Eli had smiled back, not quite the same smile he once reserved for her, but close enough to hurt.

That hurt had made her choose distance. Distance felt safer. Cleaner.

But now… now that space had a weight. An echo. It was no longer filled with peace, but with everything left unsaid.

She watched the water ripple under the wind.

It reminded her of the afternoon she and Eli had gotten caught in the rain during their second year.

They were walking back from class, and he had pulled off his hoodie to shield her head, even though he got drenched.

"You looked like a drowned cat," he had teased.

"And you looked like a wet scarecrow."

They had laughed the whole way back.

That day lingered in her memory, not because of what was said, but because of what wasn't.

The ease. The comfort. The warmth that wrapped around her like a hoodie.

She missed it.

She missed him.

Even if she didn't want to admit it.

Especially not now, not when everything felt like a cracked glass trying to hold water.

Her emotions seeped through the fractures.

Her avoidance hadn't healed anything. If anything, it had made her feel invisible in a space that once made her feel seen.

And Eli…

She looked up. He was closer now. Not quite looking at her, but aware.

She remembered how Lena had cornered her a few nights ago.

"You keep acting like you're the villain, Amelia," Lena had said.

"But maybe it's not about guilt or confusion.

Maybe you're just scared of being chosen. Or not chosen. Either way, you owe yourself clarity."

Clarity.

Amelia sighed.

She hadn't asked for this mess of feelings.

This strange triangle between her, Nora, and Eli. And it wasn't anyone's fault, not really.

They were all just trying to navigate love while holding tight to friendship.

But something had shifted, and she felt it every time Eli looked her way and didn't say a word.

That space between them wasn't empty.

It was full of longing, hesitation, and the fear that once crossed, nothing would be the same again.

And yet…

Part of her was beginning to wonder, what if it was worth crossing?

Just once?

The balcony was quiet, lit only by the soft golden glow spilling out from the hallway behind them.

Eli leaned against the railing, staring out into the night, hands tucked in his pockets, shoulders weighed down by more than just the day.

Nora joined him without a word, standing close but not crowding him.

The silence between them wasn't awkward; it was full.

Full of unspoken things.

"You know," she said quietly, her voice threading gently through the hush, "you're not hiding it as well as you think."

Eli turned his head slightly, brow tightening. "Yeah"

Nora gave a half-smile, not accusing, just knowing. "The way you look at her.

The way your whole energy shifts when she walks into a room, or avoids it."

He looked down, exhaling slowly. "I didn't want to make things uncomfortable. For her. For anyone."

"But they already are," Nora said, not unkindly.

"Pretending something isn't there doesn't make it disappear. You think she doesn't notice? You think we don't?"

Eli hesitated, then said softly, "I thought I had it under control."

"You don't." She leaned her arms on the railing beside him, eyes forward.

"And that's okay. It means you care."

"I don't want to ruin anything," he murmured. "This trip… our friendship… her peace."

"But what about yours?" Nora asked, turning to look at him fully.

"When do you stop protecting everyone else and start being honest with yourself?"

He stayed quiet for a long moment.

"I'm scared," he admitted.

"I know," she said. "But the thing is, secrets don't just sit quietly inside us.

They grow heavy.

They pull you back from people who want to love you.

And right now, Eli… you're pulling back so hard, you're almost gone."

His jaw clenched slightly. "It's not that simple."

"It never is," she replied. "But hiding isn't working either.

And you know what? You don't have to do it alone.

I'm not here to judge you.

"I just want you to stop disappearing behind your silence."

He looked over at her, eyes heavy with everything he hadn't said.

"I'll tell her," he said eventually, voice hoarse. "Maybe not today. But soon."

Nora nodded, brushing her arm lightly against his.

"Good," she said. "Because she deserves to know… and so do you."

He gave her a small, quiet smile. "Thanks, Nora."

"You're welcome.

"Just… don't wait too long, okay? We didn't come all this way "just to pretend."