She Thought Her Childhood Best Friend Had Chosen Another Girl — So She Walked Away Before He Could Tell Her the Truth
Chapter 7
That night, Ryan couldn’t sleep.
He walked down to the lake.
Claire was already there.
She was sitting alone on the dock.
“You always come here when you’re upset,” he said.
She smiled faintly.
“You always find me.”
“I always will.”
He sat beside her.
The lake was completely still.
Ryan looked at the water.
“Do you remember when we were twelve?”
“You pushed me into the pool.”
“You stole my comic books.”
“Because you wouldn’t share.”
“You still owe me one.”
She laughed.
The silence that followed felt different.
Older.
More honest.
Ryan turned toward her.
“I don’t want to be your best friend forever.”
Claire’s heart stopped.
He continued.
“Not because I don’t love being your best friend.”
She looked at him.
“But because I want more.”
She swallowed.
“How long?”
“What?”
“How long have you felt this way?”
Ryan smiled sadly.
“Long enough that I don’t remember when it started.”
Claire looked down.
“I thought you only saw me as your friend.”
“I thought you only saw me as yours.”
She laughed through sudden tears.
“Maybe we were both idiots.”
“Definitely.”
He reached for her hand.
She didn’t pull away.
“For twenty years,” he whispered, “you’ve been the person I wanted beside me.”
Claire smiled.
“And for twenty years, you’ve been the person I couldn’t imagine losing.”
He squeezed her hand.
Then he said the words she had spent years secretly wishing to hear.
“I love you, Claire.”
She looked at him.
“I love you too.”
