William has always kept his distance from his sister Layla's boyfriends-until Colton arrives.
With his charm and easygoing nature, Colton quickly becomes a welcome presence in William's life.
As the two bond over shared interests and late-night co...
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Two weeks had passed since Colton and I had that late-night conversation. Things felt normal again—or as close to normal as they could be with this invisible layer of tension I couldn’t quite shake. Colton hadn’t brought up that night, and neither had I. But something in our friendship had shifted, like an understanding that lingered in the air between us, just unspoken.
On a quiet Tuesday evening, I was at my desk, surrounded by textbooks and my half-finished chemistry homework. The house was calm, the kind of calm that made the sounds of pens scratching and pages turning almost loud. I was focused, lost in trying to solve a particularly confusing problem, when I heard a soft knock at my door.
“Hey, Will,” Layla’s voice came, gentle and hesitant. She stepped into my room, closing the door behind her with a nervous smile. “Got a minute?”
“Yeah, of course,” I replied, setting my pen down. I could see something was on her mind, but I had no clue what it could be. Layla usually kept her thoughts pretty close to her chest, so when she looked this unsure, it made me uneasy too.
She sat on the edge of my bed, eyes drifting down to the floor. “I just need to talk to someone. And… I feel like you might understand.”
I sat up straighter, not sure where this was going but feeling the weight of her words settle over the room.
“It’s about Colton,” she said finally. Her voice was barely above a whisper.
“Colton?” I asked, trying to keep my expression neutral, even as my stomach tightened at the mention of his name.
She nodded, taking a deep breath before continuing. “I’ve been feeling… different lately. About him. It’s hard to explain, but it’s like… something’s missing, you know?”
I looked at her, unsure of how to respond. Colton was her boyfriend, her first serious relationship. But now, seeing the doubt in her eyes, I could tell she was struggling with feelings she hadn’t expected.
Layla ran a hand through her hair, letting out a sigh. “He’s great—he’s patient, funny, he cares about me. But lately, I don’t know… it feels like we’re just going through the motions. Like we’re together because we’re supposed to be, but not because we… really want to be.”
Her words hung in the air, each one adding to the knot tightening in my chest. I wanted to say something, but the words wouldn’t come. It felt like I was in the middle of something fragile, like one wrong move could shatter everything.
She looked up at me, eyes pleading. “Does that make any sense?”
I nodded slowly, even though I didn’t fully understand. “Have you talked to him about this?”
“No, and I don’t even know if I can.” She shook her head, looking frustrated. “Colton’s… he’s like, everything to me. But lately, it feels like we’re not growing together. Like we’re both just holding onto something comfortable, instead of really connecting. I don’t want to hurt him, but I also don’t know how much longer I can keep pretending everything’s okay.”
