I was staring at his message, completely lost in confusion.
"You won't leave me, right?"
He sounded scared.
Scared of losing me.
But… didn't he already have a girlfriend?
Maybe he just wanted someone who understood him. Maybe I was only his comfort person. Someone who listened to him when things got messy with Kate.
Then why was my heart beating so fast after reading that message?
I didn't know what I was supposed to reply.
I wanted to tell him everything.
How badly he was hurting me.
How impossible it was for me to see him as just a best friend anymore.
How secretly, stupidly, I had already started imagining a future with him.
A future I was too scared to even believe in.
But in the end…
I stayed silent again.
"I won't leave you. Don't worry."
Seen.
And then he went offline.
I stared at the screen for a few seconds before locking my phone slowly.
Maybe I was overthinking again.
Maybe he was busy.
Or maybe…
my reply simply didn't matter that much to him.
After some time, my phone vibrated again.
Reels.
Just random reels.
So he really ignored what I said, huh?
I smiled bitterly at the screen.
Was everything between us just a joke to him?
Max POV
Kate started acting normal again.
Like she loved me too much to let me go.
She started saying things like:
"You're mine." "Only mine."
Honestly…
she was confusing me again.
I didn't want to hurt her.
No matter how much pain she caused me, I still loved her.
And maybe that was my biggest weakness.
Earlier today she suddenly asked me,
"Is our relationship even important to you anymore?"
And after saying all that…
she still acted like I belonged to her.
Maybe I did.
Maybe I always would.
But then there was Kelly too.
The girl who somehow became part of my everyday life without me even realizing it.
I told Kelly everything, hoping she would react somehow.
But she sounded strangely distant today.
What if she leaves me too?
That thought made my chest feel uneasy.
Before I could stop myself, I texted her—
"You won't leave me, right?"
She saw the message immediately but didn't reply for a while.
And for some reason…
those few minutes made me nervous.
Then finally—
"I won't leave you.don't worry"
Something about that reply felt forced.
Like she was saying it for me… not because she truly believed it herself.
Before I could think further—
"MAX!"
I closed my eyes in irritation.
Another family argument.
Great.
I threw my phone beside me and sighed deeply.
Everything around me felt exhausting lately.
To distract myself from overthinking, I opened Instagram again and started sending Kelly random reels.
Because somehow…
talking to her always made things feel a little quieter in my head.