“But that’s just it, Cleo,” I say, making sure to lock eyes with them. “We’ve already been a thing for years. I just can’t believe it took me so long to finally see it.”

Cleo’s eyes hold my gaze for a moment, then fall away downhill. They never were so great at taking compliments head on. Well, they’re going to have to get used to it, with me as their girlfriend.

“Hey, here come Chase and Logan,” Cleo says. “Maybe we keep this under wraps until we know they’re back on solid ground themselves?”

Seeing the boys round the bend in the mountain trail, my buoyed heart dips. I can’t imagine what it must feel like to know, in a matter of days, thousands of miles will separate Chase and Logan from the person they love most. It reminds me that soon Chase won’t be just down the street from me anymore, either. Soon, nothing about any of our lives is going to resemble the way things were.

Except for Cleo, I think, turning back to look at them once more. Thank goddess for Cleo, the anchor of my entire life. I just hope I can make them half as happy and self-assured as they make me.

Then, looking at Cleo’s shining face, I realize I already have.

Click here

I watch as Cleo’s face falls, their body deflating like a balloon. Air feels like it leaks out of my own heart, too, now poked full of holes.

Part of me wishes I hadn’t been so straightforward, but I promised myself to stop editing my thoughts to spare feelings. Cleo deserves the truth. And I have to learn to be thick-skinned enough to tell people these things, even if I know it’s not what they want to hear.

“I think I already knew that, deep down,” Cleo says. They look like they want to say so much more, but like words are now dangerous things.

That’s okay, because I have more words for Cleo.

“I’m so tempted to accept your love, because it feels so unconditional. But I already chose someone who didn’t value me, because on some level I didn’t value myself. It would be just as wrong to choose to be with someone because they actually fill that same void—at least, not when I don’t feel the same way. And you deserve someone who loves you fully, in every way, for exactly who you are. I wish that person was me, I really do.”

Cleo forces a smile onto their face.

“Thank you for not sugarcoating it,” they say. “But hey, can you just tell me one thing?”

“Anything.”

“Did I ruin our friendship now?” Cleo asks, nearly breaking into tears.

On instinct, I pull them into a hug.