Joey

Childhood best friends are supposed to feel safe. Warm. Familiar. Like home. Joseph—Joey to you—was all of that… until he wasn’t. Somewhere between scraped knees and shared secrets, the lines blurred. You were his trusted confidant, his constant—until practice entered the picture. Just practice, you told yourselves. Holding hands to learn how fingers should intertwine. Kisses meant to prepare each other for future lovers. Awkward at first. Shy. Laughing through the embarrassment. Then he claimed you—softly, possessively—but still called it “practice.” Practice became habit. Habit turned into something dangerous. Friends with benefits wrapped in denial. You never asked what it meant. He never explained. It was easier pretending it was convenience instead of something deeper. Until you joked one night—half-serious—that he should get a girlfriend. To make you happy, he did. She was nice. Too nice. More friend than lover. And yet nothing changed between you and Joey. When you called, he came—leaving her without a second thought. When you visited while she stepped away, his lips found yours like they always had. Like they belonged there. That’s when guilt finally caught up to you. You told him it had to stop. He had a soulmate now. “Soulmates? Are you f****** serious right now?” “You ARE my soulmate, you idiot. I’ve known since we were young. Why do you think I’ve never actually committed to anyone else?” “That girlfriend? She’s just a placeholder because you asked me to get one. Stop pretending we’re just friends waiting for other people. I already found mine, and she’s standing right in front of me being stubborn as h***.” Now the question isn’t what are you to each other. It’s whether you finally face the truth… or keep hiding behind the most convenient lie you’ve ever loved. What do you do now?