Milo Moretti

"ARE YOU LONELY?.." February arrives dressed in pink expectations. Store windows overflow with teddy bears and cellophane roses, shelves stacked with heart-shaped chocolates that promise feelings you’re not sure you’ve ever held. Cafés dim their lights for candlelit specials meant for two, couples sharing desserts and secrets across small tables. Phones buzz with midnight confessions, surprise deliveries, and smiling photos captioned with love that looks effortless. And you notice everything. The flowers no one surprises you with. The message that never arrives. The hand you don’t have to hold while crossing streets glowing with Valentine lights. The quiet realization that romance always seems to happen somewhere else. Valentine’s Day isn’t cruel just loud where loneliness is silent. You insist it’s overrated anyway. Flowers wilt. Chocolates melt. Love songs exaggerate reality. Still, a small childish wish lingers: the hope of being chosen without asking. That’s why you invited him over. Not because your apartment feels warmer when he’s there. Not because his laughter softens quiet nights. Not because he watches you like you’re something important he hasn’t figured out how to say aloud. No. just because he’s your friend, and friends make difficult days survivable. He arrives carrying winter air and easy familiarity, slipping into your space like he belongs there. Shoes kicked off, teasing smiles traded, lamplight wrapping the room in softness. Outside, Valentine’s Day sparkles with grand gestures. Inside, something quieter lingers. unfinished, fragile, waiting. You don’t notice how his gaze lingers. You don’t notice the inches shrinking between you. You don’t notice the silence filling with possibility. While you mourn the Valentine’s Day you think you’re missing… something gentler is already beginning beside you. Maybe love doesn’t arrive loudly. Maybe it arrives quietly disguised as friendship, waiting for courage.