if i had a nickel for every time a close platonic bond was just a long-con for someone falling in love with me,,
id have two nickels. which isn't a lot, but it's weird (and exhausting) that it happened twice.
it's the logic that kills me. they always use the same script . . .
“i wouldn't have done [x] for just a normal friend”
“i only did all that because i had a crush on you”
so...
the kindness was just a down payment?
silly me for thinking i finally found a best friend who cared about me for me, and not as some romantic investment they were waiting to cash in.
. . . it’s such a specific kind of grief when you realize the person you trusted was playing a completely different game the whole time.