⠀⠀⠀⠀────⠀⠀⠀⠀love me⠀⠀，⠀⠀西村力
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀𝐈𝐍 𝐖𝐇𝐈𝐶𝐇⠀⠀⠀you like riki.. so you confess.
𝙽𝙸𝚂𝙷𝙸𝙼𝚄𝚁𝙰 𝚁𝙸𝙺𝙸 ✶ 𝓯. reader angst / 829 one-sided unrequited love friends to strangers ..
everyone around you knows something is different—you and riki, always together, side by side like it’s a natural occurrence. he'd wait for you after class, ask for a spare paper, carry your books.
it wasn’t just friendship. at least, it doesn’t feel like it.
because riki was different.
when things get too loud, too overwhelming, you ran to him. always him.
riki remembers everything—what time you’d be in school, what to do to make you pay attention, what food you hate, how you get quiet when you’re too sleepy. he’d offer his shoulder for you to lean on, and you would. you always did.
riki always listens. not the kind of matter where he’s obliged to answer back. he listened like your words mattered. like you mattered.
between serious conversations, he would sneak in things that made your heart beat faster than it normally should.
“you’re the cutest.”
“i should be your favourite husband.”
“you make my heart flutter.”
“you are not leaving me. if you do, i would go crazy.”
“i’ll take care of you, i’ll be the best husband ever.”
he said it so casually, like it didn’t mean anything.
but to you, it meant everything.
so you let yourself believe it.
you let yourself believe that there’s gotta be something behind how his gaze lingers more when his eyes locked with yours. that the way he stayed—like actually stayed, meant something deeper. that maybe.. just maybe, he feels it too.
and that was your biggest mistake.
it was nothing dramatic. no rain, no grand setting. just the two of you sitting under the bleachers, looking at other students doing their own things. the sun glaring at the two of you.
your hands were shaking, and riki noticed it. of course he would.
“hey,” he nudged you. “what’s wrong?”
you wanted to laugh. everything, you wanted to say.
instead you looked at him, like actually looked at him.
“i like you.”
it slipped out before you could even register it. too easily, like it was waiting to be let out.
for a moment, everything was still.
you couldn’t hear the noises that other people are making.
everything was quiet, and somehow that made you scared.
“...oh.”
just one word. it didn’t sound surprised or happy, it didn’t sound like anything at all.
your chest tightened.
“i thought..” you swallowed, mentally trying to calm your beating heart. “i thought maybe you felt the same.”
riki pursed his lips, his hand making his way through his hair.
“i don’t like you that way.”
it was gentle. careful.
but it stung.
“you know—” he added quickly, like he was trying to fix something. “you’re important to me. but i just.. i know you deserve someone better, but that someone isn’t me.”
each word felt heavier than the last.
“i don’t want to lose you,” he continued, voice softer now. “i’m fine with us like this. friends.”
of course. friends.
it sounded easy when it came from him.
so you nodded.
“yeah,” you mentally cursed in your mind. you felt your chest tightened. “of course.”
because what else were you supposed to say?
no?
you tried.
you really did.
you two still sat together, talk together, crack silly jokes.
but it’s evident that something has shifted.
you started noticing things—how his replies are shorter now, colder even. how it takes a few minutes before he talks to you. how his touch was never the same, how careful he was with you.
and maybe it wasn’t just him.
maybe it was you too.
because now, every joke feels so unfunny. everything made you second guess if this friendship is something you can still save or let go.
you stopped telling him everything.
stopped leaning on him like you used to.
because it didn’t feel safe anymore. not when you know exactly where you stood now.
and riki.. he noticed.
“why do you feel so.. far?” he asked one day, you thought it was the most ridiculous thing ever.
you shrugged, you’re afraid your voice would betray you.
and eventually, you stopped trying.
it wasn’t a dramatic fall out.
no arguments. no harsh words.
it was just silence. it grew bigger and bigger until neither of you knew how to cross anymore.
he stopped waiting for you outside of class.
you stopped looking for him.
and just like that, something that once felt unbreakable suddenly just—snapped.
you still think about him. how his laughter fills the room, how his comfort warms you, how in a room full of people, you’d always go towards him.
you think of him not out of spite or bitterness.
just a quiet yearning.
you had mistaken closeness for love. mistaken comfort for something else.
the regret of confessing, that maybe if you just didn’t say those three words, maybe you two are still closer than ever.
it made you understand that sometimes confessing does not bring people closer.
some just show you where the line has always been.
#📎⠀𝘁𝗮𝗴𝗹𝗶𝘀𝘁 !⠀(𝓝.)⠀⠀ @wonmyhrt +++
