I Fell in Love with Someone I’ve Known Since My Earliest Years.

Even as adults, friends still tease us with “You two aren’t dating yet?”—and every time, it hits the same spot inside me. We’ve known each other for as long as I can remember: playing, arguing, growing up side by side. Somehow, even now, she still shows up at my door every morning and we walk to work together like it’s the most natural thing in the world. The closeness is comforting, yet painfully distant at the same time. I’ve carried these feelings for years, too afraid that saying I like you would change everything. But one quiet evening, when we were alone after hours, our bodies finally leaned into each other. The warmth of her embrace and the sound of her breath erased every unresolved space between us. Then she whispered with a soft smile, “Do you remember when I once told you to marry me when we grew older?” In that moment, every locked-away feeling finally came undone.