This Is What It’s Like When Your Best Friend Breaks Your Heart

You’ve been friends for years. All your friends always thought the two of you would eventually date because, as Harry said to Sally, “Men and women can’t be friends because the sex part always gets in the way.” You thought you were the exception to the rule. You thought neither of you would ever have feelings for the other.

Then one day you find yourself telling him about this boy that you like. And he’s telling you to go for it, and you do. Then you find yourself telling him about hooking up with the boy you like. And you see the look of sadness in his eye, almost unnoticeable, but you see it. And you ignore it.

After that you notice when you text him he takes hours to respond and when he does, it’s one or two words. The next time you hang out, he’s late. He tells you about this girl he’s talking to and how much he likes her. You have the same look in your eye – almost imperceptible. But you’re just jealous that she will take his time, not because you like him… right?

A few months later someone asks why you haven’t hung out with him in so long, and you realize you don’t know. So you decide to text him about it, and that’s when the heartbreak starts. He tells you he doesn’t have time for you. He tells you he’s changed and you haven’t. He tells you the friendship has reached a “boiling point”. He tells you he loves you, but “where do we go from here?”

At first you’re angry. How could he just dump you from his life? You cry for a while and eat a large thin crust Dominos pizza by yourself and watch When Harry Met Sally seven times. You think about calling someone to talk about it with – but the only person you would want to talk to about this is him.

Two months of pain and regrets later you’re hanging out with a mutual friend of yours and his. And that’s when you learn that he was in love with you, and one day he realized he didn’t have a chance with you, so decided he couldn’t hang out with you anymore. The friend asks if you ever had feelings for him.

For weeks after that you question whether you had feelings for him – whether you have feelings for him still. And then one day you run in to him at a party, and you’ve both had some drinks. You catch up a little in a quiet corner and then go your separate ways. And the next morning you wake up and you know.

That’s when you realize that you are in love with him. That’s when you realize you are too late. That’s when you realize that he broke your heart.