The hallway was quiet too quiet. Mom and Mr Morgan were out for the evening, something about dinner with colleagues, and the house had the kind of silence that pressed on my ears. Tyler was in his room. Or maybe he wasn't. I didn't care to check. I was angry. At myself. At the entire week. At Dan, mostly, which was stupid because I didn't even know what I was mad about anymore.
We hadn't really spoken since that day at lunch. He'd stopped trying. I stopped replying. Not because I hated him. But because I hated that things felt... off.
The next day at school,I went to my locker to grab a book I forgot to bring with me to class.on my way to my locker I head a noise from the supply closet Ignored it at first then something dropped so I stopped. The door to the closet was cracked open,I didn't notice that earlier, I walked closer to the door And then, I heard it,shuffling. A laugh. A gasp.
Instinctively, I stepped closer.
"Shhh," someone whispered. Another laugh.low came out which sounded more like a giggle.
I barely touched the door, but it creaked as it opened and revealed the scene inside.
Dan. Pressed against the closet wall, his arms hooked around another boy's neck. Their lips were still close. His shirt was rumpled. His cheeks flushed.
And the boy,tall and dark skinned, looked really,familiar. Micah from school. He turned first, eyes wide.
Dan followed his gaze and froze when he saw me.
"Ben..."
I stepped back. My mum jaw almost hit the flow, I wanted to say something but nothing came out. My head flooded with all the questions I hadn't asked. My best friend, had been keeping something this big, from me. why would he do that?
"You're..." I tried to say something smart, but my mouth betrayed me again "You're seeing someone?"
Dan ran a hand through his hair. "I didn't mean for you to find out like this."
Micah gave me a small, awkward nod then looked at dan before quietly stepping out and disappearing toward the back door, giving us space.
I stood there, heart still in shock. "How long?"
Dan sighed. "A few weeks."
A few weeks.
The words hit like ice.
"That long and you didn't tell me," I said, voice shaky. The pain is different. "Why? I mean...I thought we told each other everything."
Dan looked down. "We used to."
Ouch.that hurts.
He leaned against the wall now, arms crossed. "Ben, you've been so wrapped up in your own head lately. With Tyler. With... everything going on with you that I don't even know about. I didn't know how to talk to you. And honestly, I was scared."
"Scared of what?"
"That you'd make it about you,you always make everything about you," he said, tone quiet, almost apologetic. "And you'd mean well, but... you wouldn't really see me."
It felt like I was punched in gut.
Because it wasn't untrue.
I'd been selfish. Maybe not on purpose, but I'd sunk so deep into my own mess I didn't realize my best friend had his own story unfolding right beside me. And I missed it.
All of it.
I am one hell of a best friend.
I looked at him. The way he keep Staring at his hands. The fear still lingering in his eyes. The way he was waiting for me to yell, to leave, to judge.
"I'm not mad," I said finally. "Just... shocked. And yeah, I feel kind of stupid. For not knowing. For being so focused on myself."
He let out a breath of relief. "You're not stupid. Just distracted."
We stood there in the hallway silence for a while. Not quite the way we used to. But not broken either.
"Do you love him?" I asked.
Dan smiled softly. "He makes me feel good, safe. And seen."
I swallowed hard. "well...that's good. You deserve that."
We didn't hug. We didn't joke like usual. But we both knew something had changed, maybe permanently.
And that was okay.
No I'm not ok with this.
Later that night, I found myself staring at the ceiling, Tyler's breathing soft beside me. He'd fallen asleep while I was still processing everything. The rise and fall of his chest brought a strange comfort, like a heartbeat outside my own.
I thought about Dan. About all the different secrets. About how we all hide things we don't want others to ruin.
Tyler stirred. "You're thinking too loud," he mumbled.
I turned to him. "Sorry."
His eyes fluttered open. "Want to talk about it?"
I hesitated. "Dan's seeing someone. Micah."
He blinked. "Oh."
"Yeah. Found them in the closet literally."
Tyler chuckled under his breath. "That's kind of poetic."
"I felt like the worst friend in the world," I admitted.
Tyler reached for my hand under the blanket, fingers threading through mine. "You're not. You're human. Sometimes we're too busy bleeding to notice someone else is, too. Don't beat yourself up too much."
The room felt warmer somehow. Or maybe it was him.
"I don't want to miss anything important again," I whispered.
"You won't," he promised. "You're trying. That's what matters."
I squeezed his hand. "Thanks."
"Also," he added, eyes glinting in the dark, "if you ever catch me making out with someone in a closet, you're legally allowed to throw something at me."
I laughed, the sound surprised even me. "yes Sir."
That took him by suprise but he didn't show it much instead he just said "I like the sound of that."
The days that followed, things didn't magically fix themselves, but they shifted. Dan and I began to orbit each other again not quite like before, but without tension. Tyler and I had silent morning routines that felt like tiny rituals. I still avoided eye contact with Mr Morgan, and my mom was too busy planning weekend dinners to notice much.
But inside me, something was different. Maybe it was because I knew secrets now. Not just Tyler's. Or Brayan's. But Dan's, too. And mine.
I wasn't just a boy stuck in his past anymore.
I was someone moving forward slowly, but surely. Which is an improvement.
And in Tyler's eyes, every time he looked at me like I wasn't a mistake, like I wasn't broken, I believed it a little more.
I think That's a good start