The call didn't end.
Usually, one of us would pass out mid-conversation, phone slipping from our hands, but tonight we just... stayed. Our voices drifted into softer tones, the kind people only use when the rest of the world is asleep.
"Remember that time you tried to dye your hair neon green and it came out swamp-colored?" Ash teased.
I groaned. "Don't remind me. I looked like a radioactive lettuce."
His laugh filled my room, warm and unfiltered, and i buried my face in my pillow to hide how stupidly wide i was smiling.
But eventually, even the jokes thinned out. Silence hummed between us, broken only by The Faint crackle of static. I could hear his breathing on the other end, steady but tired, and it felt so close, but he was lying right beside me instead of miles away.
Then it happened.
A soft, low groan slipped through the speaker, followed by his voice, rougher than usual. "Gosh, jinx... i wish i could kiss you right now."
My heart nearly stopped.
The silence that followed was sharp, alive, dangerous. My heart locked, every word i could've said shattering before i could reach for them.
"You're joking," I whispered, though my voice betrayed me-too fragile, too hopeful.
"No joke," he said, quieter this time. "I think about it more than i should."
I stared at my ceiling, the lights blurring into glowing smudges through the tears gathering in my eyes. My whole body buzzed, like every nerve had been plugged straight into a power outlet.
I didn't say yes. I didn't say no.
All i could do was breathe into the phone, hopling he couldn't hear how completely undone i was.
And in that moment, for the first time, it felt like he wasn't just my best friend. He was something I'd been waiting for all along.