u/Fit-Tomato6100

sometimes I think about how different things would’ve been
if someone had just stayed

not in a big dramatic way
just… stayed

through the confusion
through the overthinking
through the parts of me that weren’t easy to deal with

I think about the conversations that never got finished
the things I never said because I thought they’d leave anyway

and maybe that’s why I learned to hold back
to not get too used to people
to not expect anyone to stay longer than they have to

but sometimes I wonder

what if someone didn’t leave
what if they chose to stay even when it got a little hard

would I have been different
or just a little less guarded

i met an old friend after a really long time

the kind of friend you used to talk to every day without thinking
back when things felt lighter, easier

we sat down and started catching up
same jokes, same comfort

but something felt different

at some point the conversation shifted
not suddenly, just slowly

we weren’t talking about random things anymore
we were talking about stress
about work
about feeling tired all the time

they said something like
“i don’t even know when i started feeling like this”

and i didn’t have a response
because i felt the same

it hit me in that moment
how quietly things change

no one really prepares you for this part
where you’re trying to hold everything together
while also figuring yourself out

we laughed again after that
changed the topic like we always do

but that one line stayed with me

i think adulthood doesn’t always hit you all at once
sometimes it just shows up in conversations like this