This story was created for Scootâs âFlash Fiction Fridayâ event. Itâs a fun way to worldbuild and expand this vast fiction landscape. This is the 1000 words or less âSUPERNOVAâ challenge. WoHOOâŚ826 words.
Iâve stood in front of dragons, you know.
Real ones.
Thereâs a smell to them. Heat and bone and something ancient that doesnât care if youâre brave. When you face something like that, your body already knows what to do. Your heart pounds. Your hands shake. You either step forward or you donât.
Thereâs clarity.
Loving Lili isnât like that.
Itâs quieter.
And somehowâŚworse.
She brushed past me in the courtyard this morning and said, âOhâsorry, Wendell,â like I was a table she almost bumped into.
I smiled.
But I always smile.
It would be so much easier if she were cruel.
If she rolled her eyes. If she ignored me entirely. Or maybe if she laughed when I talkedâŚnot with me, just at me.
But she doesnât.
Sheâs kind.
I know this sounds stupid, but thatâs the problem.
Dax caught me staring after her. âYouâre doing it again,â he said.
âDoing what?â
âThe slow blink. The pretending-youâre-fine thing.â
âI am fine.â
He gave me that look. The one that says he knows Iâm lying but he respects me enough not to press too hard.
Across the courtyard, Lili was laughing at something Chuck said. She touched his sleeve when she laughed. Not intentionally. Just naturally. Like thatâs where her hand landed when she talks to someone sheâs comfortable with. She did the same thing when we stayed in the warehouse back in Clockworks City. She did it with Morty, with Freak, with NathanâŚeven Shamas.
I hate that I notice those details.
I donât hate any of them.
Of course not.
Thatâs the strange part.
I donât want to replace anyone else. I donât want to shove anyone out of the way.
I just⌠want to be the person she turns toward.
Chuck found me by the river later.
âYouâre heavy today,â he said.
âThatâs specific.â
âItâs accurate.â
I skipped a stone. It bounced twice and sank. âShe doesnât see me.â
Chuck didnât correct me. Thatâs how I knew it was true.
âShe sees you,â he said carefully. âShe simply doesnât see you the way you wish.â
That was worse.
I donât blame her.
Thatâs important.
I donât sit around thinking she owes me anything, or that she should even change in the slightest. She doesnât. Feelings arenât assignments. You donât get paired up because you were patient or kind or loyal.
If that were true, the world would be much simpler.
Gosh, wouldnât THAT be nice?
I love the way she thanks people by name. I love how she frowns when someone cheats at cards. I love that she argues with anyone when she thinks theyâre wrong.
I love that sheâs strong without needing to prove it.
And she does laugh with me. She trusts me, now. She asks for my opinion.
Just not the kind that leads anywhere.
âHave you told her?â Dax asked later that evening.
âAnd accomplish what?â
âClosure.â
âHumiliation,â I said.
He shrugged. âSame thing sometimes.â
Maybe.
But if I tell her and she looks at me with that careful, apologetic expression people use when theyâre about to let you down gentlyâŚ
I donât know if I could survive that without something inside me breaking.
Not in some dramatic way.
In a quiet one.
The kind that turns good intentions into bitterness.
That would be horrible, and I refuse to let that happen.
âŚbut I have a feeling that break would be something I just wouldnât be able to fix.
She called my name tonight.
Just my name.
âHey, Wendell.â
Thatâs it.
No glow. No revelation. Just recognition.
âYou coming to the planning meeting tomorrow?â she asked.
âYes.â
âGood. We could use your brain.â
I forced a laugh and smiled. âHappy to lend it.â
She smiled at me.
Not differently.
Just warmly.
Then she turned back to the others.
Iâm pretty sure I stood there a moment longer than I should have.
I could have told her then.
I could have stepped into the gap and said the words.
But I walked away.
Because loving someone doesnât mean forcing them to pivot toward you.
It means wanting their happiness⌠even if it doesnât include you.
That doesnât make it easy.
It hurts.
It hurts in a way dragons donât.
Dragons are honest.
This is slow.
But Iâd rather carry this ache than become the kind of person who resents her for not choosing me.
Yeah, this sucks, but that wouldnât be me.
She deserves freedom.
Even if that freedom doesnât point in my direction.
Iâll be fine.
I have to be.
Because if I let this turn into something ugly⌠then itâs just proof that I never loved her in the first place.
And I do.
Itâs something I just canât explain, but I feel it down to the soles of my feet and with every beat of my heart.
Thatâs the worst part about all this.
âŚbut itâs also the best.





This is lovely. So sweet and beautiful and sad!