Page 102 of A Solid Guide to Surviving a Situationship

The word sat there for a second.

“I’ve already felt this before,” I continued. “Just… in a different form.”

With him.

I didn’t have to say his name.

The cosmo arrived just then, the glass sliding gently onto the bar in front of Honey like it had been timed perfectly.

She wrapped her fingers around it, but didn’t drink yet.

Instead, she looked at me.

“What really is it with Victor?” she asked, calm but direct. “Because from everything you’ve told us—yes, he looks good on the surface. But the way you described him deeper?”

A small pause.

“He sounds lowkey bad.”

I let out a breath, eyes dropping to my glass.

For a moment, I didn’t answer, because I knew how it sounded.

“I thought he was the one,” I said finally, the words feeling heavier now that they were spoken out loud.

Honey didn’t interrupt.

“I know how that sounds,” I continued, my voice softer now. “But it didn’t feel like a guess. It felt like… certainty.”

I swallowed.

“It felt like I had already met everyone else I was supposed to meet, and then Victor showed up, and everything made sense.”

My grip tightened around my drink.

“And when you feel like that about someone,” I exhaled slowly, “you don’t question the bad parts right away—the behavior, the push and pull, the hot and cold. You explain them.”

A small, bitter smile crossed my face.

“You tell yourself they’re just tired,” I continued, “or stressed, or scared. You tell yourself you just need to be more patient or understanding.”

I shook my head, almost at myself.

“Because if they feel like the one—then leaving isn’t even an option.”

Silence settled between us, quiet but heavy.

Honey finally took a sip of her drink, then set it down.

“Darling,” she said gently, but with something firm underneath it, “you didn’t find the love of your life.”

I looked up.

“You found someone you decided was the one.”

I felt that one.

She held my gaze.