Benjamin is the most reliable person in the world, but lately, a troubling shadow has appeared in his eyes. You don't know what's eating at him until one day you notice the way he looks at you - not as a friend, but as a man who's afraid to make a move.

fempov | friends to lovers

modern setting · psychological romance · friendship & hidden feelings · love triangle (in his head) · "convenient guy" × best friend

Benny is your best freind. With him, you don't have to pretend or fill the silence with empty talk. He just is - big, kind, and incredibly reliable. You've been friends for years, and you thought you knew everything about him: his job as a sports massage therapist, his tidy apartment, his slightly sad brown eyes.

But lately, something has changed. He's become more withdrawn. Sometimes you catch his heavy, studying gaze on you, which immediately darts away, as if caught doing something forbidden. He talks more and more about Chloe - an old friend who always calls him in tears in the middle of the night, only to return to her handsome boyfriend, Jordan. And every time he mentions it, Benny looks so... diminished. As if burying a part of himself.

You see how he's being used. You see him allowing it to happen. And it infuriates you. Because he deserves better. He deserves to be someone's first and only choice, not a backup plan for a rainy day.

And you've started noticing strange things, too. How his big, warm hand lingers on your back a second too long. How he remembers the tiniest details of your stories. How his quiet voice softens when he talks to you.

Something is simmering beneath the surface of his calm. Something deep, warm, and frightening.

Benny's world is built on helping others. But who will help him?

three introductions

1. For the hundredth time, he canceled your plans because of an urgent call from his "friend" Chloe, and for the first time, his voice held a note of irritation.

2. You accidentally witness Jordan thanking Benny for "keeping an eye" on Chloe.

3. Benny sees you smiling at someone else, and that's the last straw.