Annie and Max burst out laughing gleefully. Slowly, their smiles faded and they turned to finish their slightly dripping ice cream cones. In the hidden depths of her heart, Annie sensed it was time. By the tingling throughout her body and the sweat trickling down the back of her neck, she knew she could no longer hold it in any longer. “Max...” she started.

“Annie...I know what you are going to say” Max cut in.

“—No! Let me finish. I’ve got to say it, Max!”

“Annie I can’t... I don’t...”

“Please. Max, I’ve been holding it in for some time now. I love you,” Annie whispered breathlessly, tears forming in her eyes.

“Now Annie—“

“Shut up and let me finish,” Annie rubbed angrily at her eyes. “I know you don’t love me back but I can’t pretend it any longer. I thought one day you’d open your eyes and you’d see me the way you look at other pretty girls. Like your exes. That one day it would hit you. That I was the girl you were supposed to be with all along. That we would make each other so very happy.”

“Annie I’m sorry...” Max sounded close to crying himself.

“And then one day, I realized it was never going to happen. It’s not a fairytale story or even a romcom. It’s life. And life can be cruel. But regardless, I do love you still. And I think there’s a chance that maybe we could work. Even though I know you will say you don’t love me back I think there was a chance. In all of the years of our friendship, I mean.”

“Annie I do love you... just not in that way,” Max said very softly, his eyes thoughtful and contemplative. Beautiful blue, the color Annie had fallen in love with 3 years ago.

“I am in love with you,” she clarified. “In love.”

“Perhaps you are confusing in love with love,” Max sighed.

“No,” Annie said firmly, crossing her arms. “I will probably be in love with you for the rest of my life, Max. That’s how deep rooted it is. How long I’ve been torturing myself with it, this knowledge.”

Words failed Max as Annie ran away, sobbing uncontrollably. He let her go.