Love And Guilt
**Title:** _Love & Confession_
**Characters:**
• **Jamie**: A warm, sincere person who finally decides to express their feelings.
• **Alex**: Jamie’s friend, with whom they’ve shared a close, sometimes complicated bond.
**Scene: A quiet café, dimly lit in the evening. Jamie and Alex sit across from each other at a small table. Jamie fidgets, clearly anxious.**
**Jamie:** (nervously) Alex, there’s something I… I need to tell you. It’s… It’s been on my mind for so long, and I don’t know how to say it, but I can’t keep it in any longer.
**Alex:** (smiling, a bit surprised) Okay… I’m listening. You look like you’re about to explode.
**Jamie:** (laughs nervously) Yeah, maybe. (pauses, gathering courage) Look, Alex, I— (deep breath) I’m in love with you.
**Alex:** (stunned, blinking) Wait… what?
**Jamie:** I know. I know it’s a lot. We’ve been friends forever, and I’ve been terrified to say anything, but… it’s true. I love you. Not just as a friend. More than that.
**Alex:** (slowly smiles, looking touched) Jamie, I… I don’t even know what to say. I… I didn’t see this coming. (pauses, genuinely moved) But I think… I feel the same way.
**Jamie:** (relieved, smiling) You do?
**Alex:** (nodding) Yeah. I mean, maybe I didn’t know it until just now, but… Yeah, I do.
**[They both sit in silence for a moment, grinning like fools, just taking in this new, tender moment.]**
**Alex:** (after a moment) So… what now?
**Jamie:** (chuckling) I guess… we could, you know, go on a real date? See what happens?
**Alex:** (smiling) I’d like that.
**[Pause. Jamie’s smile fades slightly, their expression growing serious.]**
**Jamie:** But, Alex, there’s… There’s something else I need to tell you. It’s not easy for me to admit, especially after what I just said. But I… I want to be honest. Completely honest.
**Alex:** (concerned) Jamie, what is it?
**Jamie:** (looking away, voice barely a whisper) I did something. Something… bad.
**Alex:** (frowning) What do you mean?
**Jamie:** (quietly) I was desperate. It was a few months ago. I took some money. From the store. From the register.
**Alex:** (shocked) You… Jamie, are you serious?
**Jamie:** (voice trembling) I didn’t have a choice. I was behind on bills, and I was panicking. I thought… I thought I could pay it back before anyone noticed. But then I… didn’t.
**Alex:** (still processing) Why didn’t you tell me? You know I would have helped.
**Jamie:** (looking down) I was ashamed. I thought I could fix it on my own, but… then it just got worse. And now… (pauses) Now, I’m in over my head.
**Alex:** (reaches across the table, taking Jamie’s hand) We’ll figure this out. Together.
**Jamie:** (looking up, surprised) You… you’re not going to just walk away?
**Alex:** (smiling softly) I just told you I love you, didn’t I? We’ll face this. But you have to be honest with me from now on. No more hiding things. No more secrets.
**Jamie:** (nodding, relieved) No more secrets.
**[They sit together, hands intertwined, uncertain of what lies ahead but facing it together.]**
**[Fade to black.]**