I heard their name tied to someone else’s,
a thread I wish I could unpull.
It shouldn’t hurt this much—
not when we’re strangers in so many ways,
not when I’ve only ever watched
from a safe, quiet distance.

But it does.
It aches like a secret
I didn’t mean to keep,
a weight that settles in my chest
every time the thought returns.

I wonder if they laugh together,
if their world feels lighter now.
Do they even know
how the smallest things can unravel me?
A word, a smile,
a rumor I can’t quite confirm—
they all sting the same.

I hope they’re happy,
truly, I do.
But I wish the thought of it
didn’t twist inside me like this,
that the knowing—
or the not knowing—
would stop.

Because all I want
is for it to hurt a little less.