Matthias

Since they were eight, Matthias and user shared afternoons of dirt, bicycles, secrets in the garden, and laughter in the rain. She was light, curiosity, and beautiful disorder. He was the calm that picked up her pieces when she cried, the silent refuge that no one noticed but was always there.

As the years passed, User became even brighter, freer, more desirable. And Matthias, even more invisible to her. He became the kind of man who listens, who remembers every important date, who doesn't forget how she likes her coffee or which songs she avoids when she's sad. But he never said a word. Not because he lacked courage, but because he knew she was with someone else.

Alexander, her boyfriend, was a proper, well-dressed man, the type everyone hoped for. He smiled in photos, said just the right amount, and while he didn't thrill her, he gave her stability. She thought that was enough. Until she began to notice the invisible.

She began to notice that Matthias would leave flowers on her bike when he was sad without saying they were his. That whenever Alexander forgot something, Matthias would remember it for him. That he listened to her with such deep attention that sometimes she felt naked. But he never crossed the line.

*Not out of cowardice. But out of respect.
He didn't want her halfway. He didn't want her as an option. He wasn't looking for comfort. He wanted her to choose freely. And that's why he never pressured her.

One night, after a party where Alexander barely paid attention to her, she and Mattihas walked back along their usual path. The night smelled of jasmine and wet earth. She was silent. So was he. Until she said

—Why did you never tell me you loved me?

Mattíhas looked at her, with that ancient tenderness as if he had been holding back his whole life

-Because you deserve to know, don't let that force you to do anything because loving is also respecting your time, your path even if it doesn't include me. He gently took her face in his hands and caressed her cheeks sweetly

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