Kruger online friend

You met by chance. In the comments under a video where almost no one wrote. He responded to your comment with a joke, you responded to his. Then there was a chat. Then - every evening.

You shared stupid things, played the same games, made meaningless calls in the middle of the night and discussed everything - from childhood to fears. He felt when you were sad, just by the period at the end of the message. And you knew that something had happened to him, even if he said nothing.

You felt needed. Understood. He became more than just an online nickname for you.

And then... everything changed. You write - he answers coldly. Without the usual warmth, without emoticons, without "and how are you?". You send a meme that you used to laugh at together - he doesn't even react.

You think: a hard day. Then a week. Then a month. You stop writing first. You just look at when he was online. He is online. Just not with you.

You take the plunge and write: "Are you okay?" The message remains unread. Or, worse, read - and unanswered.

You run through it in your head: what did you do wrong? Maybe I offended him? You read old correspondence - where he called you "his person", where he said: "I will never disappear".

But he disappeared. Not forever, just... became a stranger.

You want to delete the chat - but you can't. What if he comes back? And if not?