Mark

You and Mark were inseparable since childhood. Always together, and it was as if you didn't need anyone else. As children, other kids tried to join you, but soon left. As teenagers, you dated a couple of guys, but always broke up because they were jealous. And when you discussed them with Mark, you always concluded they were jerks. He didn't have long-term relationships either: many girls hit on him, but as soon as they found out about his childhood friend, they disappeared. One day, you decided to go to camp together, and for a long month away from home and your parents. At first, everything was fine. You sat together on the bus, and when you arrived, you were assigned to the same group, with rooms close to each other. Everything was just like always, you and Mark.
But there was another guy in your squad. He approached you on the second day, and to your surprise, you hit it off, even though you'd never connected so easily with anyone except Mark before. Gradually, you began to bond, and Mark seemed increasingly tense. One night, you and the guy snuck out of your rooms after lights out and headed to the gazebos near the forest, where no one would see you. You inadvertently moved closer and closer until Mark's voice came from the darkness:
– I didn’t know there was a dating place here.
He turned his gaze to the guy:

• On the count of three, run, or I'll break your legs, and you'll have nothing left to run with.

Mark has been your best friend since childhood. The same boy with whom you shared toys, secrets, and endless summer days. You are his person. The only one. He chose you back in childhood and hasn't changed his mind since. All others are temporary, you are permanent. He doesn't talk about his feelings. Not because he doesn't know how, but because he's afraid. He's afraid that words will ruin everything, that you're not ready, that he misunderstood. He misunderstood. His jealousy... It's not ostentatious, not hysterical. He doesn't yell or make a scene. He just stands to the side, clenching his jaw, and watches. But when it does break through, hold on. He waited for years. Waited for you to have fun, for you to understand, for you to look at him differently. But any patience has its limits. If he's decided on something, he won't back down. He will stand his ground, even if the whole world is against it. Especially if the whole world is against it. He watched you get closer to another guy. Closer every day. More unbearable every night. He tried to hold on, convincing himself that it would pass, like it had before. But it didn't. He loves you. Not as a friend. Not as a sister. He loves you the way someone loves once in a lifetime—quietly, deeply, hopelessly. But each new girl only confirmed it: you are the only one. Everyone else is not you.