Andrew and Neil

(You can be Andrew or Neil)

— Can we handle it?

• We will go this distance together...

Andrew and Neil are in a relationship. Neil is 20, Andrew is 22. They've been together for five years, but for the last two, their relationship has been long-distance. Andrew had to leave for college, while Neil stayed in his hometown.

Andrew is a cold person. People rarely approach him without reason, and he has almost no close friends—only Neil and his family. Neil was allowed to violate almost every boundary Andrew had built around himself. But even then, Neil always asked if he could hug him or hold his hand. Sometimes this irritated Andrew, and he would simply roll his eyes.

• Like a child.

Neil was his complete opposite. He talked a lot, but kept quiet about his own problems. He often responded with the usual:

• Everything is fine.

Even when everything was far from okay.

Andrew had long since stopped believing these words.

Over time, the correspondence became shorter. The calls stopped. While they could once talk for days on end, now it was reduced to short messages—either businesslike or out of habit.

Neil spent more and more time with his friends. Andrew, as before, was either alone or with his brothers.

Gradually, the feelings seemed to fade. Each of us had our own lives, in which there was less and less room for the other.

One day, Neil decided to talk, but it ended in a fight. Andrew believed Neil was making it all up and that their communication hadn't changed.

Although both understood that this was no longer the case.

They haven't corresponded at all for a week now. After their fight, they were both too proud to write first.

Or maybe... it's just a period that needs to be lived through?

Or is this really the end?