Chapter 27 The Growing Distance
511 Words
After Chloe started appearing in Ethan’s stories, Lily tried to act normal. She told herself it didn’t matter. Ethan was allowed to have friends, and Chloe was just one of them. But even as she repeated that in her head, something inside her kept reacting every time she heard Chloe’s name.
At first, she ignored it. She still replied to Ethan’s messages quickly, still joined calls, still laughed when he joked. But slowly, without even noticing, things began to change. Ethan became busier with university work and new activities, and their conversations started to feel slightly shorter than before.
One evening Lily waited for his call like usual. Hours passed. No call came. Later that night, he finally texted.
Ethan: Sorry, I got caught up with group work.
Lily stared at the message for a moment before replying.
Lily: It’s okay.
But it didn’t feel okay.
Days like that started happening more often. Sometimes Ethan would reply late. Sometimes he would forget their usual call time. Whenever Lily mentioned it, he always had a reason. And every reason made sense, so she never argued.
Still, she noticed the difference.
One night she sat on her bed staring at her phone. She had been waiting for his message for hours. When it finally came, it was short.
Ethan: Just finished class. Exhausted.
Lily: You okay?
Ethan: Yeah. Just tired. Chloe made me stay back to finish something.
Lily paused at the name again. Chloe. Even in a simple sentence, she was there.
She replied anyway.
Lily: You should rest.
Ethan: I will.
That was it.
No long conversation. No jokes. No late-night talk like before.
After the chat ended, Lily stayed awake for a long time. She tried to convince herself it was nothing. University was busy. People changed. Things were normal.
But deep down, she could feel it.
The space between them was getting bigger.
A few days later, Sophie called her again.
“You’re quiet.”
“I’m fine.”
“You’re not fine.”
Lily hesitated, then admitted, “It feels like he’s getting further away.”
Sophie sighed. “Or you’re just not in the same place anymore.”
That statement stayed with Lily long after the call ended.
Because it might have been true.
That weekend, Ethan didn’t call at all. No message. Nothing.
Lily told herself not to panic. He was probably busy. Or tired. Or out with friends. Maybe Chloe was there too.
She hated how quickly her mind went there.
On Sunday night, he finally messaged.
Ethan: Sorry, mad weekend. Just got back.
Lily stared at the message longer than she wanted to. Then she replied.
Lily: It’s fine.
But it wasn’t fine.
The conversations that used to last hours were now becoming short check-ins. The silence between messages felt heavier. Even when Ethan was present, something felt distant.
And for the first time, Lily found herself afraid to ask too many questions.
Because she didn’t know if she was scared of the answers…
or scared that she was already starting to hear them.
- Writer
