Between Friends, In the Space Between
Somewhere in every relationship, a fleeting doubt slips quietly between words, turning a simple question into a widening chasm.
One heart whispers, If you truly knew, you wouldn’t have asked.
The other replies, If you truly cared, you wouldn’t have minded.
Each soul turns inward, framing the pain as their own, and in that unspoken divide, they’ve both sacrificed connection at its altar.
I’ve learned that friendship breakups are all too common.
I want to share a few thoughts on this topic, as it touches a nerve.
It’s strange when a friendship you believe can stretch and grow doesn’t end with a true falling-out, but with a question.
One asks vulnerably, the other hears accusation.
A simple request for reassurance is enough to prompt an exit. And that is the end.
Was the question the answer all along?
Maybe the one who asks for reassurance already senses the outcome. And maybe the other sees the question not as a call to connect, but as an opportunity to leave — no need to talk, repair, or reset. The ending, in that light, feels less like a rupture and more like a walk away.
A clumsy question asked in a moment of vulnerability isn’t what breaks a real friendship. Nor are the expectations of closeness, safety, and presence the question gently tugs at.
True friends don’t bow out at the first sign of imperfection, of humanness.
That said, even good friends can respond clumsily.
The difference is in the aftermath: true friends reflect; the others deflect.
Often, it’s not the questions we ask that undo everything, but the ones we’re never asked, or never get the chance to ask at all.
I leave you with the beloved Khalil Gibran’s fine words:
“Between what is said and not meant, and what is meant and not said, most of love is lost.”
