She showed up for me during a genuinely brutal year. Sat with me through the worst of it. I'll never not be grateful for that.
But the truth is, we've drifted, and the closeness that used to be there just isn't anymore. The conversations feel like work now.
The problem is I can't figure out how to step back without it feeling like a betrayal of everything she did for me. So we keep meeting for coffee every few months, and I keep nodding and smiling and pretending it flows like it used to. I owe her too much to leave, and not enough to stay honest.