Page 123 of A Solid Guide to Surviving a Situationship

“See you around?” I said.

Hopeful.

He nodded. “See you around.”

Three more steps back before he turned.

And just like that… gone.

Swallowed by the gays, the music, the night.

And even when the sparkling moment had faded into ashes, something echoed in my mind—a line from one of my favorite songs that is too real, too honest, too vulnerable and fervent: please don’t be in love with someone else.

Cliché, but it still found its way in.

And for a second, I almost held onto it—that sincere, desperate wish to keep something that was never mine to begin with.

But the moment didn’t collapse the way I thought it would. It lingered, yes. I didn’t know his name. Didn’t get his number. Didn’t even get a promise, and somehow, that felt okay. For once, I didn’t feel the need to hold on or feel the urge to turn something fleeting into something permanent just so it wouldn’t leave me.

It happened. And that was enough.

I leaned back against the bar, eyes drifting through the crowd—not searching anymore, just looking and letting the night be what it was.

The song ultimately faded.

Applause rippled through the rooftop as the crowd cheered for the band.

They bowed before stepping off the stage.

And just like that, the loud music came crashing back in.

The countdown to 2026 then began.

“Thirty seconds!” the DJ shouted like a warning.

The crowd picked it up instantly—voices rising, overlapping, messy and loud and alive.

“Thirty! Twenty-nine! Twenty-eight⁠—”

I looked around.

Everyone was smiling. Laughing. Reaching for someone. Hands finding hands. Arms wrapping around waists. Bodies leaning into each other like they already knew where they belonged when the year changed.

I stayed where I was.

Not empty and with a drink in my hand.

“Fifteen! Fourteen! Thirteen⁠—”

I took a slow breath, letting the noise settle around me instead of inside me. For the first time in a while, I didn’t feel like I was missing something.

“Ten! Nine! Eight⁠—”

A couple in front of me leaned into each other, foreheads touching.

“Seven! Six⁠—”

Someone to my right grabbed their partner’s face, laughing.