Page 49 of A Solid Guide to Surviving a Situationship

Unresolved.

Growing.

But the truth was, that wasn’t the first time I chose silence.

It started earlier. Two weeks before that.

We were at dinner, and I remembered that night clearly because I had spent the entire day preparing myself for it. Not physically, but emotionally.

I had rehearsed it in my head over and over, trying to find the right way to say it without sounding needy—without sounding like I was asking for too much.

We had been seeing each other for over a month. And a month in gay dating equates to a year.

It was long enough.

So I asked…

Carefully…

“Vic, what are we?”

Victor didn’t even pause.

“We’re dating,” he said casually, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

I nodded at first, but the answer didn’t land the way it needed to.

Dating.

That word could mean anything.

It could mean something.

But it could also mean nothing.

So I pushed a little.

“Are we in a relationship?” I asked, trying to keep my voice steady. “Or… what are we doing exactly?”

That was when his expression shifted.

“We’re dating,” he repeated, this time with a slight edge in his tone. “What more can you ask?”

I felt my stomach drop, but before I could even respond, he continued.

“I already love you. I give you everything. Isn’t that enough?” he said. “We can’t move that fast. We already are. But if you want, we can just end it now.”

Just like that.

Clean.

He said it without raising his voice.

Casually cruel.

Like what we had was something he could put down anytime.

I froze.