Between Us, Always

Nano's POV

Nano's heart felt like it had been squeezed tight in his chest as he stood there, frozen by Per's words. They cut deeper than he expected, more painful than he realized, and for a moment, all he could do was stand there, blinking back the sting in his eyes.

Per's anger, his frustration—it wasn't about me, right? It couldn't have been. But hearing the way Per had snapped at me, telling me to stop following him around, felt like a betrayal. I had always tried to be there for him. I knew that he was hurting, that he had his own battles, but I never thought it would be like this.

I just wanted to help him, be someone he could lean on when everything felt too heavy. But the way Per spoke—he made me feel like I wasn't even wanted around, like I was a burden. The hurt hit me in waves, sharp and relentless, as I stood there processing everything. I had always been there for him, always tried to bring a smile or a sense of comfort, but maybe that wasn't enough.

But as I walked down the corridor, away from the room I had shared so many quiet moments with Per, something inside of me shifted. It was the aching realization that I didn't know how to keep doing this. I couldn't keep pouring my heart into someone who didn't want me there. Maybe I had overstepped. Maybe I had tried too hard to fix things that weren't mine to fix.

I had always been there for Per, even when I didn't know how to be, even when I felt like I was pushing my own needs aside. But now? Now it felt like I had crossed some invisible line, and Per had drawn the boundary for me.

I couldn't ignore it. I couldn't keep pretending like everything was okay between us when it clearly wasn't. Per didn't want me around anymore, and maybe it was time I respected that.

I felt a familiar ache in my chest, one that came from the disappointment of seeing someone I cared about push me away. But unlike the past, where I would have rushed back to try and fix everything, something in me told me to stop. To give him the space he needed, even if it meant stepping back completely.

So, as the days went on, I did. I started pulling away from Per, not out of anger, but out of self-preservation. It was too painful to keep trying when I wasn't sure if my presence even mattered to him anymore.

I still watched him from a distance, still made sure he was okay in my own way, but I kept my distance. I stopped initiating conversations, stopped offering to spend time with him. I wasn't doing this out of spite; I was just trying to protect myself from the growing hurt.

But even as I kept my distance, the emptiness in my chest didn't go away. It didn't matter how much I told myself it was for the best, or that it was his choice. The pain of not being able to reach him, of knowing that I was no longer the person he turned to, was overwhelming.

And so, I began to fade into the background. Slowly. Quietly.

Per's POV

It wasn't until the silence stretched on for days that I started to notice it. At first, it was small things—Nano wasn't hanging around as much, wasn't seeking me out like he used to. He would still greet me when we crossed paths, but the warmth that had always been there between us was gone. His usual energy, that bright spark that seemed to follow me everywhere, was suddenly absent.

I found myself looking for him, wondering where he had gone. It wasn't like him to avoid me. Nano had always been there, no matter how messy or difficult things got, always offering comfort without asking for anything in return. But now, when I would turn to find him, he wasn't there.

It hurt.

It wasn't something I could ignore anymore. And the guilt that followed made my chest tighten with every passing day. What had I done? I had pushed him away, scolded him for being too persistent, told him I didn't want him around. And now, he was slipping further and further from me, pulling back like he was trying to protect himself from the mess I had created.