My fiancé has a female best friend. He’s liked her for ten years, drunkenly confessing: "I don't confess because I'm afraid if I say it, we won't even be friends anymore." I wasn't angry. I quietly bought rings and ordered a wedding dress. My fiancé privately complained to his friends that I was forcing him into marriage, even joking that he'd leave me stranded at the altar. Until he realized that this wedding had absolutely nothing to do with him. "I'll take this one." In the bridal boutique, I finally chose a dress. The saleswoman asked, "Do you need to ask your partner's opinion?" In the entire shop, every other girl was accompanied by her boyfriend. Only I was alone. I smiled: "No need, he'll love it." While sitting on the sofa waiting to pay, a notification popped up on my phone. A thread I followed had been updated. The title of the thread was "Loving a Girl for Ten Years." The original poster was a guy. Underneath, countless people were urging him: 【Just confess already.】 He replied: 【I don't dare. I'm afraid if I confess, we won't even be friends anymore.】 The person who posted this thread was my fiancé, Arthur Sterling. 2 When I got home, Arthur was drinking with his friends. In a group of guys, there was only one girl. She had a smoking hot body, wearing black pantyhose, yet she sat cross-legged on the sofa, completely unbothered and carefree. I knew this girl. Her name was Mia. She was Arthur's best "bro." "Listen up, guys. Whoever gets a girlfriend has to let your 'daddy' approve first, got it?" Someone immediately cheered: "The one Artie's dating is almost ready for marriage, right?" Mia's smile stiffened for a second. She lightly kicked Arthur with her pantyhose-clad foot: "Oh? You've got it going on. No wonder you haven't been coming out to play lately. Turns out you're getting married? Bros before hoes, man!" Arthur leaned back lazily on the sofa, half-dodging: "Nothing like that." "Don't be shy. If you really get married, your 'daddy' will definitely give you a massive red envelope." Mia laughed and patted Arthur, but for some reason, her eyes looked a bit red. She picked up her beer bottle and took a few gulps. Arthur looked at her: "Stop drinking." "Mind your own business!" "You've had too much..." "You've had too much, damn it. I'll drink if I want to, it's none of your business!" Mia said this, but acting as if the alcohol hit her hard, she gradually slumped onto Arthur. "Arthur..." she murmured, seeming like she wanted to say something. Arthur couldn't hear clearly. He lowered his head, bringing his ear close to the girl's lips. The atmosphere reached its peak of ambiguity at this moment. However— Bang. I opened the door. 3 The whole house went quiet for a moment. I didn't look at a single one of them. I put down my bag, changed my shoes, and went into the study. I didn't say a word the entire time. Slowly, voices drifted from outside. Someone said: "Artie, I think your girl is mad." They thought I was angry and giving Arthur an attitude. Arthur probably thought so too. I just heard him speak, his voice carrying impatience: "Leave her alone." He put on a song using the speakers, and the originally chilled atmosphere in the living room gradually livened up again. Mia fell asleep slumped over to the side. Arthur took off his jacket and covered her with it. Someone said to Arthur: "Artie, call your girl out to hang with us." Arthur's voice was flat: "No need, she has social anxiety." I indeed had social anxiety, or more accurately, an anxiety disorder. Speaking in a crowd made my hands shake and gave me cold sweats. Because of this, I had almost no social life. Everything revolved around Arthur. He once kissed me gently: "Chloe, I'm so lucky to have met a girl like you who only has eyes for me." But now, what used to be a virtue had become a flaw. "You guys don't get it. I really wish she'd go out and socialize more, make some friends," Arthur complained after taking a sip of his drink. Someone joked: "Your girl is so pretty. If she really started socializing, a ton of guys would be fighting for her number. Then she wouldn't have time for you." Arthur chuckled: "Let her go. Meet some other guys instead of clinging to me every day like she does now." His voice was very relaxed, certain that I wouldn't go. My anxiety required regular hospital visits for medication; I simply couldn't participate in any social activities. The so-called "fairness" of both sides being able to make friends of the opposite sex was really just to accommodate his own freedom. But it didn't matter. I didn't care anymore. Taking out my iPad, I started drawing a sketch for the wedding invitation. In the top left corner, I drew the initials of the bride and groom in a flourished script: "C & J". The bride was me, Chloe. But the groom wasn't Arthur. Once I finished drawing this invitation, I was going to marry the person I wanted to marry when I was sixteen. 4 Arthur thought I was giving him the silent treatment. He didn't try to coax me, and slept alone that night. I drew until midnight. During a break, I scrolled through my phone and saw a "People You May Know" suggestion. It was Mia. Her latest post was from thirty minutes ago. In the video, with a mouthful of liquor, she kissed Arthur amidst the cheers of the crowd. The caption read: 【Childhood friends, but strictly lip service.】 The location was my living room. In the warm yellow light, their silhouettes looked handsome and beautiful, full of romantic atmosphere. In the comments, many oblivious people were shouting "Perfect match." There were also a few sparse comments saying: 【Can't stand this. If you're flirting, just say so. What's this 'friendship' nonsense?】 【This world has gotten too weird for me to understand.】 These comments were quickly attacked by a group of people. Mia personally replied: 【Don't be so obsessed with gender norms, OK? I kiss guys and girls like this. I kiss pretty girls even harder.】 Her edgy response attracted another wave of new replies: 【Ahhhh I volunteer.】 【Kiss me, sis.】 For some reason, I actually laughed out loud watching this. My eyes felt hot, and tears streamed down. But it wasn't because of Mia or Arthur. It was the phrase "childhood friends" that suddenly made me think of my Julian. I hadn't dared to think about Julian this seriously in a long time. White shirt, iced soda, the boy's unruly and untamed features under the sunlight. I rushed up and hugged him when he sank the final buzzer-beater three-pointer. Amidst the roaring crowd, he blushed: "Hey, you can only do this kind of thing with a girlfriend." "What, you don't want to?" My heart sank halfway. "No, it's just... too fast." He pulled out his phone, frantically checking an order. "The flowers I bought are still out for delivery." Later, when Julian bought a car, the first thing he did was put a sticker on the passenger seat—"Reserved for Chloe." He also bought a little plush bunny. "Here, the seat saver." He patted the bunny's silly head. "When Chloe isn't here, you have to save this seat for her. Don't let anyone else sit in it." We were together for seven years. Julian bought a new little bunny every year. He said: "Once I collect all seven to summon the dragon, I'm going to apply to be your official husband." He didn't lie to me. Hidden in the little apron of the seventh bunny was a very large diamond ring. That was the last gift Julian left for me. He couldn't give it to me himself. I ended up getting it from the police. The bunny in the blue apron was mixed in with a pile of evidence from the car crash scene. Everything else was stained with dark, almost black blood. Only this bunny, its fluffy white smiling face bright and radiant, remained spotless. The police said that before he died, Julian had hidden it in his chest, protecting it very well. Right now, that little bunny was sitting on my nightstand along with the others. I walked over and gently stroked their heads. Julian. I miss you so much. How can I miss you so much. ... Suddenly, my hand froze. No, it wasn't there. That little bunny wearing the blue apron was missing. A chill suddenly engulfed me, a wave of dizziness hit, and I opened my eyes wide, only then noticing— The sheets and blankets were full of wrinkles. On the pillow, there were two long chestnut hairs. Someone had slept in my room last night. But I didn't care about that anymore. I just wanted to find the little bunny Julian left me. I searched the house like a madwoman, finally finding it in the kitchen trash can. The little bunny was mixed in with a pile of food scraps. Its body had become very dirty, and there was a dark footprint on it. From a high heel. Blood rushed to my head. I charged to Arthur's bedroom door and pounded heavily on it. A few seconds later, he opened it. "Here to make up?" he smiled lazily. Arthur thought I was here to ask for peace. It had always been this way in the past. When I got angry, he ignored it, and in our long cold wars, I was always the one to back down first, knocking on his door to coax him. But right now, I held up that bunny: "What is this?" Arthur's smile vanished. He tried to close the door impatiently: "How should I know?" I suddenly exploded. Forcefully holding the door open, I stared into Arthur's eyes: "Who did you let sleep in my room last night? Mia, wasn't it?" Arthur's eyes showed a brief flash of guilt. But he quickly became irritable and impatient: "Yeah, so what? She drank too much. It's not safe for a girl to go back late at night..." A crisp smack filled the air. I slapped Arthur across the face. Arthur was stunned. Then he became enraged. "Are you crazy? There's nothing between us! If there really was something, I would have let her sleep in the master bedroom, alright?!" I looked at his face. For a long time, I stared blankly, lowering my eyes. "Let's break up." Julian, it was you who told me I must live happily, that I must find someone who loves me like you did. But I understand now. No one is like you. "Say that again?" I heard Arthur's voice. He was truly angry. "We are breaking up." I repeated expressionlessly. Not looking at Arthur's expression anymore, I turned my head, took the bunny into the bathroom, and scrubbed it vigorously. As I washed, tears kept falling. Arthur's voice came from outside: "Chloe, are you fucking crazy?" "How much is a bunny worth anyway? I'll buy you ten more, okay?" Only the sound of rushing water answered him from inside. Arthur's patience was completely exhausted. He turned and slammed the door as he left, leaving me alone in the house. 5 It took me a long time to wash that bunny clean. Hanging it out to dry on the balcony, in the wind of the clear sky, it gradually became snow-white, fluffy, and warm again. It will get better. Then I should too, right? I found a long-term rental at a bed and breakfast online, then packed my things. Not much—a small duffel bag was enough. The only things that needed to be boxed were the row of bunnies on the nightstand. The one with the bowtie, the one in the jersey, the one with sunglasses... The only one that made me hesitate was the bunny in the spacesuit. Out of all the bunnies, only this one was bought for me by Arthur. Back then, we weren't together yet, and Arthur put a lot of effort into pursuing me. His family was wealthy. Growing up, whenever he met a girl he liked, he only knew to throw money at her, and he usually won them over. Except me. The luxury goods he bought me, I returned unopened; the fancy restaurants he took me to, I quickly paid for the next meal. Eventually, he found out from somewhere that I loved this series of little bunnies. At that time, this spacesuit bunny was just about to be released. It was a limited edition. He flew overnight to the launch event in New York, waited in line for over ten hours in a sea of people, almost got into a fight, and finally managed to snag the very last one. When I found him, he was covered in sweat, with a scrape on his face, but he waved at me vigorously through the crowd: "Look! Chloe! What is this!" His tall figure stood out in the crowd, his smile as radiant as the sun. He looked so much like Julian. That day I couldn't hold it back, hugging the bunny and crying my eyes out. Arthur stood next to me, awkwardly comforting me: "Don't cry, don't cry. This little scratch doesn't hurt. From now on, I'll buy every single one for you..." In that instant, my thoughts drifted back to a sunny afternoon many years ago. Julian and I were sitting on a park bench on campus, and he suddenly asked me: "If I got a terminal illness, what would you do?" "Pfft, pfft, pfft!" I jumped up to cover Julian's mouth. He dodged everywhere: "If! I'm saying if!" "Then I'd send you off first, and then follow you in death. Satisfied?" "No." Julian pulled me into his arms. His expression suddenly became very serious. "Chloe, listen to me." "You have to live a good, happy life. You have to find someone who loves you like I do. "And you have to love him well, because loving someone is even happier than being loved. I want to see you happy. "Only if you're happy will I be happy in heaven." Julian, do you know? The second year after you left, when Arthur held up that bunny to me in the crowd, I thought that person had appeared. I was going to work hard at living, work hard at packing everything related to you safely away in my memories, and clear out space in my heart for him. Work hard at being happy. But now I understand. No one is like you. And there never will be anyone like you again. I put the bunny in the spacesuit into my bag. It bared its teeth and smiled at me, cute and mischievous. "I'm going to return you now." I patted its head and said softly.
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