Page 150 of A Solid Guide to Surviving a Situationship

Then I explained the situation in detail.

And right after, Victor’s expression didn’t change much. If anything, it settled.

“That’s… interesting,” he said.

Interesting.

Not crazy. Not messed up. Not unbelievable.

Just… interesting.

“They said they were trying to help,” I added quickly, like I needed to put that part in before it got lost.

Victor let out a breath through his nose—the closest thing to a reaction.

“Help,” he repeated.

I nodded.

“They thought if I saw my past clearly, I’d move on from you.”

That hung there for a second.

Then he asked, “Did it work?”

I looked at him, frowning slightly. “I’m still here.”

A small pause.

“They didn’t mean for it to… to turn into that,” I said. “The whole shenanigan was too much. I—” I stopped myself. “They just… didn’t think it through.”

Victor picked up his coffee, took a sip, then set it back down with precision.

“They went behind your back is what you’re saying,” he said, simply… cleanly. “They interfered with something personal. That’s not something people who care about you do.”

The words landed the way logic always does—neat, structured, and hard to argue with.

“I don’t know what to do,” I said resignedly.

“If that’s how they treat you, then you should leave your friends,” he said.

Just. Like. That.

No build-up. No weight. Like it was the simplest solution in the world.

“If they cross boundaries the way they did,” he continued, “you don’t need people like that in your life.”

‘People like that.’

I didn’t respond right away, because part of me understood what he meant.

But another part—something softer—didn’t sit right with how easily he said it.

Truth was, something in me didn’t follow. Because as I sat there, across from him, I couldn’t shake the feeling: how quickly he stepped away from something that felt complicated or how he easily reduced them into something disposable.

“They care,” I finally said, though it came out less certain than I intended. “They just… messed up.”

Victor held my gaze. “You sure?”