HAPPY FRIENDSHIP ANNIVERSARY

A Morning of Mended Threads

The smell of pancakes drifted through the house before the sun fully rose.

It wasn't just any breakfast; it was their breakfast. Their tradition.

Banana pancakes, Kai's cinnamon scrambled eggs, and Amelie's uneven but charming heart-shaped toast.

And this time, Nora had made sure everyone had a task, except Amelia.

"She doesn't suspect anything?" Lena asked as she quietly set out five mugs.

Nora shook her head with a little smile. "She's still asleep. Or pretending to be."

"Either way," Kai added, balancing the tray with cut fruit, "she's getting her morning back."

There was something unspoken in the air, gentle, apologetic, and hopeful.

They knew things had grown complicated, feelings had tangled, but under all that was a bond that none of them wanted to lose.

When everything was ready, Lena took a breath and volunteered.

"I'll go get her."

They all looked at her.

"I owe her a lot more than just a knock on the door."

In Amelia's Room

There was a soft rap at the door. Amelia, already sitting up in bed, sighed.

"I'm up," she called out, expecting Kai or Nora.

But Lena's voice came instead, gentle. "Can I come in?"

A pause. Then, "Yeah."

Lena stepped in slowly, closing the door behind her.

Amelia looked tired, her phone still in her hand from last night's message. Her expression was guarded but not cold.

"Hey," Lena said quietly.

"Hey."

"I wanted to say something. Not with the others. Just you and me."

Amelia raised a brow. "This sounds serious."

"It is," Lena said, walking over to sit at the edge of the bed. "I want to apologize.

For how I made you feel. For saying things that made it seem like you were the problem.

You're not. I was just… frustrated and confused and maybe, scared."

Amelia looked at her, unreadable.

"I didn't mean to push you into feeling like your presence was hurting anyone," Lena continued.

"That's not fair. And it wasn't true. I'm sorry, Amelia. Really."

A long silence stretched between them. Then Amelia's shoulders softened.

"I forgive you," she said. "And… you were right, in a way. I don't need to be close to Eli.

Not like we were before. That time passed.

I just… needed to let go of the habit of being something to him. Or thinking I still was."

Lena blinked, a little taken aback by her honesty.

"But I don't regret it," Amelia said softly. "I only regret making any of you feel uncomfortable."

"You didn't," Lena whispered. "You didn't make us uncomfortable. We made ourselves that way."

Amelia smiled a little. "Then maybe it's time we all stopped."

Downstairs

When Amelia followed Lena down the stairs, still in her oversized tee and fuzzy socks, she was met with cheers and claps.

"HAPPY SECOND BREAKFAST!" Kai bellowed like a hobbit.

Amelie flung a dish towel in the air like a flag. "Your plate awaits, my queen!"

Nora handed her a mug. "It's not coffee. It's hot chocolate with whipped cream and too many marshmallows."

Amelia stood at the bottom of the stairs, staring at the spread, then at their expectant faces.

She blinked. "You guys…"

"We missed you," Amelie said.

"We love you," Nora added.

"You don't get to disappear on us again," Kai teased, handing her a fork.

Even Eli was there, quiet at the far end of the table, watching her with a tender, unreadable look.

She smiled—and for the first time in days, it reached her eyes.

"I guess I can stay for one pancake," she said, settling between Nora and Kai.

Nora squeezed her hand under the table.

And just like that, something shifted again, not back to what it was, but into something new.

A space where feelings still lingered, but friendship was the anchor.

And Amelia? She allowed herself to laugh again.

 Echoes of Us

That evening, the living room was dimly lit with soft, golden fairy lights.

A low playlist hummed in the background, songs they used to obsess over in high school.

"The mood was mellow but warm, like a collective exhale after an emotional few days.

Nora brought out a small glass jar filled with folded slips of paper, each one slightly yellowed with age.

"Wait… is that what I think it is?" Kai asked, leaning forward with a grin.

"Our Memory Jar," Nora confirmed, placing it gently on the center table.

Amelia's eyes widened. "You kept it?"

"Of course," Nora said. "Some memories don't belong in a box. But this one does."

Lena laughed. "I remember this. We used to write one memory a week during our final year and promised we'd open them on our tenth reunion."

"Well," Nora shrugged, "I couldn't wait that long."

Amelia clapped her hands. "Let's do it. Let's read them out loud."

Everyone nodded, settling into the cushions and floor.

"Kai handed out mugs of cocoa like it was a ceremony.

"Okay, first one," Nora said, picking a folded slip.

'To whoever ends up with this, remember the time we got caught skipping lunch to sit behind the art room and cry over nothing and everything? That day, I realized friendship doesn't always fix things, but it makes the mess bearable.'

Nora paused. "That was me and Amelia."

Amelia nodded slowly, the edges of her eyes softening. "Yeah. I remember.

That was after I failed my first test in front of the class.

I didn't want to talk. You just sat there and passed me your snack."

"You always gave me mine," Nora said, a small smile tugging at her lips.

Kai held out his hands. "Next one."

Lena unfolded a slip:

I had a crush on someone in this group for a whole year. Never said a word. They were too good for me anyway.'

Everyone looked around.

"Okay, who wrote this?" Kai asked, laughing.

No one spoke.

Then Eli raised his hand halfway. "I wrote that."

The room quieted.

"I had a crush on someone," he said, eyes flicking once toward Amelia before landing back on the group.

"I didn't know what it was back then.

I just knew… they made everything feel brighter. Like the world made more sense when they were nearby."

The moment hovered, delicate and raw.

Nora quickly reached for another slip, breaking the silence gently.

'The day I watched you all walk across the graduation stage, I felt both proud and terrified.

Because I wasn't sure if we'd ever find this again. This friendship. But we did.'

"That one's mine," Lena said, her voice quiet. "I was so scared of losing what we had."

"You didn't," Amelia whispered. "We're still here."

Even Amelia's silence held warmth. She nodded softly, a bittersweet smile on her lips.

One by one, they passed the jar, each memory unfolding like petals from a shared past: funny moments, secret crushes, late-night calls, hard exams, borrowed notes, ridiculous group chats, lost shoes, first heartbreaks, and dreams once whispered into the wind.

They laughed. They teared up. And somehow, without forcing it, they found themselves closer again.

The unspoken tensions still lingered, but they no longer felt unbearable.

Because this was what they had: a thread woven through time, memories etched in shared stories, and a bond no misunderstanding could fully erase.