Pillow Forts and Hurricanes

[ Note: This was previously published in June 2023 as By Your Side: A Queerplatonic Short Story. This new edition has 14k additional words and tweaked older content including the addition of Noah's POV ]

“Emma has an unbreakable bond with her roommates and lifelong best friends, yet struggles to create a romantic connection that comes even close to their friendship. That’s why Emma accepts her stoic boyfriend keeping her at a distance. All of her fantasies about romance and relationships, however, come tumbling down when she witnesses said boyfriend cheating on her.

Following her recent breakup and her evolving bond with her best friend, Noah, Emma begins to question everything she ever knew about relationships, romantic and platonic. When Emma suggests the possibility of a queerplatonic relationship to Noah, the two must navigate their feelings, unveiling secrets they’ve kept from each other… but as confusing it can be, at least they’re doing it together.”

Content Warnings: cheating, smoking cigarettes, brief mention of smoking weed, underage drinking, cursing, mention of different eating habits & descriptions of food that may be sensitive to people with body & eating disorders, brief mention of diets (as a suggested “treatment” for PCOS), brief mention of weight gain as a general symptom of PCOS, medical incompetence, internalized ableism regarding both PCOS and autism, unintentional masking, impostor syndrome, mention of past emotionally abusive relationship, current toxic relationship, subtle signs of PTSD, brief allusion to past suicidal ideations, victim blaming, internalized heteronormativity, arophobia, general ignorance regarding nonromantic and platonic relationships, negative thoughts revolving around doubts and insecurities.