---
There's no guidebook for this.
No seven-step process.
No "how to" for forgetting someone who was never really yours.
Because how do you forget a boy who never officially belonged to you—
but still managed to carve himself into your mornings,
your thoughts,
your heartbeat?
---
It starts slow.
You delete his contact.
Not because you're ready.
But because seeing his name every time you scroll is like slicing the same wound open again and again.
You unfollow him,
mute him,
try to convince yourself that out of sight will mean out of mind.
It doesn't.
At least not yet.
---
You keep replaying the last time you saw him.
The way he looked at you like he wanted to stay—
but had already decided to go.
The words he didn't say.
The apology that never came.
The love that hovered in the silence between "take care" and the door closing behind him.
You tell yourself it wasn't your fault.
That he was never built for staying.
That some boys are just passing storms, not homes.
But it still stings like rejection.
Like being picked second in a game you didn't know you were playing.
---
The worst kind of heartbreak isn't from a breakup.
It's from the almost.
The could-have-beens.
The moments you imagined but never lived.
The texts you started typing and deleted because you didn't want to seem too much.
You remember the way his fingers laced with yours under the table.
The way his voice softened when he called you late at night.
The way you felt—safe and wanted and like you mattered.
But then, you remember how he never said what you were to him.
Never introduced you as anything more than "hey, this is her."
Never posted you, never called you his.
You were his secret comfort.
But he was your loudest heartbreak.
---
Your friends say you deserve better.
You nod.
Smile.
Pretend like you agree.
But they didn't hear the way he said your name.
Didn't see the way he looked at you when he thought no one else was watching.
Didn't feel the fire that roared every time he touched you like you were made of both sin and sanctuary.
They don't know.
And you don't tell them.
Because even now, even after everything,
you still want to protect the parts of him that hurt you.
---
Some days, forgetting feels easy.
You laugh again.
You dress up.
You flirt with someone new just to prove to yourself that you can.
But then the night hits,
and suddenly, the space beside you feels too empty.
The songs sound too familiar.
And your hand aches for a touch it should've let go of long ago.
You close your eyes.
And there he is again.
In your memory,
in your chest,
in your pulse.
---
Forgetting a boy who wasn't yours isn't about deleting him.
It's about reclaiming you.
Piece by piece.
Memory by memory.
Breath by breath.
Until one day,
you remember him,
and it doesn't hurt.
Not because you don't love him anymore.
But because you love yourself more.