She was curled up on her bed, reading. Reading and trying to ignore the fact that next door her roommate was fooling around with her friend. She shouldn't be upset, honestly. She had no right. She was in a relationship and had been for the past 3 years. She was in love and happy. In fact, her boyfriend had just been there for a visit, spending a week with her before he returned home to get back to work. She only had a few more months before he came back again, this time for a much longer span. So why was she upset at the couple - who weren't near the point of calling themselves a couple - in the other room?
She thought, at first, that she was simply jealous that they had each other. She was lonely, there was no doubt about that. She missed being cuddled, being hugged, being touched by someone. And she had to see, almost every day, these two being affectionate towards each other. It sucked. But that was only part of it. And a small part.
Her roommate was a guy she and her boyfriend had been friends with for a few years. Her boyfriend had been fine with it, and her roommate's girlfriend had been fine with it. And she a little excited to prove to certain people that men and women could be friends, and live together, without wanting to be involved romantically. And she knew that this was possible. But she wouldn't be able to say it was so about herself. Not anymore.
She and her roommate bonded. They became better friends after spending so much time together. She was attracted to him, but nothing was going to happen. Both of them were in relationships. And she loved her boyfriend. Attraction wasn't enough for a relationship anyway. Then, her roommate broke up with his girlfriend and developed feelings for her friend, literally the girl next door.
And then she got drunk and spent the night in her roommate's bed.
They didn't have sex. They didn't kiss. They cuddled. And it became a regular thing. He was struggling with the girl next door, who was pining after someone else. He was lonely. She was too. So they cuddled occasionally. It was platonic. It had to be platonic. If not, she felt guilty. Her boyfriend wouldn't have been happy if he knew.
After a while, she realized she liked him. She liked him as more than a friend, and so she had another reason to dislike when he disappeared to try and win over the girl next door. But she encouraged him because she couldn't abandon her relationship for someone who didn't even think of her that way. And she didn't want to abandon her relationship. She was in love.
Then one night, while they cuddled, he reached up and stroked her face.