My darling friend,

It has been only you by my side,

relentlessly,

at my beck and call

when there was no one else

aware of my heart beat

no one left to tell me

everything’s gonna be alright

When you reach out for me

I feel you like no other

Together we are lost in your words

Embracing a world only known to us

I have no doubt whatsoever

That you will be with me till my last breath

or at least until lucidity remains

At the end of the day

Is there any way to show my gratitude

To explain how very much I love you,

My dearly departed friend, Edith Wharton

Ethan Frome has saved my life

Eternally grateful,

Your bookworm

We messaged all night long. An enthusiastic volley of curious conversation. Bonding over absent parents, music and our favourite flowers, we decided to meet.

I saw you outside through the bus window. I didn’t know you were you yet, it’s hard to tell from a Tinder profile.

You said hello. We got coffee, chatted about our lives, walked along the canal’s curved banks. A drizzle began to fall, so I took out my umbrella.

You said: “I have the same umbrella!” I didn’t believe you.

When we crossed the bridge, our hands found each other and gentley intertwined. Your fingers were so smooth.... At the market you tried to kiss me, but we headbutted instead.

We met up again and again. Late night bike rides, living room concerts, fresh sourdough bread in slices so thick it got stuck in the toaster sometimes. Wine, pastries, and laughter. A weekly habit, a bright spot in my days. Sharing our dreams and troubles in near-constant-conversation. Our relationship persisted, our lives began to intertwine. You sent me a picture of your umbrella. “I’ve had it as long as I remember,” you said. I stared at the image, a sort of rueful amazement came over me. It was identical to my own.

I bought my umbrella when I was 12 years old. $5 from Goodwill. Its unique design is one of the few constants in my life. A dark blue canopy covered in faded golden tulips. Flowers swirling, shielding me from stormy skys. It survives 3 other broken umbrellas.

I’m sure many more of this umbrella’s design must exist, but that didn't matter. To me it was a crazy moment. A moment where an umbrella design became a symbol of fate.

“We match,” I said softly to myself.

There was a feeling of fulfillment, of justification.

That this is what love is,

finding meaning in the coincidences shared between us,

believing in that meaning,

making it true,

because I love you.

(I should have told you before)

Dear Her,

All these songs come on the radio, on my playlist, and they all have the same thing. Memories. Memories of having fun, memories of dancing, laughing, and memories of you. I always thought that if I didn’t say anything it would just happen, or you would walk into the room one day, singing songs to me. And it never happened. I would always think and picture moments I would see you, I would fantasize about what I would say to make you fall in love with me, and me to fall in love with you. It never happened though. We didn’t fall in love. I never understood love until after you let go. Or maybe I let go. I always thought it would be at first sight, and yet, I have seen hundreds of beautiful women, and never once fallen in love with them. Maybe that's the problem, I haven’t found the one. But I thought it was you.

I think of a song saying look up at the stars, they’re like pieces of art. Floating above the ground. I didn’t understand the lyrics the first time I heard it, but I do now. There are millions of stars, just like there are millions of women, and you can get trapped because there are so many. They are pieces of art. But that’s the problem, I got lost looking at so many pieces of art, I forgot about my sun. The one star, one piece of art, that actually lifted me up. That was actually floating above the ground. Maybe someday I will find someone that I realize sooner what they are, I didn’t with you, and I should've.

I remember walking around the neighborhood at night, seeing each other in the other's eyes, always locked on to them. It didn’t matter what was happening around us, someone could’ve crashed a car right in front of me and I wouldn’t have been able to unlock my gaze. I remember going over songs we were going to sing for church, you always had better taste in music, at least you did. I remember going to the movies for some church thing, or reward of some kind, and I couldn’t take my eyes off of you. I was locked. There was no one else around, nothing competing for my gaze, nothing leading me away. I lost that gaze. I remember Christmas eve, where we talked until it was Christmas day, sitting there across the hallway from you was one of the best days of my life. I didn’t know it then, but I felt it. I remember it all. Sometimes I wish I didn’t.

You might think this is too cheesy, too romantic, and it probably is, but I’m spilling my feelings out, and even though we’ve lost those feelings, the remnants of them still reverberate throughout my soul. They still appear in the worst moments, the wrong places, and the dreams I wish I didn’t have. You were there for a long time, it's difficult to move on from that. But I remember it all, and I hope you do too. It’s hard, it was hard, and that is what I feel now, still looking up at the stars, seeing the pieces of art, floating above the ground,

With Love,

Him

Dear Amajiki,

I know that with your anxiety you’ll probably think this is a joke, but I assure you, this is quite real. You are such a cool hero I couldn’t help but like you. You were kind to me when you saw how scared and confused I was after Overhaul attacked my brother and took his quirk.

You should know by now that if my brother found out about this he would try to set something up and unintetentionally embarass me. As much as I love my brother, I would rather avoid that.

I hope you will accept this cowardly confession because I would have messed all the words up if I told you in person. I’m not good with people, or crowds. And when it comes to you, well, it gets worse. So, I’ll be awaiting your answer, whenever and however you’d like.

Love, Miya Togata

Hey, it's me. Remember when we were little and we used to catch salamanders in the woods? Remember when we would ride our bikes into all the mud puddles around Lucky Lake after it had rained, and getting yelled at by my dad for being covered in nothing but mud? Do you remember pushing me on the swing so high I hit the tree? Remember when we were around the campfire and a random dance party busted out? Do you remember when I tipped over your kayak and you got completely soaked, you just ended up swimming in your clothes? Do you remember the first time you held my hand? I just wanted to ask you, please never forget me, because I will never forget you.

Hello.

I have something to tell you, but I don’t know if I will ever have the courage to give this to you. I have decided to write it down anyways and then, even if I don’t give you this letter, maybe I will read it alone sometimes and smile because I’m thinking of you.

There it is. I practically just said it.

I love you, Taylor.

Not as a friend, but as something else. Maybe something more. I don’t really know for sure and I am very new to all this, but when I see you my heart gives a little jump and I can’t breathe for a second. Sometimes I embarrass myself by tripping when you are walking toward me. And maybe you have noticed, but you haven’t said anything and that is one of the things I like about you.

I also like the way you smile at me as if I am the only person in the world. And I like how you seem to always know what I’m thinking, and even when no one else notices or cares, you understand. I like your hugs, they always make me feel warm and at peace.

But most of all, I like how you are always there for me, no matter what. And maybe giving you this letter will somehow change us, but maybe that is okay. Maybe if we are together, even if you don’t feel the same, we can find a way to still be there for each other.

At least I will not have to hide how I feel anymore.

Yes, I have decided. I will give this to you and even if you don’t feel the same, or you pretend you never read it and we just go back to normal, I know you won’t leave me because you love me too. Maybe not in the way I love you. But in some way, we love each other.

Your best friend,

Justice