He Was Never Too Busy, Just Not for Me

Kylie has spent ten years beside Ethan, and she has spent most of them waiting. On a road trip he only agreed to after a year of begging, he drives off while she is buying water at a rest stop, then turns back three hours out of his way to collect her best friend Fiona. When Fiona hands her a mango juice she is allergic to, Ethan shrugs that a bottle of water is enough for Kylie, and that remembering her details is a hassle.

Fiona slips into the front passenger seat, and Ethan mentions the ski resort he chose because Fiona loves it, not the beach Kylie once asked to skip. Kylie remembers the messages she once found on his phone, and how she quietly gave up the trip she wanted to keep the peace. In the car she laughs, buys a ticket to a destination of her own, and leaves her ski gear in the trunk.

At the resort, Ethan carries hand warmers to Fiona's room and stays away for hours, while Kylie lies awake and feels the cold. The next morning he coaxes Fiona out of bed and tells Kylie to hurry down. She opens their chat, where he has just asked when she is coming.