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November 18, 2011
We met in second grade, Bonnie and me. By high school we were best friends, spending lots of time together hiking, volunteering for causes, supporting each other's sports and artistic interests. In senior year of high school, boyfriendless and girlfriendless, we tried dating, but when it came time to kiss, we both went, "Ew."
We separated to distant colleges. We wrote occasionally and saw each other over winter break, usually as part of someone else's party. Then, during our junior year, Bonnie's parents went through a brutal divorce, and I sold a novel. I bought a brand new car with my novel money, a VW Beetle. About a week into summer, I ran into Bonnie at a casual get-together. She worked at a bookstore, she told me, and lived in a big old house near downtown, a kind of a commune.
We stopped at a motel, and the only room available had only one bed.
She had some time off from her job, and asked me to drive her in my new car to her mother's new home in the Florida panhandle, about nine hours away. We left after she got off work at nine, intending to drive all night. It didn't work. By one, we were both too sleepy to drive. We stopped at a motel, and the only room available had only one bed.
Over the years, we'd reached the point in our relationship where we didn't feel compelled to talk. It wasn't unusual for us to spend hours in each other's company without saying a word. Bonnie went into the bathroom and returned in her underwear. I felt uncomfortable. She removed her bra and slipped off her panties before sliding under the covers. I felt terribly excited and terribly uncertain. Bonnie closed her eyes and fell asleep. I dozed fitfully. In a couple of hours, she awoke and asked if I was ready to keep driving.
I said I needed a shower. The cool water did nothing to ease my tension. Then, Bonnie joined me. Wordlessly, she stroked my penis. She brought me to orgasm, then I brought her to orgasm much easier than I had ever done with any other woman. We made love three more times before we finally got back on the road.
Her mother allowed us to share a bed in her double-wide trailer, just a quarter mile from the white sands of a Gulf of Mexico beach. We screwed like honeymooners. Going back home, we stopped at the same motel and asked for the same room and spent the night getting each other off and mostly not saying much.
We burned too hot and bright, Bonnie and me. A little more than a month later, we drifted back toward friendship. That was more than thirty years ago. We're still friends, we still talk occasionally, and we still write. Bonnie met and married a civil engineer, and they divorced twelve or so years ago. I married a woman who paints, and we're still together. But sometimes I think of Bonnie and me, naked in that cheap motel room.
— Byron
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Commentarium (36 Comments)
I liked all of them but the last one. "Brought me to orgasm" belongs in a bad romance novel or a racy biology textbook, but not here.
Twas my favorite story, and I'm still here.
i bet you expected something romantic , go figure
Number 3 was heartbreaking.
i'm so glad for the time i had.
I bet he was too. I'm really glad I read your story.
Definitely heartbreaking, but it's uplifting to know and be aware of this story. This happened to someone, it meant a great deal to them, and I'm grateful to know about it from across the world. I'm glad that people share their stories like this, when they mean so much to them. Cheers Bex, from the UK.
Pepper spray the bastard!
Bex, your story was beautiful and heartbreaking. I'm glad you shared it with us.
thanks guys, it means a lot to me.
I've been through the same thing Bex. Have you learned to love again, and how?
I guess no one's ever made the best friends to lovers shift work for very long.
Kinda late reading these stories but after 11 years, my husband and I still make it work.
Wonderful, wonderful stories.... achingly wonderful.
its kinda weird that Andrew's parents were in such a rush to throw his stuff into a dumpster?
they found the photos he took of people doing suspensions - like when you pierce your skin with hooks and hang - and i couldn't convince them that he didn't engage in that activity, so they flipped their shit
But was this right after he died? Why were you both rushing to his apartment? Wouldn't his parents have a lot of other stuff to deal with if their son has just died, besides going through his things all at once?
people have strange reactions to death. this happened right after the funeral; they wanted to hurry up and get the apt cleared out while his dad was still in town. it's something they just wanted to be over and done with and not have to deal with again, it was painful to be in his home
No one's ever made the best friends to lovers shift work for very long?
I married my best friend 16 years ago, and we're still married, and she's still my best friend.
These stories are very poignant, but I'm surprised there isn't a single "and we lived happily ever after" among them!
...and your children look surprisingly like... ME! That's right!
Ugh. I have a story that would have fit just right, only it's happening to me right now. Nerve, run this feature again in 6 months or a year?
Just go ahead and tell your story here in the comments Shaya...
My best friend and I adore each other. Everyone wants us to get married, and we've hooked up before. Well.. tried to hook up. "Tried" meaning that we got naked, tried to have sex, and just couldn't stop laughing at each other... hahaha
I don't get the last one. No sexual chemistry up until the point where she took her clothes off? What changed? Especially for her?
I met Paul during the first week of my sophomore year of college. He had transferred from community college, and as soon as I saw him I could feel electricity between us. I had a long-distance boyfriend (James), though, so Paul and I hung out as "just friends." We would talk for hours, and even though there was so much sexual tension between us my roommate complained and kicked me out (she was a bit crazy, but that's another story), we never acted on it, possibly because Paul had a new girlfriend/hookup every week, and I was a dutiful long-distance girlfriend.
My boyfriend often talked about his new friends, who were very religious, and I was supportive of his finding a spiritual life in the way that only an earnestly liberal 19 year-old could be. One day James told me that he had joined the cult (his words), was moving to a remote area to summon demons (again, his words), and I was welcome to join him. I really thought about it, but a week later I told him that I couldn't join him and that our romantic relationship was over. He was surprised, saying "I can't believe you're breaking up with me over my religion!"
I cried all night, but around 6 a.m. my new roommate said, "You know, I've never met James, but you and Paul really have something special." I realized that she was right, and I called Paul. He told me to come over, and we've now been married for almost nine years.
How's that for your "happy ending" best friends story?
Double like.
Thanks, that was the kind of thing I was trying to goad people into posting. :-)
Nice story but it seems like your relationship with "Paul" was never a "just friends" thing- the only reason you weren't dating was because you had a boyfriend. THat's kind of a different thing.
Does it matter?
My best friend turned out to be the man of my dreams :). I thank the alcohol that made us kiss for the first time 6 months ago!
Sadly, it makes me feel better that all of these "falling for my best friend" stories failed just a miserably as mine did.
I listened to this while listening to the 25 Greatest Love Songs of the 1990s. Not a good idea. I need ice cream.
Me & mine lasted for 5 years. It ended recently with a very mature, logical split. We're still living together due to finances and we're making it as comfortable for each other as possible. He was the best boyfriend I ever had and he's turned out to be the best ex I ever had, too. We split because of the recognition we were beginning to want very different things from life, which was tough to come to terms with because we are otherwise very compatible. There's really no "right" or "wrong" in that situation. I have no regrets & I sincerely hope he finds a woman who is more on the same path as him than I am. I instigated the break up but we both seem to be doing better than ever now. I think of mine as a happy ending even though it didn't work out. There are too many frightful breakups in the world and I'm glad we aren't among them.
wow..number 3..just wow..I teared up
Ahhhhhhh! This is only making it harder to profess my love for my best friend!
almost 8 years . but still hiding the feelings to my best friend because i dont want to ruin our long long time friendship over my stupid feelings for him .. but its very hard for me. specially whenever he tell story about how in love he was right now .. its hurt a lot ..