you try a couple times to reach out first. you ask them how they're doing. you wait for a reply and with each passing second feel like they're drifting farther away. in minuscule amounts, small enough that you don't notice that an emptiness has grown somewhere in your lungs until you hear their name slip from another friend's mouth and you realize that a chasm stands between you and them. you think about reaching out one more time. the black abyss drops to nothing at the edge of your toes and you step back, another, one more, then you turn and run. 

maybe it's better that they didn't reply. or maybe you were just too foolish to know that they were quietly telling you they don't need you anymore. 

i don't need you anymore.