"Okay," Natalie sighed, after a moment. "So, if it hurts that much, hang up. Go find Brid and let her distract you. I can stop calling. I can just... be here. If you do the YA protagonist thing and get in trouble, I'll be here and I'm not changing my number."

She found it highly doubtful she'd get that kind of a call. But she wanted that out there.

"I want to be your friend but if I'm really constantly hurting you, then I don't want to do that because I'm not that bad and selfish a person."

Yet.