Sorry if there's some details missing, but I wanted to get this off of my chest before work.
I am in my LT/LDR, and I'm incredibly heartsick right now on top of all of my emotional stress (and stress manifesting from schoolwork). Instead of waking up my love at 10:45pm since he had a rough time at university today I instead talk to my friend D. D is a friend who messaged me after hearing from the grapevine that I had an awful day (why is not really important, just know I was slumped against a wall trying to keep it together). I wound up going to his house. We had a beer, we talked, I cried, he comforted me, and then we wound up making each other feel better. I just wanted a change of space from my dorm that makes me feel like I'm trapped and alone.
But after all of the standard 'are you okay' business, and the comfort when I finally admitted I needed to reach out to a friend for help, we started talking and it wound up going into a conversation about porn, which led to some hilarious conversation.
D said "That's the first time in about 15 years that I laughed that hard."
I didn't believe him at first, but it warmed my heart to know that. He went through a lot, and out of respect for him I won't tell Reddit why. Trust me, when he said that, I knew he wasn't fucking around. When I was upset, he held my hand. When I started crying, he put an arm around me and rubbed my back until I stopped. He didn't say a damn word, he just sighed and let me cry in front of someone (besides my boyfriend) for the first time in years.
He made me feel so much better.
But what's the best part is that we both know, D and I even talked about it because I'm a worry wart, we're only friends. We are an extremely platonic, despite how we love cuddling, pair of friends. He knows and respects my boyfriend, he admires my loyalty to my boyfriend as well, and he thinks that the relationship I have with my boyfriend is so structured that he's expecting me to get married. It's just a good feeling knowing that when everyone accuses him of "trying to take me for himself" I can point and laugh going "Yeah huh-sure~!~" and not have a single lingering thought in my head.
D, I know you're out there on Reddit.
Thank you, D. Thank you for being there for me for the past two semesters. Thank you for always encouraging me to fight for who I love and the things I want to do. Thank you for understanding the dynamic that was troubling me, and being there to comfort me when the person I always go to needed undisturbed rest. Thank you for understanding and respecting my romantic relationship.
Thank you for being one of my best friends.
I know I told you this last night when you dropped me off back to campus, but I wish more people in the world were able to have a friend like you.