No Hard Feelings

extended summary

No Hard Feelings

  © Sam Madison 2016

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d e d i c a t i o n

You'll never read this, but this is the story of us. I didn't know I was writing you until I was already halfway through.

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a u t h o r ' s   n o t e

Feelings usually evolve a lot faster than we can even begin to understand them; like our hearts are always one step ahead of our consciousness, and by the time we realize our feelings have shifted, it's already too late: someone's already out the door; a car's already driving away; a suitcase is already being packed or a door's already slamming shut.

Here's to wishing our consciousness wins the race someday.

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s u m m a r y

Reasons why Hadley said she and Dexter had to break up: He wears too much cologne, says too many sexual innuendos and he plays too many games.

Reasons why Dexter agreed: Hadley's too temperamental, is kind of distant and is way too terrified of stepping out of her comfort zone.

When the two of them went out sophomore year, they couldn't even be in the same room for more than five minutes without getting into an argument or two.

As soon as they broke up, they began to get along so well most people refused to believe they'd broken up at all.

Dexter and Hadley sucked at the whole boyfriend-girlfriend thing, but they sure kicked ass in the best friend department.

So when the two of them end up sleeping with each other one drunken night, everything changes.

Whether it's for the good or bad, however, is something the two of them are yet to figure out.

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a b o u t

No Hard Feelings is based from the best-friends-turned-lovers trope, but I'd chosen to tell it in reverse to explore this whole new dynamic instead. 

This is not a best friend love story so much as it is a story of two people who can't quite figure out how to deal with their love for each other, and it ends up keeping them both together and apart.