I no longer know whether she is distant or whether I am finally less willing to chase

Dear Delyara, That uncertainty has lived between us for months. There was a time when I would have kept reaching — another message, another plan, another explanation for why the tone felt off. But I’m tired now. Tired of being the one who notices first, names first, repairs first, and then wonders if the whole friendship is being held together by my willingness to overwork emotionally. So I’ve stepped back a little. And in the step back, I can’t tell what’s true. Is she distant? Or was she always this distant, and I was just closer because I was the one bridging the gap? That question hurts more than I expected.