bakerstreet | Painfully pining

The Painful Secret Pining Meme

You've been with them for a long time - years, perhaps, maybe even their whole life. More than that, you served as a true friend and supporter. No one could be as dedicated as you are, and you're content to stay in the shadows and let them shine if it just means you can stay by their side a little longer.

But you're not a perfect saint or a martyr of friendship. There are somewhat selfish undertones to your loyalty. You love them.

You feel like you’ve loved them forever, yet while it’s a great affection - no, “great” is probably not enough - in your heart, these feelings are your secret, kept away from everyone…possibly from the object of your desire themself! After all, you couldn’t burden them with anything like that. So, you’ll allow your own emotions to come in second place.

Of course, you haven’t allowed yourself to figure out how this could come back to haunt you in the end, could you? What about when your love moves on to someone who’s “more than a friend?” They won’t need you as much any more. Can you take into account the moment when you snap and can’t hold back the truth any more? And even if you’re really “together,” others won’t know if you keep your relationship under lock and key, and you’ll have to endure others approaching your lover.

Then again, the shoe could be on the other foot. You could be the side being pined after. Will you ever realize your friend’s feelings; if you do, can you return them? After you are certain that you do, will it be too late? Can one burst of passion lead you both to something that changes your relationship forever?

Basically, it’s a meme about (one-sided) love one friend has for another over a long time. Devotion, angst, all that.
Thread out withheld desires, stoic facades, attempts at leaving this all behind, anger, awkwardness, breaking down, confessions, and all that.
Comment with your character and preferences. You might want to include your smut/no smut status.
Mention if you’d like your character to be the pining or the pined for.

Threaded | Flat

(almost certainly the pining party here, unless you're an unfortunate soul who is sweet on him but falls outside the intensity of his singular focus--in which case, he's great at neglecting things he doesn't want to talk about, so RIP. expect any pining content on his part to be 95% unmitigated introspective repression with a 5% chance of humiliating spaghetti. this calls for agony over fluff.)

[Can go either way, being the pining party or the one on the receiving end. Before or after the time skip is good, though in the latter case obviously it'd be post-chapter 18!]