I feel sick to my stomach every time my new girlfriend texts me 'sweet dreams', because I’m literally behind the espresso machine staring at my best friend's lips. We just started doing closing shifts together at my first cafe job and being shoulder-to-shoulder with him suddenly makes my chest ache in the worst way. I really like her, so why do I pray our shifts never end? I feel like a monster.

Deep breath: having runaway feelings doesn’t make you a terrible person, it just makes you human in a quiet room with warm lighting and too much caffeine. Closing shifts are basically an accidental romance laboratory. When you're wiping down counters at midnight with someone you already love and trust, proximity does funny things to your heart rate. Your brain is mixing up cozy familiarity, tired silliness, and sudden romantic tension. But having a burst of chemistry doesn't mean your relationship with your girlfriend was fake, nor does it mean your best friend is automatically your soulmate. Guilt thrives when you panic in secret. Take a beat before making any midnight confessions you can't take back. Step back from late-night Instagram banter, keep some literal physical space behind that coffee bar, and see how you feel in broad daylight when the cafe neon is turned off. Crushes are like sudden weather changes—you don't have to pack up and move just because it started pouring.