So let me tell you a story.

Once upon a time, I had this friend who was close to me, who helped me through some really difficult things, mentally. She understood my struggles and let me rant and yell in her living room for the longest time before settling down to talk me through what we were going to do.

This friend of mine is no longer my friend. I have one way to access her and still refuse to do so out of sheer principle. I am not her friend and she is not mine, and we have resolved that it is better that way. But for some reason, I still want the absolute best for her.

Just because I'm not her friend, doesn't make me her enemy.

I don't like to say I hate people. I don't like to leave things unresolved and I despise having bad blood with people who could otherwise be just fine on their own. This girl and I had some bad blood that wasn't going to get resolved quickly, so we separated ways. We were horrible for each other, encouraged each other's bad thoughts and mannerisms.

Bad things are happening in this girl's life that she doesn't see. But I do. My friends do, co-workers see it and yet, she is blind. It makes me feel physically sick knowing that she won't listen to me if I tell her what I know, what everyone knows. She wouldn't believe me if I told her the stories I've heard from other people.

Why does not being friends automatically make me your enemy?

Is it so hard to believe that I'm not as bad of a person that you'd like me to be? That I would want to see you happy, even if you're not in my life?

I've made some bad decisions in my life that you, no doubt, judge me for. You, no doubt, hate me by now and don't trust me. You think me mean and manipulative or whatever adjective you want. But there's this thing that I have called common decency that hates to see other people torn down at the roots.

Remember, sometimes the person that left your life left for a reason.

Maybe they knew your relationship, whether romantic or not, was toxic and refused to direct negative energy at you or at themselves. Sometimes there are underlying meanings and sometimes there aren't, but if they come back and tell you that you are in harm's way and have evidence of the fact, you might want to listen. Not all of us wear devil horns for the fun.