Your joy is their battery. Your time is their convenience. Your hope—that maybe “just friends” could mean something more, or at least something equal —is the very tissue they feed on. When you need support? Suddenly the line blurs. They’re busy. They don’t “owe” you anything. After all, you’re just friends.
There is a quiet hollowing that happens when you realize the friendship was never a two-way street. It was a host-parasite arrangement dressed in the soft language of “no labels,” “keeping things casual,” or—the cruelest of all—“we’re just friends.” just friends parasited
The parasite arrives charming. They need a listener at 2 a.m., a shoulder after their ex texts, a ride to the airport, a plus-one to their cousin’s wedding. And you give. Because you are a friend. That’s what friends do. But somewhere along the way, the giving becomes a one-way siphon. Your joy is their battery
To be “just friends parasited” is to wake up one day and realize you’ve been running on empty for months. Your kindness was never friendship to them. It was a resource. And the hardest part isn’t the anger—it’s the shame. Because you called them friend . And they called you useful . When you need support