Ruin the Friendship
The counterfactual exists in present tense, the speaker stands inside the moment of decision: wanting to cross from friendship into something romantic but held back by the cost of losing what they have. Uniquely the 'what might have been' is a future not yet foreclosed; the song inhabits the threshold rather than looking back from the other side.
Grief for a version of a relationship that might be lost if a risk is taken, mourning a possible future from inside the moment of decision. The grief is anticipatory and conditional. Also appears in What Might Have Been theme for its counterfactual register.
“Glistening grass from September rain”
“watching the game from your brother's Jeep, your smile, miles wide”
“It was not an invitation, but I flew home anyway with so much left to say”
“Grey overpass, Gallatin Road / In your brother's jeep”
“Grey overpass, Gallatin road, in your brother's jeep”