[Serious] What is something that you meant to tell someone, but never got around to, and now it's too late?

Around last year, I met a guy online whom I became really close friends with. He's an active duty Marine and we met while he was stationed in Korea. A few weeks after our first meeting, we had some kind of fallout. The conversations became lesser and he simply disappeared. I was sad but it's the internet, people come and go. Fast forward to 2 to 3 months later, he contacted me again. Apparently, he was going through some shit with his marriage. He was getting divorced and was busy taking care of other things in his life. He then left Korea to get stationed in Okinawa. We reconnected and really got to know each other well. He introduced his young son to me, he told me about his girlfriend, we shared personal stories, we spoke all the time and we basically became best friends.

He and I are totally platonic but his girlfriend did not like me at all despite her and I never having met. He would reassure her that nothing is going on between us because there really is none but she was having none of it. She expressed how she didn't like him talking to me or being friends with me. He stood up for me and told her she could leave if she keeps that attitude. He said he might leave her because he doesn't like playing games or being controlled on who he's supposed to be friends with. His ex-wife did the same and he lost other friends. He stayed friends with me, much to her disappointment. He and I have grown very close that we always say 'I love you' to each other. It was never meant to be romantic, just 2 people who are great friends who understood each other. I was suicidal due to some issues in my life and he was there looking after me, making sure I don't hurt myself. I was also struggling with money and he offered multiple times to help which I declined. I didn't want to take his money knowing he has to pay his ex-wife and support his little son. I didn't want to be a burden to my friend. I was there for him when his best friend died. With the divorce and stress, he was struggling with depression. It was tough but we supported each other.

One night, I tweeted a picture with a message he sent. It said something along the lines of him saying I love you and telling me we'll always be friends. I removed his picture so nobody could identify him. The next morning, he asked me if I've ever spoken to his girlfriend to which I said never. It turns out that she was stalking my social media accounts. She saw my tweet and confronted him even though nothing in the picture would suggest it was him because there was no name or a picture. She proceeded to start a fight with him, arguing and telling him he picked me instead of her and out of desperation, she made up a lie about me. She told him that I know people close to her and I apparently was telling them about every conversation I ever had with him. NONE OF IT WAS TRUE. It was a total shitshow. I kept explaining to him that I never spoke to his girlfriend and I do not know a single soul related with her. She made him choose -- me or her. I guess he didn't know what to do or who to believe anymore. It became too much for him and he told me he needs to be away. I thought it would be best if I stop being friends with him so I cut ties with him. I told him I'm leaving so they don't have to fight about me. I didn't wanna do it but it felt like the right thing to do. He apologized and we stopped talking from then on. I tried to talk to him a few times, reaching out and asking if we could be friends again. He saw the messages but never replied. As far as I know, they're still together.

It's been months since this happened but I still think about him. I remember when we said we'd get matching cat tattoos and it makes me cry when I think about the fun times we had. I wish I could tell him how much I miss my best friend and I wish we could go back to how things were. He was truly one of the greatest friends I had. It's unfortunate that a single lie destroyed all of it.

/r/AskReddit Thread