When a friend is going through a bad phase, sometimes the whole job is just still being there when it ends.

There are stretches in someone’s life you cannot fix or hurry, and trying to can make them feel like a problem you are managing. What actually helps is unglamorous: still texting, still saving them a seat, still around in month four when everyone else has moved on. Presence outlasts advice.

Pick the friend you have quietly been avoiding because you never know what to say. Say nothing clever, just something small and regular. Ask about their week, sit next to them, send the dumb link, and keep doing it after the hard part stops being news.