A real friend can hear “I need space” without hearing “I hate you.”

How a friendship handles a small withdrawal tells you most of what you need to know about it. Someone steady hears a request for a few quiet days as information and gets on with their week. Someone unsteady hears a verdict, and then you are managing their feelings about your own need, which makes asking cost more than the space was worth.

Say it plainly and give it an end: going quiet for a few days, back after the weekend. The return date does most of the reassuring. If the reaction is still a crisis, you have learned where that friendship’s work goes.