Lonely thoughts tell you nobody cares. Lonely thoughts are often wrong. Reach out and test it.

Loneliness argues its own case, and it argues badly. A while on your own produces thoughts that sound like conclusions: nobody would notice, nobody would answer, you would be bothering them. Those are predictions rather than facts, made by a mind in exactly the wrong state for forecasting. The only thing that settles it is a message you did not want to send.

If tonight is one of those, send one anyway, short and low-stakes, to somebody easy. A question, a joke, a photo of something, no explanation needed. Sometimes the reply takes a while and the delay is about their day rather than you.