If you’re pulling away from a friend, tell them why. Fading out leaves them guessing for years.

Drifting off without saying anything looks like the kinder option, because nobody has to have a hard conversation. What it actually does is leave the other person with no explanation and an open question, which they will keep answering with their own worst guess, sometimes for years.

You do not owe anybody a long account. One honest, gentle message is enough: that things have changed, or that something happened, or that you need some distance for a while. If the friendship is worth saving, that message is usually also the one that saves it.