Friend by Lyla Oweds

Connecting with others has never come easy. Patience and understanding are two things that I work hard on every day. The only person who remotely understands me is my best—and only—friend, Bianca Brosnan.
She’s different, like me.
We’ve been friends since elementary school; we’ve been bonded since then, too—even though she doesn’t fully realize it. However, because of her past, we can’t even think about half the things I want to talk with her about. She’s too broken to even consider it.
But that doesn’t change how I feel for her, or the driving need that I have to protect her.
At some point over the years, I realized I wanted more than friendship. But that is something I’ll always have to keep to myself, because I know she’s meant to be with someone else.
Trigger Warning: The series begins as a Y/A, but the main character is a victim of childhood abuse and trauma of multiple levels. This becomes more prevalent as the series continues, the rating moves higher, and her recovery becomes a focus of her character growth.