A partner goes quiet. A text sits unanswered. A meeting invitation doesn't arrive. Very little has actually happened — and yet your chest is tight and your mind is already three steps into an argument. Our brains are good at filling in missing information, and sometimes the story arrives before the facts. Start with the fact. “They haven't texted back.” That is what you know — the observable, checkable part. It fits in one short sentence, and anyone looking at the same phone