Between two flames

“It's not obvious, is it?”

“Nah…” He says

He looks at you, but youre looking at someone else.

“I'm happy for you.” He casually said as you smiled and giggled to yourself.

“She probably thinks it's platonic” You shrugged.

“Hey, at least you're having fun.” He chuckled, looking at the way you smiled and twirled around. Oh how he wished that he was the reason you were smiling to yourself like a fool. As you walked away, he watched you with a sad smile and an aching heart.

Remembering the moment he ‘accidentally’ threw his arm over your shoulders as he helped you find her, hoping that you didn't notice how nervous he looked, and yet you were too busy listening to your own racing heart with the pink flower resting in your hand. His heart was racing indeed, knowing who’s hands that flower will end up in – not his.

He saw you smiling, alongside her. He saw you brush her hair aside as she asked you to help her tie her hair. He saw you hold her hand as you walked away. He wanted to smile, show you that he was happy for you, but with all the effort he tried, he couldn't bring himself to do so. He wanted to be the one to smile beside you, he wanted to be the one to hold your hair up, he wanted to be the one to hold your hand, he wanted to be the one to wipe the tears off your face when you cried and felt hopeless. He wanted to be the one.

“How was it?” He said as he gathered the courage to speak to you. “Wonderful.” You said with your eyes full of joy and excitement as you continued to talk to him about your small interactions with her, and how she made your heart leap over the moon. He wanted to rebut your claims. He wanted to tell you that each time he saw you pass by the corridor, he wanted to call out your name, but before he had the chance to, she was the one who did it instead. In the end all he was able to do was to walk away without looking back. You were busy sinking in the feeling of her presence, you were busy admiring her smile, you were busy, too busy to figure out how he actually was there in the shadows, looking after you. Ready, for the slightest frown to appear on your face just so that he could be the first one to comfort you and tell you that everything will be alright.

You looked at his face, wondering why he seemed lost in his thoughts this week. Was something bothering him? As you were about to ask him if he was alright, the opportunity flew by and became a missing chance as he left to enter his class, the school bell ringing. Maybe next time, maybe he’s just tired. All these curious thoughts wondering about him disappeared as when you were heading back to class, you saw her.

The feeling of defeat was indeed bittersweet since he was right there, he was right infront of you. He kept telling himself to wait for you despite the hurt in his soul each time he sees you, each time he sees that same sparkle in your eyes when you talk about her – not knowing that if he’d in fact did something about it much earlier, you both would have a different story, a story weaved together, and maybe hearts intertwined as one.

Is this how the world works? Will fate ever bring us together?

"May we all find the love that we deserve, regardless of the time it takes."