She loved him, more than anything this life of hers could offer. He loved her too, but it wasn't the same. It could never be the same. She wasn't in his mind, in his conscience to know what he was thinking, what he was feeling; towards her or any other girl for that matter, and it tore her apart.
He walked to her room after she greeted him at the door. They were going to spend the day together, relax and have fun. But after this, after that sudden fear, she didn't think she could have fun. Right before he opened his mouth, she knew what was coming. She could already see it fast forwarding and playing in her head. She didn't have to wait long to see her mind's video tape play into reality.
"There's something I have to tell you" he said.
Gulp. She was so scared! She could feel her body trembling, but it wouldn't show from the outside. "What?" she asked, not showing her fear at all.
"Theres this girl...and...we're kind of dating" he remarked.
There it was. Her worst fears come true. The man she was in love with, the man that held her heart in his hands, found someone else to hand his heart over to. This man, that meant everything to her, now would never be hers. Go figure it was her luck to find the person that was perfect for her, her one in a million match, and she would lose him to some complete stranger because men never saw her as anything more than a friend.
She just stood there, blankly staring at him, for she didn't know what to say, how to respond, to something so shattering.
He waited patiently and quietly until he couldn't wait any longer and said, "Hayley, say something."
"What do you want me to say, Brian?" she said with a sigh. "Do you want me to say I'm happy for you, that I'm glad you found someone who is so amazing you want to claim her as yours? I'm sorry, but right now, I can't say that. I can't lie to you because I respect you too much, and because I love you. But, you already know that. You've known that since day one and nothing is different. I can't help it if I love you. I told you the other day, that you were perfect for me, and you've known all the while just how crazy I am about you. So no, I won't say I'm happy for you, when you just tore out my heart from my chest, lit it on fire and then fed it to the dogs for dinner."
Now it was Brian's turn to stare back blankly. He just stood there, completely dumbstruck. Hayley was his best friend, and yes, he knew that she was crazy about him. They had even talked about this before. When they first became friends, he had told her that it wasn't time yet, that he needed to heal from his last breakup and sever the ties from that heartache. They had grown to be very close, and they would always have a great time together; it was just how things were. He couldn't live without her and he knew it. There was no one else like her. And then it him...like a block of ice thrown on his head from five stories up; he just made the biggest mistake of his life.
Hayley wasn't just anyone. She was his best friend. The one person he could always go to, for anything and she would always be there. She would be his partner in crime, or his sturdy rock. Whatever the situation called for. And now...now he just told her that he found someone better than her. Someone he wanted to hold, and kiss, and touch, and spend time with. He froze. The look on his face was so pain ridden that he couldn't breathe.
So this is what Hayley must have felt every single time that he talked about some girl and how they would make a day to hang out or meet and get to know each other. She never told him about things like that, because there was no one. Yes, she would talk about the guys from her high school, but they were her friends. They were the once's that helped her through that hell hole. But any recent guy...he heard no such thing. This is what she felt. A clenching, gut wrenching feeling where you couldn't breathe or see straight.
Brian turned in the direction that Hayley had gone off in in the house, and made a run for it. He couldn't let her go; he just couldn't. It was a small house, but every step felt like she was running in a long hallway that wouldn't end and with each step, he realized that he was in love with her. He loved her yes, but what he denied to tell himself every day was that he was in love with her as well. If he didn't fix things now, he would surely lose her for good.
He made it to the garage, and out the back door to the back yard....
...to be continued
