ever since Pharmacamp pete spent his non-school hours with Yuri. they fast became the best of friends. Yuri after school. on weekends. on holidays.  they had spending way too much time together that people, including their own families and friends, thought they were together.

but really, they were just friends.

Yuri opened up to Pete after she walked in on Phun and Noh kissing that day she bumped into Pete in the corridor of the school. and everything else before that.

when they weren’t talking about Noh, they would talk about random stuff. theyd find themselves laughing at the same stupid things. Yuri would invite Pete to her house to eat. Yuri loves to cook and she liked cooking for her friends.

Pete didn’t exactly open up to yuri though he recognized she is a kindred spirit.

“so are we ever going to talk about him?” Yuri said to Pete as he wolfed down the sandwich she prepared for her one afternoon.

“who?” Pete asked

“ earn.”

Pete’s silence is golden.

“you and i have been hanging out for months now Pete. since Pharma camp. but before that you and earn were inseparable. you have no idea how many convent girls cried thinking you guys were a couple.”

“hahahaha. i’m not gay.”

“ oh please. it’s not a sin. and really, i know what gay is. and you guys are totally meant for each other. on hindsight i might have seen this before—just on someone else.”

pete laughs out nervously. “what makes you say that? look we’re not phun and noh ok? we’re not gay. well i’m not gay. besides, why bring this up. we’re not friends anymore. you’re my best friend now.”

yuri replies. “pete. we have been friends for a few months. you and earn have been together since forever. you don’t just walk away from that…”

Pete says, “ i didn’t walk away from it. he did. he did the day he made noh more important than my own happiness.”

Yuri replied, “ thanks but no thanks. you and i both know i am not your happiness. earn is.”

Pete loses his cool. “ will you stop it already? he’s not my happiness.”

Yuri replies, “ then why can’t you talk about him matter of factly? why did you delete him from your facebook? why can’t you talk about him without stressing out? what makes him so special that he can do this to you? why can't you delete that picture of you guys from 9th grade form your phone and which you glance at from time to time? you think i didn’t notice? it’s fine if you don’t want to say if you’re gay. but you can’t tell me that you’re not in love with him. because you still love him.”

Pete says, “but i’m with you now. “

Yuri says, “ as your new best friend.” Yuri grabs pete’s hand and puts it near her heart. it’s beating normally. then she takes pete’s other hand and puts it on his heart. 

“do hearts that are in love beat like that?”

Pete remembers the day Earn talked to him about how his heart beats when he’s near the person he likes.

the night progresses but Yuri doesn’t press the point anymore. they finish their meal and she walks Pete out of her house, waiting till he gets into the cab home.

on the ride home, Pete’s memories with earn all came rushing back, memories he pushed away for the last few months since phramcamp. memories he had been trying to run away from. pete tried to think back into the day when he and Earn fought—struggling to remember every word, every emotion, every action that convinced him that they were no longer friends, that this isn’t worth it.

still a part of him missed Earn. a part of him, small as it maybe now, is willing to forgive earn and give him another chance. but a bigger part of Pete is prevailing now, the part that think it’s better this way.

Pete’s tears are rolling . when he got home he went straight to bed. his energy was zapped. but he couldnt sleep.

the next day he dragged himself to school. not even the perfect score he got from the day’s math test from the day before could lift his spirits. checking out the roster of exam results, he saw earn scored well, better in fact than he normally would.

“he’s doing fine on his own i guess.” Pete misses earn now  more because he remmebers all those times they studied together and how they would be happy for each other everytime they did well in exams.

“it is better this way. he may still be hung up on noh. and even if he wasn’t anymore, i don’t think he’ll change. he probably doesn’t even realize what he did wrong.

Pete was lost in these thoughts when earn walked into the room. immediately Pete opened his bag, opened his book and started to study.

Earn saw this and played cool. not bothering Pete.

if only they knew, that at that moment, their hearts were beating right out of their chests—for each other. finally.