I looked at him from across the small circular café table, my lips curved into a smile. He excitedly told me a story about what happened at work and was completely immersed in his own story. All I could do was listen to his melodic voice, happiness apparent in my eyes. He laughed and so did I. It was nice to see him smiling and laughing again. It felt like forever since I saw a sincere smile from him.

 

Once he finished his story he asked me about my day. He looked at me as I spoke, interested in what I was saying. It felt good telling him about my life after being the one lending him an ear. As I was in the middle of my story, a small beep came from his phone that was laid on the table. I paused as he picked it up, his expression suddenly hardening as he clenched his jaw.

 

“Hang on,” he said as he stood up, walked out the door to take the call. I watched him walk out the door, his conversation inaudible to my ears. My eyes never left him, watching him through the glass windows. His lips were pursed into a tight line, his eyebrows slightly furrow when he would talk. For a second, I took my eyes away from him, looking down at my hands that were wrapped around the mug of coffee. By the look on his face, I could guess to whom he was talking to.

 

When I looked back up, he was already walking towards me, the troubled look in his face never leaving. “Is everything alright?”

 

He sighed, “Yeah. I just need to meet up with…” his voice trailed off. My eyes cast down, feeling my heart drop. “I could quickly drop you off before heading out.”

 

I put on the best fake smile I could muster and looked up at him. “Sure.” We walked out of the café, my heart still aching from his decision. Watching him take that call irritated me; causing me to question him.

 

“Can I ask why she called?” I looked at him

 

He simply shrugged, “She just said that she needed to talk to me.”

 

“Oh,” I mumbled. My mind then wandered, wondering about the thousand possibilities for her calling. I was so immersed in my own thoughts that I hadn’t realized the whole walk to my place was spent in silence. Only when he had spoken that I had snapped out of my daze. “Well, I guess I’ll see you later.” He said as I walked up the four steps to the front door.

 

I turned around, seeing him already walking away. I don’t know what came over me; it was like my voice had a mind of its own as I called after him. He turned around, his round brown orbs full of curiosity. I swallowed the lump that had formed in my throat.

 

“How much did you like her to be like this?” I saw his brows slowly come together in confusion. “How much did you love her…for you to be like this?”

 

“Like what?” he asked.

 

“What’s so great about her?” The question I always wondered when he talked about her. “Why –“ my voice cracked. “Why are you like this?”

 

We stared at each other for a while before he broke our eye contact. I then saw an innocent boyish smile splay across his face as he looked down at his feet. He softly chuckled and shook his head.

 

“I don’t know,” he shoved his hands in his pockets. “There’s just something about her that I can never forget. I know I said that what happened between us was all in the past, that talking to her occasionally meant nothing, considering how badly we ended things.” I felt my heart cringe as he talked about the story I’ve heard many times. “Once you find that person though, you’ll never really forget them – they make that impact on your life,” he looked up at me and I saw the sincerity in his eyes.

 

“And she – she made a big one in mine. I guess I can never really forget her and I’ll continuously forgive her for hurting me…because I love her,” he said. As he went on about her, this was when I realized how alike we were. How he did everything in his power to keep that girl happy, while I was doing everything I could to make him happy. When they broke up, I was there to lend him a shoulder to cry on, a person for him to vent to. 

 

“Can I ask why?” he said. 

 

“Why what?” my mind then fully focused on him.

 

“Why you would ask how much I cared for her?” 

 

I then put on that fake smile while my heart was breaking. I sighed and said, “I was just wondering because – because I needed to know if you were doing the right thing. If you care about her that much then – keep doing what you’re doing. As long as you’re happy and not hurting, then go for it.”

 

He chuckled again while I tried to keep the tears in. “I am hurting,” he looked up at me. “But I know someone will always be here for me when I need them.”

 

Although I was hurt, I still smiled. At that point, I knew my role in his life. Even thought it would be foolish of me to, I was willing to wait for the day where I could be more than just his friend. More than just someone he could talk to about his problems.

 

“I’ll always be here,” I struggled to keep that smile. 

 

He smiled at me, “Thanks,” he said before turning around, walking away from me.

 

“I’ll always be here,” I whispered, my eyes lingering at the spot where he stood a few seconds ago. “Waiting.”

 

-

 

A/N: I always have these cheesy endings...I'm sorry haha!