The lights were bright in the city, but Leyla couldn’t wait to get home and hide under the covers. She’d taken a risk tonight, was finally ready to let Abe know how much she likes him only to find her friend Mary coming out of his apartment. Leyla brushed away another tear as she remembered how she swallowed the lump in her throat and apologized for showing up unannounced, not knowing Abe was busy now.She tried not to wonder how long he’d been busy for.
She’d gone tonight, with her mind set. She was ready to tell him the true. The lines had already begun to blur between their friendship and a potential relationship, but no one had taken that first step to take it further. He’d given her signs before, though. He’d flatter her and open up about his insecurities. Jealous tendencies when it came to other guys stepping near her. But neither had confessed they’d had feelings for each other and wanted more than friendship.
Leyla thought it would happen, one day. When they were ready. But now it seemed he got sick of waiting for her and moved on to her friend.
“All set, miss,” the cab driver announced. Leyla paid the cab and got out of the car. She made her way to her door, when she noticed a familiar red car parked outside.
Mason.
She turned around and almost ran to Mason, who came out of his car just in time to catch her in what seemed like a mid-tackle.
“Hey, hey. This is a nice welcome,” he teased at his best friend. He was beginning to chuckle when he heard her sob and felt her shake slightly underneath his arms. “What happened?” he prodded gently.
“Abe,” she breathed.
“Another jealous tantrum, I assume?”
Leyla shook her head before looking up at him. “No. that’s not it. I went to see him tonight.”
“Okay. And...?”
She sniffed a little, and Mason cradled her face in his hand in reassurance. “I went there because I’m tired of whatever unspoken game was going on between us. I went there, because I hate spending my nights alone, wishing I could spend it with him instead. I went there to tell him how I feel about him.”
“Hey, that’s great, no?”
“I don’t know. I couldn’t see his reaction once Mary stepped out from behind him in a hurry.” Leyla almost choked on the last part, and Mason hugged her tightly.
“Hey, you don’t know what that means, though. Maybe she was giving you two space. She knows how much you like him.”
“While buttoning up her blouse?” Leyla bit out sarcastically. She buried her face in his chest, wanting a safe haven to cry her heart out. As always, Mason was there to help.
“Hey, he’s an idiot.” He patted her shaking head.
“I shouldn’t have waited so long,” she cried out.
“Don’t do that,” he held her closer, moving her hair away to the other shoulder. “You didn’t deserve this. He’s an idiot, okay?” He kissed her bare shoulder gently, and she wrapped her arms around him tightly, as he whispered in her ear. “He’s stupid if he doesn’t know you’re worth waiting for.”

Wonderful

Brianna steps up to the door and knocks lightly. She could hear faint ruffling on the other side before the door is whisked open. She sees him standing in front of her, phone glued to his ear. His black hair is wet from his shower and combed back. He’s wearing a black t-shirt, accompanied by black jeans. His grey eyes look back at her quizzically.

Brianna pushes the door and lets herself in. The door to his bathroom is open, and she walks in briefly to inspect herself in the mirror. She grabs a hand towel and wipes away the fog until she can see herself more clearly.

“Yeah, no, sorry. I just got company. I’ll call you back later tonight, okay?” he is telling the other side of his cell. Brianna looks at him quickly and smiles. She has a good idea of who he might have been talking to on the other line. Vic has never not been interested in girls ever since they met in the third grade and he was in love with her friend Susan. Brianna turns back to face the mirror. Her brown locks are in a braid under a a red hat. She can see the black turtleneck peeking out from under her red coat, belted above her waist. Her hazel eyes are gleaming in delight as she can hardly wait to go where she wants to take Vic. She straightens her hat and pulls the rope tighter on her waist before turning off the lights and walking out of the bathroom. Vic just looks at her expectantly, and she smiles widely.

“Put on your coat. Let’s go outside,” she tells him. She’s out of the hotel room before he has a chance to refuse, or ask her what exactly does she have planned. He looks for his coat and gloves, forgetting his winter hat as he always seems to do. She’s already down the hall holding the elevator open when he closes the door to his hotel room.

“Care to tell me where you’re taking me?” he asks her as he enters the elevator.

“I’m kidnapping you. Now shut up and let me think of the millions I can ask for ransom.” He laughs at this, shaking his head lightly. The bell rings to mark the level of the lobby before the doors of the elevator open. She grabs his hand and pulls him out of the elevator and out of the door of the ski resort. They don’t stop once they’re outside though; she keeps running and pulling him with her. They only stop when they arrive by the Christmas tree a few meters in front of the front door.

She stops and lets go of his hand, reaching down to grab something by the tree, her back still to him. He eyes her intently as she turns and walks toward him, carrying a thermos in each hand.

“Here,” she extends the black one to him, keeping the red for herself. He takes the drink from her, assuming it’s hot chocolate as she doesn’t drink coffee. She walks back, turning away from him again.

“So?” he asks. She turns her head and furrows her eyebrows at him. “What?” he asks exasperatedly.

“What do you mean what?”

“What do I mean....? You interrupted my phone conversation with Christy,” Bri smiles at this, realizing how she’d guessed correctly, “and whisk me away from my perfectly warm hotel room to bring me out here to drink hot chocolate? What gives?”

She narrows her eyes at him while pursing her lips. “Where are we, Vic?”

“At Shanty Creek Ski resort...”

“Right. For winter break. To spend time with our friends.” He shrugs his shoulders at her, still not comprehending. “Which, by the way, you haven’t been doing since we arrived. You’ve been chasing after Christy with your tail between your legs, and have abandoned us. Mark and Susan might appreciate you paying for this trip, Vic...But if I’d known you were just going to lust after your newest conquest and leave me to deal with the petty, not to mention constant, fights between Mark and Susan, I would have just stayed home,” she pouts at him. He looks at her as she talks, and realization hits him.

“I’m sorry I didn’t spend Christmas Eve with you, Bri. I just...”

“Decided to spend time with Christy and forget our Christmas morning breakfast? That’s fine. But, can you at least shut up and enjoy the snow with me tonight?”

He looks behind her suddenly, and he sees that it’s actually snowing outside. His mind must have glossed over that fact with the confusion of Brianna’s actions and running out in the cold. He takes a moment to really take it all in. The scenery, the snow, the plain white field in front of them. It looked spectacular under the night sky, and his mood suddenly got better. He turned to look at Brianna, face pale and flushed a bit from the cold. Smiling at how pink her nose was getting, he was glad she whisked him out here the way she did. He smiled to himself realizing that that’s what he loves most about his best friend. How she just takes you by surprise like a tornado, so fast she doesn’t give you a chance to stop and take a breath. She was mad at him, he knew, and she had merit. He’d brought them all here to spend the Holidays together after a particularly excruciating semester at uni. He met Christy the first night they arrived, and he’s been spending most--okay, all of his time with her. Even the Christmas Eve party held at the resort he’d spent sitting next to Christy for most of it; forgetting to exchange hugs at midnight with his friends.

He frowns thinking back at his actions. Brianna sees this, and starts to worry that Vic just doesn’t want to spend time with her. It’s annoying, really; this nagging feeling at the back of her head that he puts whatever girl he’s after for the month before her--his best friend of 12 years. It’s not jealousy, she tries to convince herself. She’s not Watts, and there’s really never someone who stays long enough to become her Amanda Jones. But she can’t help but hate when Vic’s eyes just glaze over whatever broad he meets that catches his attention.

“Hey, Bri...” She raises her eyebrows at him, “come here,” he motions with his head for her to come to him. She stepped close to him, and he wrapped his arms around her. “Merry Christmas, Bri,” he whispers in her ear, still holding her close. “Thanks for bringing me out here.”

“Anytime,” she whispers back. Brianna hugs him tightly, basking in the feeling of his arms around her. No, she’s not his Watts, and he’s not her Kyle. But, their embrace is definitely her kind of wonderful.

Paul's Princess

The kiss felt as sweet as she remembered from that night. She knows she shouldn’t like a guy who already has a girlfriend, but she can’t help it. Soon, Paul’s hands were running up her arms, and J smiled inwardly as he finally surrendered. She closed her eyes a beat before his lips parted from hers suddenly. Still dizzy from the kiss and the sensation of him pulling her away from him so fast, she tried to look at him, but his eyes are searching someone else’s.

It’s your fault. You did this.

The words he spat felt like a slap in the face.

She sees him walk away from her, rushing closer to his girlfriend. She can’t deny they make a pretty duo. They’re the definition of fairy tale couple. The standard recipe to make the best love story.

If she thinks about it more, she’ll realize that they’re no fairy tale at all. They were friends all their lives, and that slowly blossomed into love. There was no passion, there; no fire. Paul didn’t meet Sweydie randomly and instantly become attracted to her. Sweydie didn’t fall in love with him at first sight.

But she did. She fell for him the moment they met, and she hasn’t turned back since. Perhaps she’s just as dramatic as everyone claims her to be, but she refuses to let him go even when his heart seems to be taken. She can’t.

Despite her best attempts, he still keeps fighting her, though. She can sense there’s some attraction there, but he’s not willing to explore it. It’s a shame, really.

He’s probably just stuck in the past, unable to move on and realize that the perfect couple probably wasn’t so perfect, after all. He can’t see that Sweydie has opened her eyes and seen that they need to move on, away from each other.

Okay, maybe she got a little unwanted help, but at least now she knows. They would’ve never worked out in the long run. They would have grown apart if it wasn’t for the night Paul came to see J. At least now it happened sooner.

J stares at the couple in white standing outside in the balcony. She watches how Paul tries to take hold of Sweydie’s hand, how he turns his concerned eyes at her, almost pleadingly. She sees the glimmer of tears tracking down the girl’s face and how she bites her lower lip to try and keep it together.

When Paul runs his thumb across her mouth, tugging at her bottom lip for Sweydie to let go, J looks away. The gesture a little too intimate to be on display for anyone else to see. There might not have been any passion or heat in their gaze. But there was one thing she couldn’t deny seeing. Love.

The kind of undying devotion she longed for, herself, despite her hating to admit it. She promised herself a long time ago that love was only for the weak. She wouldn’t be sucked in to that warped hole where everyone is able to sell their souls to be with someone. She couldn’t do that. She’d rather sell her reputation than herself. It’s much easier to let people hate you, than to let them love you and let yourself fall in love.

Her heart can’t break if it doesn’t exist. So, she lost it somewhere along her short years. Only it wasn’t gone, really. It may even had been frozen for a while, but it was still there. Regardless if she wanted it to or not.

She looked up at Paul and Sweydie one last time before turning away, and she remembers why she didn’t want a heart in the first place.

She makes her way to the bar, almost in defeat. The couple may not be that of a fairy tale, but it’s clear she’ll never be Paul’s princess.

Realization

Once again, she finds herself on the outside looking in. She sees how they’re all there, surrounding him. Friends, family, him in the middle. He’s smiling and returning warm hugs. The biggest one to his mother of course. She can’t help but smile as she is witness to the sweet gesture. Then, he turns and it’s time to face his girlfriend. She’s all smiles, but those brown eyes betray her as another tear drops. He brushes it away with his thumb and she buries her face in his hand.

The girl outside watches the spectacle, almost in disbelief at the melodrama unfolding before her eyes. She watches as he relieves his girlfriend’s trembling lips with a kiss, in reassurance.

The urge to roll her eyes at the scene before her is too great, and she does so. She turns around and starts to walk away, laughing to herself. She doesn’t believe his girlfriend is being too dramatic. No. In fact, if she’s honest with herself, she can see that she feels the same way. Sad. Scared.

Only she doesn’t get the hug and the brush of his thumb against her cheek. She most certainly does not get the kiss on the lips either. All she gets is the picture perfect goodbye that does not belong to her, as she walks away without her own.

She feels the cold against her skin, but it doesn’t compare to the ache in her heart. Looking down at the ground, she can feel her eyes water. She blinks just as soon as she hears footsteps approach her.

“Hey!” he yells. “You’re not leaving without a goodbye, are you?”

She smiles as he spins her around. He sees her tear and wipes it off. “It’s the cold wind again?” he asks if the wind is the cause of her eyes watering. She gives him a nod, despite hating to lie to him. He smiles slightly before giving her a serious look.

“Don’t go changing on me,” he whispers to her. She shakes her head no, and he hugs her warmly, tightly. She hugs him back with the same force, and she realizes everything will be okay. They won’t stop talking and he won’t forget her. Sure, she’s not anyone important in his priorities. But, while falling out of love is easier than falling in, she knows she would never have it any other way. Because he can easily forget his girlfriend while looking for a good time with some random girl who is most likely looking at his wallet than his crotch. But you can’t replace a best friend.