Realize

She was with the wrong guys; he had an unrequited love he never knew about. And they both just needed to realize who they really wanted.

A/N: I used "Realize" by Colbie Caillat as my song reference.

 

            She couldn’t believe her eyes as she looked down at the LCD screen of her cell phone, staring at the words that had just turned her magical night into a disaster.

            “I’m sorry,” Kai read to herself as she looked over the words again, just to make sure she was seeing correctly. “But I think we should break up.”

            It took all her willpower to not scream and throw the phone at the wall, wishing it could just shatter into a million pieces. How many times was she going to be fooled by guys and then just end up broken-hearted once again? She was so stupid!

            “I need hot chocolate,” she muttered as she leaned back on the couch. She sat in the middle of a café, one that she was supposed be in with her now ex-boyfriend.

            Kai looked around to see if a waiter was available but was surprised when one came up to her with a mug and a red heart-shaped balloon in hand. The waiter smiled, offering her the cup and balloon. “For you.”

            “I didn’t order anything.” Kai told him, looking at the cup and balloon with confusion.

            “Oh, I know. It’s been paid for by the young man over there.” The waiter motioned with his head to a loveseat. On it sat a teenage boy, younger than her. He smiled at her, his baby blue eyes set on her own blue eyes, as his golden hair stood out against the dimmed lights of the café.

            “Oh, I see.” Kai said, her eyes widening as she recognized him. She took the cup and balloon from the waiter’s hands and murmured, “Thank you.”

            Once the waiter was gone she stood up and walked over to the loveseat, plopping down beside him. “Alright, Tray, why are you here?”

            “No particular reason,” her little brother, Tracey, responded as he looked around the café.

            “Sure,” Kai said disbelievingly. Her eyes softened as she said quietly, “You knew he’d break up with me, didn’t you?”

            “Yeah,” he sighed in defeat. He wouldn’t be able to hide it anymore, they knew each other too well. “I knew.”

            Kai gave her little brother a smile, knowing he had only come to cheer her up, like he always did. “Thank you, Tray.”

            “Hey, no problem, anything for you.” Tracey smiled widely again. An awkward silence settled between the two as the radio switched to a new song.

            “Take time to realize that your warmth is crashing down on me. Take time to realize that I am on your side. Didn’t I, didn’t I…tell you?”

            Kai listened more intently to the song as she realized that the lyrics were coming to life as she leaned her head against her little brother’s shoulder, enjoying his warmth in the New York winter.

            “But I can’t spell it out for you. No, it’s never going to be that simple. No, I can’t spell it out for you…”

            Kai became entranced in the words and in her brother’s movements as he shifted, putting his arm around his sister both comfortingly and protectively. A move that did not imply brotherly love at all.

            “If you just realize what I just realized then we’d be perfect for each other, and we’d never find another. If you just realize what I just realized we’d never have to wonder if we missed out on each other now…”

            Perking up at that chorus, Kai looked up at her brother, noting that he too had noticed the likeness of the words to their present feelings. Tracey looked down at Kai and for a moment their eyes held longing for each other.

            “Take time to realize, ooh, I’m on your side. Didn’t I…didn’t I tell you? Take time to realize this all can pass by…Didn’t I tell you?”

            “Kai,” Tracey suddenly whispered, their eyes intently searching the others. “I—” He stopped, realizing what came with saying those words he desperately wanted to say. But he couldn’t.

            “But I can’t spell it out for you. No, it’s never going to be that simple. No, I can’t spell it out for you…”  

            “I know,” Kai reassured him when he got that defeated look in his eyes. Their eyes locked together again, holding understanding at their mutual feelings.

            “If you just realize what I just realized then we’d be perfect for each other, and we’d never find another. If you just realize what I just realized we’d never have to wonder if we missed out on each other…”

            The song afterwards just rushed past them as they wrapped their arms around each other, enjoying the other’s company while they could. Once they got home, this happiness they had found would certainly disappear.

            “I’m afraid,” her brother admitted as he tightened his arms around her. “What would people say if they knew?”

            “It doesn’t matter,” Kai told him. “All that matters to me was that we both finally realized it.”

            The two noticed that the song was finally ending, the last notes playing out as the melodious voice continuously murmured, “Realize, realize, realize…”

 

Author's Note

This is my submission for the "Forbidden Love Fiction" contest.