Best Friend

Based on the song by Jason Chen. He loves her, she loves him. Downside? They don't know it. Will they be able to find out the truth before it's too late?

Her head hung low, tears dripping down her face and on the asphalt as she walked to her final destination.

"Do you remember when I said I'll always be there?"
"Ever since we were ten?"

She had on her earphones cranked up loudly. She wore a blue jacket with the hood on, covering her tear-streaked face. Blue was his favourite colour, she knew. He preferred everything blue; clothes, bags, shoes, gummy bears, Skittles, you name it. She felt that she had to wear the jacket one last time. A certain song was on repeat, once her favourite. She stopped in her tracks and looked around.

"Maybe", she thought, "Maybe someone actually cares. Should I stop?"

She scanned her surroundings for a sign, something, anything. But all she saw were couples. Lounging in cafes, strolling hand in hand. It was as if the universe was mocking her, reminding her of the love she could never have. She shook her head bitterly and continued her death march.

He lay on his bed, headphones on, playing his favourite song. He scrolled through his phon's inbox for any sign of her. He missed her so. His best friend. He wondered if she was thinking of him, like he was thinking about her.

"No, she's not yours to hope for, idiot", he chided himself loudly. "She's your BEST FRIEND, for goodness' sake. She'd never think of you that way." Sighing, he put his phone down and listened for the thousandth time to the song on repeat. It was her favourite song, he knew, and they spent hours singing along loudly to the music's meloncholy beat. Well, at least she did. He mostly watched her unobserved with adoring attentiveness.

"Through all the dudes that came by, and all the nights that you cried, girl I was there right by your side."

He could relate to this Jason- Chung? Chan? Whatever the singer's name was. He'd been friends with her ever since he could remember. He didn't even know how or when he'd fallen in love with her. He just did. So much that it hurt to see her falling all over the wrong guys.

"How could I tell you I loved you when you were so happy with some other guy?"

He wanted to tell her so badly, to just wrap her in his arms and tell her everything will be okay, but he was too afraid of ruining their friendship. Besides, what if she only scorned him?

"And I don't wanna ruin what we have, Love is so unpredictable."

He sat up; why not tell her now? What could he possibly have to lose? ... Then again, was he really prepared to lose his best friend just because of some stupid confession? His confidence wavered for a second. He had to admit he wasn't. He stayed silent as the song played on.

"But it's the risk that I'm taking, hoping, praying..."
"You'd fall in love your best friend."

He stood up, pulled on a sweater hastily, and ran out the door. With Jason Chen belting out lyrics in his ear. He only had one destination in mind. To her.

"I know it sounds crazy, that you'd be my baby."

She knew it was crazy, he'd never fall for her.

"Girl, you mean that much to me."

He thought everything of her, she was his world.

"It's never too late to show it."

It was too late for her.

There was still time for him.

She stood precariously on the edge of a bridge, a crowd gathered behind her.

He couldn't see her anywhere, just a great mass of people crowding around something at the bridge. He got caught up in the swell of people. Frustrated, he tried to maneuver his way out. It was stupid of him to run out like that. Stupid of him to think of doing it. With regret and bitterness in his heart, he started to turn away. But not before he saw a familiar blue hood in the midst of the crowd.

She took a step forward.

He pushed through the crowd.

She took a deep breath, closed her eyes, and prepared to jump. Somebody screamed out her name. "WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING, YOU IDIOT?!" Her best friend stepped out from the mass of people.

He looked up at her.

She looked down on him.

It wasn't at all romantic to call the love of your life/best friend an idiot, but given the circumstances he couldn't think of anything else. He saw that her pale cheeks were flushed and tear-streaked. He stretched out a hand to wipe the tears away.

She took a step back and nearly fell off, windmilling her arms to stay balanced. "Not another step", she warned him.

He could only choke out one word: "Why?"

"Because you don't love me." Was her whispered reply

His eyes widened in shock as he reached out for her... The same time she completely stepped off the bridge. He could only scream helplessly as she plummeted towards the dirty, Stygian river.

He couldn't remember much of what happened next. Apparently he tried to follow her, but bystanders prevented him from jumping after her. What happened next was a series of blurs, red and blue flashing lights, and sirens. He slumped against the coldness of the bridge. Someone had thrown a blanket over him. It kept the chill away from seeping into his bones, but not in his heart. He suspected that numbness will never go away. How could she have been so stupid? You don't just jump off a bridge because of a reason that wasn't even valid. She'd always needed him to look after her. He wasn't there when she needed him most. They'd both been stupid, he realized.

He noticed a pair of earphones still attached to a phone. They were hers, he realized. Probably taken them off before she went. The pods were fitted with little charms, ones he gave to her on her birthday. He heard a familiar tune emanating from them, so he put them on. He couldn't prevent the tears spilling from his eyes, and neither did he bother to wipe them away as he listened to the last few lyrics of the song he'd been listening to only hours ago.

"Then I realized you were the only one, it's never too late to show it."

It was too late for both of them.

"Grow old together, have feelings we had before."

They'll never be able to do that.

"I just wanna reach and touch you, squeeze you"

He couldn't even see her now, she was in a better place.

"This is something like a movie, and I don't know how it ends, girl."

But he did know, he knew how it ended. He couldn't save her. Just because he wasn't able to say the last lyrics of the song.

"But I fell in love with my best friend."