Wrestling ONE SHOTS and IMAGINES

75 Kyle O'Reilly

"I'm still not sure my release is a good reason to have a party," I said to Candice as I helped her get everything ready for the party and the arrival of the guests.

"This is not about your release, Y/N. That's bad enough. But since you're also leaving the country... we're not just going to let you leave the country without giving you a proper goodbye. After all, none of us have any idea when we'll see you again. I pray that this is only temporary and that they offer you a new contract. You haven't even left yet and I miss you already," she replied, fighting back tears at the end.

"I know, I know. Right now, though, it doesn't look like it. And without a job I will lose my residence permit. I would love to be able to stay here, but I think it's best right now if I go home and regroup first. I need a new plan. Maybe it will do me good to spend more time with my family for a while," I explained.

"And what exactly are you going to do in Europe besides spend time with your family?" asked Candice.

"Well, first I'm going to take care of my parents' homestead and animals for a few weeks. They haven't been on vacation for ages and I think it will do them good to see something different. They don't trust many people to take care of everything. So I'm taking over now. They have earned it and it is one thing I can do for my parents now. And what comes after that... who knows. Maybe I'll have the chance to go back to Japan," I replied.

"I know you don't like to talk about it, but have you thought about finally talking to Kyle about your feelings?" she cautiously asked, looking at me apologetically.

"Candice..." I sighed.

"What? I think it would be good if you finally talked it out." she said.

Kyle POV

I came to Y/N's party extra early to spend as much time with her as possible. It was hard to believe that soon I wouldn't be able to see her whenever I wanted. We had known each other for so long and had never been separated for long periods of time. So it hurt especially that she suddenly would not be here anymore.

Just as I was about to enter the room where the party was to take place, I heard my name and froze. I know that eavesdropping was not the best idea but I just couldn't help it. The two women were talking about feelings that Y/N had for me and I needed to hear that.

"There's nothing to talk about, Candice. Kyle made his decision quite a while ago. He married Erica and is very happy with her. Why on earth would I, not only jeopardize our friendship but his marriage in the slightest? Kyle has never seen me like that and that's not going to change. I'm just the person he looks to for advice. If he had the tiniest romantic interest in me, I'm sure he would have shown it at some point. But he hasn't. I'm just his friend. That's all he's ever seen in me. And that's okay, really. If he's happy, I'm happy." said Y/N.

"And yet there's always this chemistry between you guys. You can't deny that," Candice replied.

"It doesn't matter. If you love someone, you want them to be happy, no matter what. Even if that happiness hurts me, I'm not going to do anything that might cause pain to many others. It's not just about me," Y/N now replied.

I just couldn't believe it. All this time... all this time I thought that Y/N only saw me as a friend. Had I really been that blind or was Y/N just very good at suppressing and covering up her feelings?

Everything that happened in the years we knew each other, happened again in my head. But this time, everything showed up in a different light. Every piece of advice and every encouraging word Y/N ever said to me suddenly made a whole different sense.

Without thinking about what I was doing, I turned around and left. I paid no attention to my surroundings. The shock about the new realizations I had just gained was too deep. What the fuck was I supposed to do now?

Everything in my head revolved around this one sentence that Y/N had said, 'If you love someone...'.

Things I had never given much thought to suddenly made sense and yet, they made no sense. My head was a mess. Was it possible that my life could have been completely different if I hadn't been too cowardly? There was no way to answer that question. And even worse was the fact that Y/N would no longer be here to help me get clarity about my feelings.

Published July 5, 2021