Unspoken Feelings

First dance

"Would you care for a dance?", he asked. I couldn't find an excuse to say no. Moreover, his girlfriend had just bailed on him for the night's party, so, I did not want to upset my friend more than he already was.
I placed my arm on his outstretched palm and accompanied him to the dance floor. A few of the popular songs were being played and we just moved with the rhythm.

The whole time that we were dancing together, he seemed lost. I couldn't really place my finger on the exact reason but I was a little too sure that his girlfriend was one of them.
He had been pretty cranky lately, especially the past two months. He started making excuses to skip going out or spending time with her and mostly kept to himself. He wouldn't even come over for our weekend movie nights. I didn't bother him too much thinking that he'd come around.

After a little while of muttering to himself and exhausting his share of frowning for the night, he suggested that we go and get a drink. Two, three drinks later, we returned to the dance floor.
This time, the rhythm had changed. Slow, soft music was playing in the background and couples all around us were lost in its melody. He slowly placed his arm on my waist and mine on his shoulder. He took my other arm in his and moved closer, his body mere inches from mine.

Soon, we were lost in the flow. The world around us seemed to slow down; the soft music with the slow movements of our feet, the dim light illuminating the hall, the low temperature of the surroundings, the slow and faint movements of the people around us, everything seemed perfect and peaceful. Even time itself seemed to have lost its pace.

The only thing that was not in harmony with the milieu was my heart. It was beating frantically, loud enough for him to hear. I slowly retrieved my arm from his and placed it on his chest. To my amazement, his heart was beating almost as fast as mine and he seemed nervous. Until then, I never imagined my best friend to be anything but straight and the thought excited me further.

I looked up into his eyes and noticed for the first time, the abundance of emotion threatening to engulf me. It was almost overwhelming. My fingers instinctively interlocked around his nape. He gazed into my eyes with an almost melancholic look and inched slightly closer.
All the feelings that I had kept safely hidden deep inside my heart came out rushing. All these years that I managed to pick up a few feelings once in a while but never dared to share with him, suddenly demanded justice and accountability.

But I was frozen, I could not move an inch. My body suddenly seemed weak and my legs were threatening to give way. Just then, he slowly moved closer and placed his lips on mine. At that moment, the world around me dissolved. All I could feel was his warm embrace and soft cherry lips and I kissed him back with all the emotion that I concealed for the last four years. I could feel the urgency and hunger in his kiss, almost as though he'd been waiting for the opportunity to kiss me. I pulled him in tighter and buried my fingers in his blonde silky hair.

After what seemed like an eternity, he slowly pulled away, and smiled. Only this time, the smile was more pronounced in his eyes than on his lips.