You, Me, and Her

Verse 18: Can We Still Be Friends?

Saturday was supposed to be a day of joy and freedom. People usually have the liberty to spend their time however they desire. Whether it was happiness in the morning or an awesome Saturday night. Saturday was the day to be kind to oneself.

Hearing the doorbell endlessly ringing, Halwyn wanted to ignore it and sleep it off but it wouldn't stop and he doubted, the people waiting outside had any plans on leaving any time soon. So, against his better judgment, Hal forced himself to get out of bed, opening the door to find different faces with the same reaction staring back at him.

"Don't ask," he warned before letting them in.

"We weren't gonna..." Maxen murmured as Halwyn marched off and would've gone back to sleep if not for Steffan and Eurig pulling him back to the living room.

"Stop moping, will you?" Eurig said as he started unloading the groceries onto the kitchen counter. Judging by the ingredients, it was certain that they were planning to spend the whole day in Hal's place. He pressed, "You're being so unfair to yourself."

"Easy for you to say, you're not the one who suddenly announced years of pinning after giving the person a straight punch to the face."

Max and Cadi went straight to the living room and made themselves at home. "That's what happens when you keep everything bottled up inside," said Maxen, suddenly turning into a love expert. "But why didn't you tell him about Gwen?"

Hal thought for a moment and responded without feelings, "I don't know. I don't feel like saying it."

Steff, "Well, look at the brighter side, you've finally confessed. Isn't that what you want from the start?"

Halwyn bitterly laughed before revealing, "It wasn't the first time I confessed."

His friends were suddenly stunned, even Eurig who was about to prepare the steak immediately joined them in the living room to confirm what he just heard. "Come again?"

Hal drew a shaky breath. "I did it before. Twice. The first time, I told him I loved him and he accepted it but misunderstood. He told me he loved me too, as his best friend. The second time, when he first found out that Nia was cheating on him, he was so drunk, that I doubt he even heard what I said."

All of his friends stared at him with a mixed reaction but mostly leaning towards pity and disbelief. For the first time, Eurig didn't know what else to say while Max couldn't even insert a gag. Neither one of them would like to continue the conversation.

Steffan fidgeted with his fingers as he recalled that he made a promise with Ion that he would soon tell Hal about them---or whatever was going on between them. But he didn't know how to start without making the other feel less discomfited after the incident.

Even without looking and just hearing Hal's voice, they could tell that he was not in a good place. There was numbness not only internally but physically. His eyes were blank, dull, almost lifeless. His cheeks had dried tears on and even his skin was a little sallow, which was among the things they admired of him.

Halwyn, "I'm cool guys, you should all relax. Seriously, I went through this before and I already expected how this is going to turn out. If you can all remember, I handle them quite well. I'm perfectly capable of doing this. I'm going to move on, I know I can. I'm fine. I want you to stop worrying about me...I'm fine."

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"He isn't fine..." Cadi muttered.

"Nope," Max agreed in a heartbeat.

The four of them watched Halwyn, sitting in the living room eating chips and watching soap operas on the television, aware of the fact that Hal disliked soap operas. But now he was watching it so devotedly as he shoved the food into his mouth, with tears streaming down his face.