You, Me, and Her

Verse 19: Count on Me

Eurig sat in the passenger seat, fiddling with his fingers in complete silence while Owen was in the driver's seat, still not talking. Annoyed, he started to reach for the radio to find a song he could be happy with but Owen quickly turned it off.

He glared. "We've been sitting here for half an hour and you haven't spoken a word. If this is about Aidan and Hal or this is about us, start talking now or I'll walk away."

Owen drew a long and deep breath. "I'm getting there. I'm just...nervous. Or maybe I'm not very good at talking with you."

Eurig's scowl deepened and he crossed his arms over his chest as he stared. "You seem to have a great deal to say about Hal and Aidan?" Owen didn't have an answer for this, so he went on, "Did Aidan tell you anything?"

"About Hal?"

"About Gwen?"

Owen frowned. "He talks more about Hal than Gwen."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Especially that part, where Hal ghosted him for five years. He couldn't seem to forget that."

Eurig looked away when he heard this. "It's complicated."

Owen turned to him, bewildered and intrigued. "You knew?"

"Of course, I knew. But I'm not about to tell you that."

"So, he really does have feelings for Aidan."

"Why would you even ask if you already knew?"

"Because I think Aidan has feelings for him too."

Now it was Eurig's turn to be surprised. "You think so?"

"I've never been wronged," Owen said. "If I ended up being wrong, then it's the first."

Eurig pursed his lips before making a comment, "To be honest, Hal doesn't tell us everything. We knew he had feelings for Aidan, and it went far beyond our college years even before we met them. But we could feel that there was another reason aside from his feelings that made him decide to ghost Aidan after graduation."

Owen's reaction was instantaneous. "Will it be odd if I say that I was thinking the same too?"

Eurig beams at him. "Are we playing Sherlock Holmes now?" They both laughed at the notion and then he proceeded, "I think Hal is a complex person. He rarely talks about his feelings. They were raised that way, his sister and younger brother. They were taught to be independent at such a young age. But I think Hal just wanted someone to love him, to have someone he can call his..."

Owen, "Mmm...I think it's the same with Aidan. Only that he didn't want to complicate things. He tends to put an end to a drama even before it begins. Maybe, he thinks being with Hal will only make things more difficult. But don't you find it strange that Hal would suddenly disappear when Aidan needed him the most? I've only met your friend for a brief moment but I could tell, he isn't that kind of person."

"We thought the same too," Eurig said. "When he suddenly cut all the connections with Aidan. He pretended like he didn't know him at all. Ignoring his phone calls and shutting him down. Then, when Aidan went to America, Hal just focused all of his attention on work."

"His father passed away and his mom suddenly has to do everything for him and his brother," Owen explained. "They came back here when his brother got married and we met him then we formed a band. The rest is history."

"So, what really is in your mind?"

"I'm torn and I need more time to observe things, but my guts tell me that they are meant for each other. They just don't see it yet."