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UNSEEN LOVE [PIN HAWTHORNE]

Summary: A misunderstanding leads to something good.

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Life was unfair, Pin thought as he sat at the cafe, watching you laughing with your apparent boyfriend. Your smile lightened up the whole room, making Pin go back to the moment he had first met you. He couldn't help but feel a tug at his heartstrings every time he saw you, and yet he knew he could never have you. He was just a friend, someone you confided in and laughed with. But for Pin, his feelings went much deeper than that.

You had always been so kind to him - he remembered perfectly well how you had come to him all those years ago, sat by him at school's playground and asked him to play with you. His mum had just left, he had isolated himself from everyone else but somehow you knew just the right words, knew how to get him to open up again and soon you were best friends, at school and beyond. And when he was 13, he first realised that he actually had developed a crush on you. But he was scared - scared of you rejecting him. Scared that he'd ruin your friendship, just make it awkward. Make you drift apart.

And now, three years from that, he was watching you having fun with another guy, looking at him in a way he wished to be looked at by you. With so much love and affection, and Pin had no doubt that you snuck into the back room together during breaks where you made out.

He swallowed the rest of his drink down, before standing up and leaving, missing the way the guy nodded his way and your frown at his quick exit without even saying 'bye' like he usually did. He missed the way how you quickly changed your work shoes to your own, hurrying out from the cafe, sensing something was wrong.

"Pin!" you exclaimed as you spotted him walking away, frowning even more when he didn't stop. So you ran up to him, blocking his path. "Are you alright?"

The boy didn't answer, staring somewhere behind you. You sighed, trying to grasp his hand but he pulled away, trying to push past you but you stepped in front of him again.

"Doesn't your boyfriend wait for you?" he snapped and you paused, clearly puzzled about his question.

"What are you talking about?" you asked, still trying to understand what was going on. Pin sighed.

"I'm not interested in watching you and... him cuddle, I came to fetch my best friend from work. But I'm sure he can do it instead." He tried to push past you again, but you stopped him by putting your hand on his chest.

"Wait... you mean to say you're jealous?" you asked and Pin's silence confirmed it. It made you want to grin. "Pin, Johnny and I are just friends. There's nothing going on between us."

Pin scoffed. "Yeah. Right."

You groaned. "I'm telling you the truth! Why are you so pressed about it anyway? I would think you'd be happy for me even if I did have someone."

Pin pursed his lips, closing his eyes and telling his heart to stop pounding so much. "Maybe because I want it to be me."

He opened his eyes to see you gaping at him, your eyes wandering all over his face before you blinked.

"Wait, w-what?"

"I've felt this way since we were 13. Probably before that, too, but I realised it at 13. I didn't say anything because... I knew you wouldn't like me back."

"Pin, I had no idea," you said, looking at him in surprise. You paused, looking at the ground for a moment before you looked back up with a small smile. "But... you're wrong at one thing, I do have feelings for you too."

Now it was Pin's turn to frown as you stared at each other for what felt like an hour. Then, finally, he broke into a smile too and you reached for his hand again, this time him letting you grasp it. You stood there for a while longer, not talking, listening to seagulls screaming.

"Can I take you for a ride tonight?" he muttered and you smiled, biting your lip before nodding. You squeezed his hand, tugging it towards the cafe and Pin followed, walking with you hand in hand.

Life had a funny way to sort things out, and sometimes it took just a little push to make things like they should be.