Just Friends

The Truth

Tristan's POV

Tristan: "So do you want to tell me why you're so upset now?" He asks as we walk into his house.

Cara: "It's not that big of a deal," I respond, sitting on the couch.

Tristan: "Well it obviously is, otherwise you wouldn't look like you've just been scarred for eternity."

Cara: "Well, I kind of have been."

Tristan: "Cara. You know you can tell me anything."

Cara: "Yeah, I know, it's just I don't know."

Tristan: "You'll feel a lot better if you tell someone," I say, handing her a cup of zen tea, and covering her with a blanket."

Cara: "I guess you're right." she pauses, "It's just about Asher."

Tristan: "Asher did this to you??"

Cara: "It was my fault." "I shouldn't have walked into that room," she mumbles.

Tristan: "What room?"

Cara: "A bedroom at the party."

Tristan: "Oh no. You didn't walk in on him having.."

Cara: "No, thank god. But they were getting pretty damn close."

Tristan: "Well be happy you didn't actually walk in on him like I did."

Cara: "Yeah.. Wait what?! Asher told me he's still a virgin!"

Tristan: "Fuck, I said that out loud."

Cara: "Fine. You know what? I don't even care anymore," she says calmly.

I stared for a moment, trying to figure out what was off about her, and then it hit me.

Tristan: "You like Asher don't you?"

Cara: "What? No. He's like my brother, that's weird."

Tristan: "Cara. Come on. Why would you care so much about him having a girlfriend or having sex? Admit it, you're jealous. You care about him. And you know I'm right."

She looked down and started playing with the hair tie on her wrist. She was completely silent. I think she was still in shock that I figured out that she likes Asher. She finally looked up and her eyes were watering again.

Cara: "You can't tell anyone. Especially Asher."

Tristan: "I know, I wo-"

Cara: "No Tristan I really mean it this time. You've spilled secrets of mine before but I'm really serious about this one. You can't even tell your friends, because if Asher finds out I don't know what I'll do with myself," she forcefully grabs my wrists and starts crying.

Tristan: "Okay. Don't worry, I promise I won't," she let's go of my wrists, "Why is this such a big deal to you though?"

Cara: "Because Asher could never like me. Guys like Asher don't like girls like me," she pauses because she starts to get really emotional, "I have liked Asher since the day I met him. And what sucks is that he'll never see me as anything more than a friend. But what hurts the most is that for the rest of my life I'm going to love him unconditionally and he's never going to know, and he's never going to feel the same way. Sometimes I even regret meeting him because for the rest of my fucking life I'm going to have to deal with the unbearable pain of him liking other girls and having another girl be more important."

My eyes started watering uncontrollably and a few tears strolled down my face. I've always seen Cara so put together and the complete opposite of emotional.. kind of like one of the guys, but here she was, with a face painted with streaks of mascara and hot pools of tears, exposing her genuine feelings for my brother in the most real and heartbreaking way. I take hold of her hands, looking into her eyes with tears now running down from my face, and we just had a single moment where we didn't have to say anything, because we both knew there was nothing left to say..