Okay, so this is sort of a One Shot with two seperate stories about goodbyes. The first is a goodbye between two strangers whose paths crossed for a few moments, and the second is a goodbye between two people who have known each other for their entire lives.
Here is the first:
"Sorry," Leslie mumbled as she bumped into a stranger in the hustle and bustle of the New York City pedestrians. She noticed that she had caused qute an accident. She sighed and stopped to help the poor guy.
He had spilled coffee all over himself and dropped his briefcase (the contents of which people were stepping all over) just because she ran into him. She realized that she probably had ruined his suit and set him back in whatever work he had.
Her cheeks flushed with embarrassment as she helped him pick up papers. "Sorry! I'm so sorry," She said repeatedly.
"It's okay." The guy sounded slightly amused by the amount of times she was apologizing.
She stood up with a handfull of papers. "Once again, I am so sorry," She looked at one of the papers, "Ben Wyatt."
He laughed. "Thank you..." He waited for her name.
"Leslie Knope." She smiled. "Are you in accounting or something?"
He nodded. "Yeah. I actually work in that building over there." He lazily waved to a building behind her as he shoved the papers back into his briefcase.
"My brother's in accounting too," She stated. She paused for a moment and then continued, "Oh, here's some money for the suit too." She offered him whatever she had pulled out of her wallet.
"No, it's no big deal, but thank you anyway," He said as he threw the now empty coffee cup in a nearby trashcan.
"All right well, have a nice day," Leslie said sheepishly.
"Thank you. You have a nice day too, Leslie Knope." He smiled slightly as he turned and disappeared into the crowd of pedestrians.
Their paths never crossed again.
Here is the second:
"Congratulations, Leslie," Ben said as he rose his glass in the air for a toast. "For finding someone you love, and someone who loves you just as much. I've known you for my entire life, and you of all people deserve someone who can make you happy."
It was a lame toast, especially for a best friend, but it wouldn't matter. That whole "best friend is secretly in love with girl next door" life isn't so glamorous in real life. Ben would know. He had stuck around just long enough to see her get married. People should really stop writing those books that end with the guy getting the girl because that's always what he assumed would happen if he stayed around long enough. This was not the case.
Leslie herself was looking stunning as ever. It was her wedding day and she was happier than she had ever been. Ben was really happy for her, but the queasiness in his stomach said otherwise. He realized recently that being around Leslie was hazardous to his mental health, no matter how much he loved her. Ben wasn't angry or upset with the groom. They were actually good friends. He had nothing bad to say about him.
The only person Ben was angry with was himself. He was angry that he spent practically four decades chasing this girl who had no idea that he had romantic feelings about her. It wasn't for nothing because he and Leslie had some really amazing times, but he didn't get what he initially wanted: for Leslie to love him.
He was also angry at himself for not getting out while he could. At eighteen he was able to go to practically any college in the country. He chose to go to the local community college before going to a university. What drove this decision? The chance that he would be able to spend more time with Leslie. At twenty he was able to go to any college he wanted to again, but he went to the nearest Univerity, like Leslie did. What drove this decision? The possibility that he would proclaim his feelings for Leslie. At twenty-four he could go anywhere to get a job that paid better than the one he actually did get. Why did he get a low paying job? Leslie. He was a firm believer in young love. At twenty-seven he realized that he was running out of time. He felt trapped. A friend asked him to go across the country together. He declined. Why? Leslie. By thirty-two Ben realized that he and Leslie were getting older. While Leslie had a plethora of boyfriends that came and went in thier twenties and had started settling, Ben had practically no relationships and they definitely were never serious. At thirty-five Leslie had to miss Ben's birthday because she was on vacation with one of her long-term boyfriends. Neither of them had really been outside of that stupid town for their entire lives, and she was finally finding out what it was like in the outside world. The next year in July, Leslie moved two states north because her boyfriend grew up there. Something was still telling Ben to stay put. The year after that, in December, Leslie returned with a broken heart. She showed up at Ben's place after twelve months of forgetting to write and call back, and he was happy to let her in. He knew that staying was the right thing to do. Two years later brings us to the present. He had finally decided that it was time to leave. He felt that it was probably too late to actually leave.
He had an ache in his chest; the type of ache that you associate with the guilt that you wasted an entire day doing nothing, but four decades worse. He had waited patiently for nothing.
He approached Leslie and asked her to dance, almost nostalgically.
"You knw Ben, twenty years ago, I would've guessed that you would have been married before me," She said.
This sort of irony was not uncommon, and Ben just chuckled. "I guess you beat me to it."
"I am two years older than you, so we'll give you another two years," She joked.
He smiled slightly and looked down at her. "Anyway..I'm gonna have to leave early. I have something I need to start tonight."
"A work thing?" She asked.
"It's more personal, I think," He replied.
"Is it that tree house you said you would build those kids at the park?"
"No." He shook his head. They swayed in silence on the dance floor. The song was fittingly slow-paced. The aroma of roses, champagne and sweat permeated the room. They broke apart as the song ended.
"I've gotta go," He said.
She nodded, "I'll see you when I get back from the honeymoon, okay?'
He nodded.
"Make sure to build that damn treehouse while I'm gone," She joked.
He smiled. "Bye, Leslie." He turned away and walked out of the building. It was the freest he had felt in a long, long time. Like a weight lifted off his shoulders.
Ben never got to build that treehouse, and he was not there when Leslie got back from her honeymoon. He wasn't there when her husband hit her for the first time, he wasn't there when she divorced her husband, he wasn't there when she finally decided to build that treehouse herself even though those kids that asked for it had outgrown their desire for one, and he wasn't there when Leslie finally realized that after all that time, that Ben had loved her.
