Ready to Fall

Chapter 14 What hurts the most

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But I know if I could do it over, I would trade

Give away all the words that I saved in my heart that I left unspoken.

What hurts the most is being so close

And having so much to say, and watching you walk away.

And never knowing what could have been

And not seeing that loving you is what I was trying to do.

-'What Hurts The Most' by Rascal Flatts-

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One day after that cold and empty night…

Daniel did not feel like eating.

He wanted to skip school and avoid everyone altogether. But he couldn't. Final exams were coming and it would not be good for him to skip classes now.

A lie. He knew his reasons were all a lie. He never cared much about final exams and his class standing. He could ace the exams with his eyes closed.

The truth was he wanted to pretend last night did not happen—their argument did not happen. That he did not stay up all night trying to erase the memory. But the empty seat next to him at the Dining Hall proved that last night—all of it—indeed, happened. The hole in his chest even confirmed that.

What went wrong? He probably knew the answer to that, yet he was still confused. But mostly he was devastated.

He lost her. That as much was clear.

"This is so unlike Miki to skip lunch," Ferry commented on their friend's absence.

The awkwardness between the two did not go unnoticed to the group. Especially when Miki decided to skip lunch, there's no denying she's avoiding someone. And that someone could only be the Black Cat.

"What happened, Daniel?" the animal lover asked, making him look up from his untouched food.

He looked at each of the faces around the table. Every one of them had memorable experiences last Valentine's Day. James and Sarah. Mark and Anna. Karl and Nonoko. Even Selena and Ferry. Valentine's made them happier. Unlike Daniel, Valentine's lead him to eventually lose the only girl he really cared about.

They were all looking at him apprehensively, waiting for him to answer. He knew each one wanted to know what happened but only James was brave enough to ask.

"What made you think I know?"

He stood and walked away. He had no answers to offer them anyway.

.

"I don't understand."

That night, James couldn't help but blurt it out, despite Sarah's request for silence as she worked on her latest invention.

She finished bolting in the last nut, and then turned to him. She was slightly annoyed of the interference, but she was curious herself.

She sighed, "Maybe she found out that he knew about the kiss."

If they were Miki, knowing that Daniel found out about it—worse, witnessed it—they'll freak out, too.

They have both been bothered by that information when James shared to her what Karl told him regarding Daniel's thoughts. They were both rooting for their best friends. But with Tetsuya suddenly in the picture, things became complicated.

"Maybe we should bring in Karl again," he suggested desperately.

She walked towards him on the couch where he was seated. She knocked his head once before dropping next to him.