Desired Fate

Chapter Three

"Yeah, I'll be out in a second," I heard the sound of the main door to the toilets shut and by the time I unlocked the door, Jace leant against the sink staring into my now parted toilet door.

"You didn't flush," he joked. 

"I didn't use it," I commented.  

"So you usually sit on the toilet for no apparent reason?" Jace raised an eyebrow, not buying it at all. 

"I just needed a moment to myself, so I came in here to hide." 

"What's going on? Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," I lied. 

"Come on, buddy. We've been friends since high school and I've been by your side through everything that's happened to you," Jace ran his fingers through his blond hair. 

"It's nothing, I'm just having a bit of an off day, you know how it gets from time to time." 

"Something is on your mind today?" He asked, now standing at the urinal where he proceeded to unzip his trousers. 

"Nothing important," I affirmed when I turned the tap on and splashed my face with the cold water. 

"Do I have to pull teeth to get the truth out of you?" 

"Nothing to pull," I grabbed some paper towels to dry my face and realised I probably shouldn't have worded it that way after what I was about to do. 

"Then let's see..." Jace paused thoughtfully. "What's so different about today? 

"We're not doing this," the paper towels I just threw landed directly in the bin and I slouched back against the sink with my arms folded. 

"It's her, isn't it?" He finished up what he was doing. "The only thing that has changed today is that we got a new face around here." 

"No!" I felt slight agitation that I couldn't hide anything from him. 

"Oh, you know who I'm talking about then so it definitely must be her," Jace walked over to the sink next to me. "I've never seen you act this way before about someone you've just met." 

This guy knew me better than I knew myself sometimes, he was one of my best friends and I had known him for close to fifteen years. Through all the mud I had to waddle through, he walked that path with me. If he could have the courage and responsibility to walk beside me during the bad times, then I owed him a slice of my good times in payment. 

"It must be love at first sight," he jested which broke me from my thoughts. 

"You know I don't believe in that." 

"Ugh. If anyone was to then it would be you. You're the most romantic guy I know, you're such a soft centre you probably gift wrap your balls." 

"You're cheesy as fuck, you know that?" I laughed. "Just don't tell anyone anything that makes me sound crazy, I might end up with no balls left to gift wrap." 

"I don't have anything to tell, other than you've got the hots for the new girl," he gazed at me in the mirror, waiting for me to deny it which I didn't. 

"I'm entering brand new territory here and I'm not ashamed to admit I'm scared," we both turned to face each other now that he had wiped his hands dry. "I don't know what's happening to me." 

"You've not been laid in over two years, that's what happened to you," Jace chortled. "Dude, don't over-analyse it. If you like her, then ask her out, it's simple. You're allowed to move on, you know it's been long enough." 

My breath halted at his words, I knew he was right but I still felt guilty. It was inevitable that I would move on at some point in my life, yet I just wasn't prepared for it to happen this way, or this soon, although any amount of time was always going to be too soon. The spark I felt had ignited me alive once more and I had never been so confused and more certain of something at the same time.