MidReal Story
Unrequited Hearts: A Love Triangle's Journey
Scenario: Falling in love with your friend who doesn't feel the same way
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Not that I can blame him for that part—I didn’t see it either until it was too late, and now it’s hard not to wish that he felt the same way about me instead.
I’m in love with my best friend.
It’s not that I don’t love him as a friend; it’s just that I’m not sure I can handle pretending to be happy for him when he finally gets his shit together and realizes what he’s been missing all these years.
I’m also not sure I can handle being in love with him for the rest of my life, knowing that he’ll never feel the same way about me.
I’ve known him for years, and I’ve been in love with him for almost as long.
But he doesn’t feel the same way.
So I have a choice to make: I can keep my mouth shut and pretend that everything is fine, or I can tell him how I feel and risk losing him forever.
He’s never given me any indication that he does, and I’ve never had the courage to tell him how I feel.
Or maybe I can just walk away on my own terms instead.
So I’ve kept my feelings to myself, and I’ve watched from the sidelines as he’s dated other girls.
I’m in love with her, I know I am.
I’ve known it for a long time now, but it wasn’t until she started dating someone else that I realized just how deep my feelings for her run.
I’ve listened as he’s talked about them, and I’ve smiled and pretended that it didn’t bother me when he’s asked for my advice on what to do when things go wrong.
And now he’s dating someone new, and it’s killing me.
Because even though I knew she didn’t feel the same way about me, I still thought there was a chance that we could be together someday.
I can’t stand the thought of him being with her, of him falling in love with her, of him being happy with her.
But now that she’s seeing someone new, it’s forced me to admit that we’ll never be more than friends, and it’s breaking my heart to know that I have to try to move on without her.
The worst part is knowing that she doesn’t love me back.
But I can’t tell him how I feel either.
It’s too late for that now.
At least Liam Johnson is smart enough to realize what an amazing person she is, but he’s too much of a coward to do anything about it.
If he had any idea how lucky he is to have a girl like her in his life, he wouldn’t be thinking about walking away from her.
He’ll never feel the same way about me, and even if he did, it wouldn’t be fair to him or to me to start a relationship based on a lie.
I’m not sure when it happened, but I’ve fallen in love with my best friend.
Then again, if he knew how much it hurt to be in love with someone who will never love you back, he wouldn’t be stupid enough to tell her how he feels either.
I know what you’re thinking.
So maybe it’s a good thing that they’re not together after all.
Or maybe it’s just a matter of time before she falls for him and forgets all about me.
You’re thinking that I’m an idiot and that I should have told him how I feel a long time ago.
Or maybe you’re not thinking that at all.
Either way, I’m not sure how much longer I can handle pretending that everything is fine.
Before I met Jason Reed, I didn’t believe in love at first sight.
Maybe you’re thinking that falling in love with your best friend is the most cliché thing that could possibly happen to a person, and that I should have seen it coming from a mile away.
The truth is, I did see it coming.
I thought it was something people made up to convince themselves that they were meant to be with someone who was never going to feel the same way.
But then I met him and realized that there was no other way to explain how I felt about him.
I saw it from the very beginning.
Because if it wasn’t love at first sight, it was damn close.
Because the moment I met Jason Reed, I knew he was special.
And I knew that my life would never be the same again.
I guess that’s why I’ve been so terrified to tell him how I feel.
I’ve always been afraid that if I did, things would change between us, and he wouldn’t want to be friends with me anymore.
But you’re going to do it anyway,” he replies, his voice gentle.
Or maybe he would feel sorry for me, and he would pretend to feel the same way just to make me happy.
He’s right, and I know it all too well.
But that doesn’t mean it’s going to be easy for me.
But love isn’t supposed to be this difficult.
It isn’t supposed to make you cry yourself to sleep every night because you know that the man you love will never love you back.
“I don’t think you should,” he says.
It isn’t supposed to break your heart into a million tiny pieces and force you to pick them up off the floor one by one, only for them to break all over again.
“I think you should let him find someone who loves him back instead.”
And it isn’t supposed to make you feel like the most pathetic person in the world for being in love with someone who will never love you back.
“Not everyone is as lucky as you,” I point out.
“As lucky as me?”
But here I am, feeling all of those things, and desperately trying to figure out how to move on with my life.
Because even though I love Jason Reed more than anything in this world, the truth is, we can never be together.
he asks, his eyes widening in shock.
Not now, not ever.
“Em, you know how much I want you two to be together,” he says softly.
“But you also know that he’s never going to see you as anything more than a friend.”
So for my own sake, and for the sake of our friendship, I have no choice but to walk away.
“I know,” I admit.
Liam Johnson was right about one thing: I am a glutton for punishment.
I’m also an idiot and an asshole, but those are just minor details compared to the fact that I’m in love with my best friend’s girlfriend.
“But this way he doesn’t have to feel bad for turning me down.”
Okay, so technically she’s not his girlfriend yet, but she’s going to be soon enough.
“You’d rather hide your feelings for him forever than tell him how you really feel and risk having him not feel the same way?”
he asks incredulously.
He’s already fallen head over heels for her, and she’s just waiting for him to ask her out so she can say yes.
“I’d rather have him pretend to feel the same way out of pity than have him feel sorry for me,” I admit.
He deserves to be happy.
He deserves to have someone who loves him as much as he loves her.
He shakes his head in disbelief before wrapping his arms around me and pulling me into his chest.
But it still hurts like hell.
“I just want you to be happy,” he whispers into my hair.
The worst part is that I’ve known Emily Carter for years, and she’s been in love with him just as long.
I don’t think that’s too much to ask,” he says.
And with that, he turns around and walks away, leaving me to my own thoughts.
But he’s too blind to see it.
He’s right, of course.
But that doesn’t mean it’s going to be easy to move on when there’s still a small part of me that wants to believe that someday we could be together.
And it’s not like he’s making it easy for me either.
Most guys would be thrilled to have someone like me in love with them, but not Jason Reed.
No, he had to go and be so damn perfect that even when he’s breaking my heart, I can’t help but love him.
I’m not sure when it happened, but at some point, my feelings for Jason turned from friendship to something more.
And now, no matter how hard I try, I can’t seem to get over him.
I’ve tried dating other guys to take my mind off how much he means to me, but it always seems to make things worse.
Because no matter how hard I try, I can’t seem to get over him.
No matter how many guys there are out there who would kill for a chance to be with me, all I really want is for him to love me too.
But now that he’s dating someone new, I know that will never happen.
So instead, I’ve spent more nights than I care to admit crying myself to sleep because of how much it hurts knowing that we’ll never have what I want us to have.
But through it all, I’ve never let him see how much it hurts me.
I’ve always been there for him when he needed me, offering a smile and advice on how to win over his latest crush.
Because no matter what happens between us, I’ll always be grateful for his friendship, and if all he ever sees me as is a friend, then at least we’ll always have that.
Because even if he doesn’t know how much it hurts me to see him with someone else, at least I know that he still cares about me too.