Hidden Treasures

Silent Love

He looked at her, dancing in the arms of his friend, laughing and smiling while he observed her every move. Month after month with a heart full love for her but not able to be honest. Their friendship like a boundary between them. In all the nights she took a rest in his arms, his nose ruffling her hair, smelling her, feeling the soft skin.

The feeling in his chest was so heavy while she took a step towards the guy. His racing mind trying to suppress the urge to pull her out of that situation.

"She's mine" he whispered clinching his fists, trying to stay calm. And if one person knew then his friend who listened to his endless debates on whether to take a step or not.

Pedro saw it, the tingling air between them, ready to kiss, ready to destroy his hopes. He took a step forward, then another til he gripped his jacket ready to fight....

He saw the laughter freeze, how she turned her head in his direction, how the world rotated slowly for a moment, as if it was taking a run-up. Adrenalin rushing in his ears, the music too loud and the feeling inside him too great.

He saw Oscar's lips form the word 'Pedro' before he half loosened his grip, then tightened it, pulling him with him.

The embers smouldered as Oscar lit the cigarette and he looked at Pedro, waiting. His dark eyebrows pinched together, he took a drag on the stub.

"What are you doing?" Pedro pointed to the door inside.

"I should ask you that? Have you taken leave of your senses? What's your problem, huh?"

"Why does it have to end in a one-night-stand every time? Can't you just once..."

The door swung open, loud music, her feet on the gravel, she crossed her arms.

"And what exactly was that?"

Oscar shrugged. "Pedro can explain that to you, it's too stupid for me." He walked past him, giving him a definite look before shaking his head and walking past the scene and inside.

"Now what?" She shook herself, rubbing her upper arms.

He looked at her, feeling all that come back to him that he felt when she laughed and their eyes met.

"Maybe I should tell you something..."

"I certainly think so!"

She rubbed her bare arms again, looking up, into the brooding face of Pedro, in which it seemed to be working.

"Don't you understand? Don't you even notice?" His resigned expression spoke volumes.

"Understand? Understand what? Am I supposed to understand that my best friend is acting like a crazy person? Realize that out of nowhere you and Oscar have some kind of problem with each other? Or am I supposed to read thoughts from your cryptic behavior? If you want to protect me, I'm very good at..."

Slowly he walked towards her, stopped right in front of her, put his hands on her cool upper arms, lifted his head until their eyes met.

All his feeling, all the unsaid was open in front of her, his heart and that fear of losing her if he didn't finally reveal himself, or achieving the same result if he did.

Only her breath between them.

"Pedro..."

Her mouth half open, his blood pumping hot through his veins and her expression softening. His longing superhuman, the hope tangible in that moment.

The door swung open again, a blast of music, warm air and colorful light, and they faced each other without taking their eyes off each other.

He cursed himself and this evening. Radio silence, so loud that it thundered in his head.

They had ridden home in silence in a taxi, he had stood helplessly beside her while she raised her hand before he could say anything.

Wordless she had opened the front door and closed it in his face. He was too cowardly and now absolutely sure he was at a loss. He's thoughts running through every episode of that night repeatedly.

_

It took until the sound reached his mind, he woke from sleep, picked himself up and mumbled a sleepy "hello" into the intercom.

"Open up, please!"

Her.

He tried to sort out his thoughts as he stroked his tangled brown hair and looked in the mirror above the dresser in the hallway.

"Last chance!" he said aloud to himself as his heart beat furiously and he opened the flat door, smiling uncertainly....

Turmoil in every synapse, she sat next to him, touching the coffee cup that was on the table in front of her.

"I," came out of her mouth and his at the same time.

"No Pedro, I'm going to say something now. Because this disastrous evening won't leave my mind and I certainly have no desire to lose a friendship like ours because of something like that. We've known each other since..."

"...7 years!"

"Right. You know I love you, right?"

An ice-cold fist seemed to tighten around his heart, every word out of her mouth making him understand that there seemed to be nothing else for her but their friendship. He lost the thread, everything she said took his breath away, made him helpless.

"...I fell in love."

He looked up, trying to understand, trying to grasp what, more who she was talking about.

"Wait, hold on. Slow down. Did you fall in love with me?" He looked at her seriously, ignoring the fear and this feeling that rejection could hurt him.

"Pedro, I don't know, I just talked a lot."

He shook his head, trying to sort out his thoughts before looking at her. "Did you fall in love with me?"

She shrugged, shaking her head in irritation. "It's been a long day, and somehow..."

"I'll ask you one last time..."

He saw her struggling with herself. No, his mind wasn't lying to him, he had heard it and now he wanted to hear it again, to understand it, to be sure.

"And before I do, have you ever thought about why I'm the one who's always there for you when one of your dates goes wrong? Why I make time every Friday, every damn Friday, for our cocktail night, why that cell phone is only on silent with you? Why I couldn't stand to see you with Oscar like that? So, did you fall in love with me?"

Her nod so tentative that he looked at her with grinding cheekbones, lifted her face with his index finger, looked into her eyes. Hesitantly her lips opened, his dark eyes waiting for her.

He pulled her close, deciding to put all his eggs in one basket and demand his answer. Their lips found each other, a thousand feelings flooded through him, flowing like fresh air into his lungs, like a warm wave of butterflies into his stomach, while he felt her face contort. She smiled, sliding her hand down his neck, digging into his thick brown hair as her tongue slid gently into his mouth and he sighed helplessly, losing his footing, forgetting that the world existed around them.

He had waited so long, hoped, lost himself in all his longing, and here and now she was pushing his shirt over his head, caressing, kissing him.

Her body was half under him, moving in rhythm with his, gyrating greedily, his lust aroused, all as if in a frenzy.

The sound of rustling laundry, bare skin and her heat,her soft body,her voice, all the sweet nothings she whispered. If he had ever dreamed of something, then this surpassed everything. Pure excitement, his senses completely fixated on her, her thighs opening and the last clear thought that he loved her, had always loved her and he would love her now more than his mind could grasp. But his heart could...