You brought your hand up to knock on the door, but stopped before your knuckles could touch it. An immense amount of nervousness weighed heavy on your heart. There was no telling how he would react. What he would say. What he would do. A million scenarios flooded your mind, and all of them were not good. However, you managed to push them aside and gather up your courage once more. With a deep breath and a mental encouragement to yourself, you finally knocked on the door.
"Yeah?" the familiar voice asked from behind the door.
You took another deep breath.
"It's me, Snow," you replied, trying to sound as composed as you could, but ultimately failing. The nervous feelings started to sink in again. There was a brief moment of silence until he told you that you could come in. With yet another deep breath, you turned the doorknob and slowly opened the door, making it emit a creak.
There he was, Snow Villiers, laying on his bed, gazing up at the ceiling above, sadness tainted his eyes.
You closed the door and walked over to him. After, yet again, another deep breath, you spoke.
"I heard about you and Serah. I... I guess I just wanted to make sure you were doing okay. ...Well..." You instantly regretted saying that. Of course he wouldn't be okay. How could he be? Having your fiancée abandon you for another mere months before the big day. You scolded yourself for not preparing or practising for this occasion.
The man's blue orbs flickered from the ceiling to your own. You could practically see his broken heart through them. It in turn made our own heart break a little. He put on the faintest ghost of a smile.
"Heh. Sounds like you..." he quietly said. His voice was so soft as compared to his normally loud and deep one. It was as though he was a different person.
"...Do you want to talk?" you asked hesitantly. His handsome face instantly dropped down even more. Only two sentences into this conversation and you were already telling yourself that coming here was a mistake.
"Not really, no," he answered quietly as he resumed looking up. You turned your head to the side, gazing down at the floor in shame and sorrow. You had never seen Snow this sad before and it was killing you as well. But, what could you do? He didn't want to open up about his pain.
"Okay. I guess... I'll get going then. Sorry for bothering you." Just as you turned to walk away, your wrist was suddenly grabbed. When you jerked your head around, your found Snow looking at you and his large hand on your arm. It was obvious that he was silently asking you to stay. Without a word, you sat yourself down on his bed next to his legs. The humming of silence was all that filled your ears as you studied the floor again.
Being the man's childhood friend, you had experienced many, many situations like this where you would come to Snow's side whenever something unfortunate happened and all you would do was be near him in silence until he was ready to open up. But also, it led you to develop romantic feelings for him. Of course, you never acted upon them because right when you realized your feelings, he had already engaged in a relationship with Serah and you didn't want to ruin your life-long friendship with him.
"Have you ever been in love?"
The voice made you snap out of your thoughts and turned to face the source of it.
"Mn?" you uttered as you didn't fully catch what he had just said. He locked eyes with you, causing your breath to hitch.
"Have you ever been in love?" Snow repeated in a slightly louder voice so you could hear him properly.
"...Yes. I have," you answered cautiously, turning away from him so he wouldn't notice the light blush on your cheeks.
"Did he break your heart?"
"...Somewhat."
"How did you cope with it?"
"Well... I always told myself that I should just be happy because he was happy. I actually never really thought about how I could cope with it."
"Mn..." Another few minutes went by in silence. Then, Snow sat up and let out a small sigh. "I suppose you're right. If she's happy, then that's all that matters."
You glanced at him from the corner of your eye. In all honesty, you totally despised Serah now. You had no idea as to why she would pick Noel over Snow. Snow was stronger, more mature, and, most importantly, truly loved her. The fact that he was taking your 'advice' seriously showed just how much he loved and cared for her. For the first time ever, you started to feel envious of Serah.
"What about you?" you asked, worrying over his well-being. Snow glanced at you for a moment.
"Seems like the only thing I can do now is try and move on," he answered. Shortly thereafter, he smiled lightly and put his large hand on your shoulder, causing your heartbeat to go wild. "Thanks, (y/n). You're always there when I need you."
A shy smile tugged at your lips and your visage became warm again.
"It's the least I can do for you."
END
