her. -- an original short story

she listened.

no matter what he said, she always listened. she was silent, taking it all in, no matter how emotional he got, and no matter how long the rambling went on. she would remember it too, referring back to it in future conversations if something came up along the lines. 

she wasn't always there, and when she was never there, he realized what he lost.

he had called her plenty of times during the night, because he'd woken up and needed help figuring out just what his mind wanted him to see. she'd been groggy of course, everyone was when woken up at two or three a.m., but there were other nights where she was awake. he always asked her why she was and it was the same thing, every time.

"doesn't matter about me, what's up?"

so he talked. and she listened.

even throughout the night, no matter how long he talked. she listened.

they had never talked before he dated her friend. he loved her friend, and she loved her friend. they were sisters, joined at the hip, arms entwined with their steps in sync. they smiled together, did everything together, so it was natural when she became his friend too. that he became her friend.

everyone knew her, everyone loved her. she was easy to get along with, easy to find company in. she was a part of their little group, but she was a friend to everyone. she listened to everyone if they needed. there wasn't a time that she wasn't listening.

even when she sat next to her beloved friend on the phone with him, listening to him cry because he couldn't handle the break up. even when her allegiance to her sister, she still told him that it would be okay and that he would make it out of this stronger than anyone around him. she told him that life would get better, and it did.

for him.

he didn't listen to her. not that it seemed she had much to say anyway, but that might have been because he didn't give her a chance to talk. she wasn't the type to talk about her troubles, always told him that she never wanted to be a burden. 

he should've told her that she wasn't.