No Regrets

You never thought you'd see him again, yet there he was. 

Dark hair. Bronzed skin. Hazel eyes. 

He exuded the same boyish charm he had when you were younger. But he was no longer the teenage boy with the dimpled smile you remember. He was older, had more muscle and longer hair. But he was still gorgeous. 

Your friendship started on the first day of high school. He introduced himself as he took the seat next to you. To this day, it still blew your mind that he wanted to be your friend. The two of you couldn't have been more different. He was an athlete, and you were a science nerd. There wasn't really much you had in common. Yet, your friendship grew stronger with each passing day. 

And so did your feelings for him. 

You never acted on them, though. You knew he only saw you as a friend. And as much as it hurt, you still wanted him to be a part of your life. Even if it was in a platonic way. 

So you buried them as deep as you could, and spent your high school years in the friend zone. 

Now almost a decade later, and one glance has all those feelings threatening to boil over. 

"What are the chances of us running into each other here?" He asked with a grin. 

You offered him a polite smile and internally cursed your luck. 

"It's been a while." He continued. 

You nodded because you couldn't get your mouth to work. Seeing him was a total shock and you thought your heart would beat right out of your chest. 

"You wanna grab a coffee and catch up?" He asked. 

"No, I really don't," your brain told you. But your heart answered. 

"Sure,” you found yourself saying instead. 

The two of you walked side-by-side as you made your way towards a nearby coffee cart. For a moment it felt like nothing had changed. But you knew that wasn't true. 

Because you changed. 

No longer were you the shy girl with an unrequited love. That girl grew up and moved on with her life. 

It felt good to catch up. You’d admit to that much. But you knew that staying in contact would be a mistake. You knew that even before he suggested it. 

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” you told him. 

He frowned in confusion. “Why not?” 

"Just say it," you silently reminded yourself. You knew you'd regret it if you didn't. 

“Look, I’m sorry that I never kept in touch.” He apologised and you could see that he was being sincere with his words. “You were my best friend, Aly. I should have made more of an effort.” 

Your heart clenched at the word ‘friend’. That was all you were to him.

And that was all you would ever be. 

“You meant more than that to me,” you told him softly. “You were the first boy I ever loved,” you admitted for the first time. Hearing yourself say those words felt foreign, but it felt good to get it out in the open. 

You glanced at him and noticed that his eyes widened slightly at the admission. He looked confused and a part of you was glad that he felt that way. 

“I didn’t know that.” He finally said after a short pause. 

You smiled slightly, then replied, “I know.” 

“Why are you telling me this now? Why not back then?” 

He looked genuinely interested in knowing why you hid your feelings for him when you were teenagers. 

You blew out a breath, then shrugged. “I don’t know. I guess I was afraid that it would mess up our friendship,” you answered him as honestly as you could. “I had a near-death experience a couple years ago,” 

He turned his head to look at you. “What? Are you okay? What happened?” He asked concernedly, the previous tension between the two of you disappearing. 

You shook your head, indicating that it wasn’t a big deal. “I’m fine. It sounds a lot more dramatic than it actually was,” You told him, then went on to explain what had happened at your office one morning.  

There was a power outage in the area and you got stuck in one of the lifts. It took a few hours before they were able to get you out. You saw his facial expression change from concern to understanding because he knew you weren’t great with confined spaces. 

“You didn’t get hurt, did you?” 

You shook your head. “Besides almost having a panic attack, no,” you answered. “Anyway, the reason why I told you that is, after that day I promised myself that I would live my life without any regrets.” 

He didn’t respond immediately. 

“I know it’s cheesy but,” you started to say but he interrupted you. 

“I didn’t think so.” He answered. “I’m sorry, it’s just a lot to process.” 

You shrugged. “It’s okay,” A part of you felt relieved. “I also promised myself that if I ever saw you again, I’d tell you how I felt.” 

He was quiet as he absorbed the information. “What about now? Do you still feel that way?” He asked curiously. 

You sighed. “I think a part of me will always love you. But a lot has changed since high school,” you watched him nod in agreement. 

“Besides, I think we both ended up with who we were supposed to,” you told him as you pointed to his left hand. “How long have you been married?” 

“About two years now.” He told you with a smile. “What about you?” 

“Well, I’m not married, but I am seeing someone,” you admitted with a shy smile. 

“He must be really special.” 

You heard him say. 

“You’re blushing.” He pointed out with a chuckle. 

You frowned as you tilted your head to the side. “No, I’m not,” you denied even though it was probably true. 

He scoffed and raised an eyebrow. “You’ve always been a terrible liar. I’m glad some things haven’t changed.” 

You found yourself laughing and it reminded you of how things used to be. 

“So, how did the two of you meet?” He asked. 

“That’s actually a funny story,” you answered and noticed that he looked interested in knowing how you and Ashton met. “Remember the near-death experience I mentioned earlier?” 

He nodded. 

“We met that day. He was the one that got me out of the elevator,” you continued. “I was such a wreck and he was completely calm.” 

“Did he work in the building?” He asked. 

You shook your head. “Another fun fact is that I was caught between two floors, which made getting me out a little tricky. So, they had to call the fire department.” 

“No way.” He winced and you knew it was because he could only imagine how mortifying that must have been for you. “So, he’s a firefighter?” He guessed. 

You nodded. 

“So, let me get this straight, he rescues you from the confines of an elevator box, then asks you out?” 

"Not quite. We ran into each other a couple weeks later," you paused. "Then he asked me out." 

"And you've been together ever since." He guessed. 

You nodded with a smile and as you looked out ahead of you, a familiar face caught your eye. 

“Is that him?” He asked as he followed your line of sight. 

“Yeah,” you answered. The shock of seeing Jay almost made you forget that you had a lunch date with Ashton. 

“Go. Don’t keep the guy waiting.” He told you. 

You wanted nothing more than to join Ashton, but you also didn’t want to leave things with Jay in a weird place. “Are we okay?,” you asked him as you stood from your seats. 

He nodded. “We are.” He confirmed and leaned in for a hug. “Take care of yourself, Alyssa.” 

You returned the hug and felt like a load had been lifted from your shoulders. “You too.” 

“And who knows, maybe we’ll run into each other again and you’ll be married too.” He mentioned. 

You never really thought of yourself as the marrying type, but you knew that if Ashton asked you tomorrow, you’d say yes in a heartbeat. “Maybe,” you replied with a smile. With one last glance, you strolled towards the guy you knew had your heart. 

“Mid-day coffee dates with other guys, should I be worried?” Ashton asked as he tilted his head to the side. 

His sense of humour was one of the things you loved about him. You chuckled then threw your arms around his neck. “Not even a little,” you promised before kissing him. “Just an old friend from high school I ran into.” 

“This wouldn’t happen to be the high school crush, would it?” 

He knew you too well. 

You nodded. 

“Are you okay?” 

“Yeah,” You answered with a smile. 

“Good.” He grabbed onto your hand as you started walking towards a nearby cafe. "Cause you definitely leveled up, babe."