Loving You Was Never the Plan

Another Side

Leorio looked deeply conflicted. All the effort he’d put into persuading me seemed to be hanging by a thread. But frankly, that wasn’t my problem. He was the one who needed me, which meant it was only fair for me to raise the stakes a little. He pursed his lips.

“Fine. Is that all?” He had surrendered. My threat had worked, and I smiled in triumph. Though, in hindsight, I felt a tiny bit of regret. Why hadn’t I asked for a gold bracelet and necklace too? I was pretty sure he would have bought them for me as well, even if only under duress.

“What kind of wedding do you actually want?” I asked because he didn’t seem satisfied with just those two suggestions. There was more to planning a wedding, of course. But at its core, the most important things were the rings and the vows. Though in our case, we had already broken the spirit of those vows before even saying them.

“A wedding that makes us look like a real bride and groom.”

A real bride and groom? That would only require good acting. Which was exactly why I was far more interested in emphasizing affection than extravagance.

“I don’t know. I don’t want you wasting your money on some huge party. Honestly, you’d be better off just giving all that money to me, and I’ll make you look like a real groom.” The moment I said that, his expression turned horrified. It was as if Leorio had somehow read my mind. Which was actually convenient, because I had no desire to explain my ideas in detail. Thinking too much about weddings tended to drag up memories of my past, including the face of that jerk I had worked so hard to erase from my life.

“I have a very bad feeling about this.” His expression was full of suspicion, as though he thought I was about to do something deeply inappropriate to him.

“Trust me. I’m not some creep who’s going to put my hands on you. Besides, shouldn’t I be the one who’s worried?” He frowned as if my statement made absolutely no sense.

“Why would you need to worry? You know perfectly well that my orientation does not include you.” He waved his hand dismissively. I laughed at his response.

“Well, who knows? Maybe you’ll get tempted and suddenly want to experience my incredibly sexy body.”

“In your dreams, i***t! The thought of making a move on you is enough to disgust me.” He visibly shuddered. Oddly enough, I wasn’t offended. But if he had been a “normal” man, I probably would have rewarded that comment with a punch straight to the arm. Of course, with all my love and gratitude.

***

Ren stared at the wedding invitation in his hands, even turning it over as if he still couldn’t believe it. Eida was getting married?

His ex-wife, the woman who loved money more than anything, was getting married again only a few weeks after their divorce had been finalized? He simply couldn’t wrap his head around it. It was too sudden. No, more than sudden, it was absurdly sudden. Had Eida been seeing someone behind his back before the divorce? Was that why she was able to move on so effortlessly, straight into another marriage?

“How much more do you plan to hurt me?” A bitter smile tugged at Ren’s lips. His expression tightened, weighed down by emotions he could no longer ignore. There was still one thing he had never managed to say properly, even now. An apology.

It remained lodged deep in his heart, sharp and unresolved. Their marriage had ended because of a misunderstanding. And what was left now, other than guilt?

***

“I got a wedding invitation from Leorio. Did you get one too?” Claire offered a faint, bittersweet smile as she held up the invitation she had received. It should have been happy news, but neither of the two women could truly celebrate it. She wasn’t the only one carrying unspoken feelings for Leorio.

The woman standing before her, Grace, had suffered the same fate. Both of them had loved someone they could never have. They had lost before they had ever truly begun.

“Grace…” The woman once described as a heavenly angel looked visibly nervous as she held her invitation.

“I’m fine. I’m happy for them. Eida has been Leorio’s best friend for years, so it’s not strange that they ended up together.” Grace smiled until her eyes curved like crescents. But Claire knew that smile wasn’t genuine.

Since the day Leorio rejected her, Grace had carried that quiet pain with her. Claire, thankfully, had moved on much faster. Grace, on the other hand, had always been slower when it came to matters of the heart. That forced smile was proof enough that she still hadn’t fully let go of a love story that had never even had the chance to begin. It was heartbreaking.

Claire knew Grace had loved Leorio far longer than she ever had. But all Grace had ever done was support him from afar, never once making a move. She always insisted it was just admiration, nothing more. But Claire knew better. It was love and perhaps this moment would be Grace’s final act of honoring Leorio’s choices. She would have to accept that no matter how hard she tried, Leorio was simply beyond her reach. The painful truth was that, in Leorio’s eyes, Grace had been little more than a pebble on the roadside, unnoticed and overlooked. Cruel, but true.

“I’m more concerned about your happiness than theirs. You’re not okay.” Claire had always been blunt. Her words caught Grace off guard. She clearly hadn’t been prepared to face the truth so directly, and being seen so clearly was more than a little embarrassing.

But then Claire softened, offering her gentlest smile. Knowing Grace’s history, there was no way she could play the role of a cruel friend and make things worse.

“So, how about we go dress shopping for their wedding instead? We need to show Leorio exactly what kind of women he turned down. Let’s make him impressed and regretful at the same time.” With renewed energy, Claire grabbed Grace’s hand and pulled her along. She didn’t want to leave Grace alone with her thoughts. She was certain that if left by herself, Grace would end up crying over the fact that the man she had cherished most was marrying someone else.

If Leorio could find happiness, then Grace deserved happiness too and secretly, Claire prayed that her efforts might ease even a little of the ache in Grace’s heart. Better yet, she hoped Grace would still be able to smile, even after watching her dream of being with Leorio slip quietly out of reach.