2:00

I watched desperately as she walked away, swinging her hand, which was interlocked with his.1

Her beautiful blonde hair blew in the breeze, and I could see why he had fallen for her. The same reason I had.2

She was the most beautiful girl that I had ever seen, and, well, she was just amazing.3

I loved her. I had loved her since we had first met. And, you know, I think she had loved me too. Some time, I think she had felt that love towards me that I still felt for her now.4

I could almost hear her laughter from the room two stories above where she was walking. She stood on her tip-toes and kissed his lips. It killed me to watch her do that. I wished so much that it was me that could kiss her. Not him.5

I guess I would just have to forget my bitterness and carry on. If only she realized my feelings...6

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I sat down at the table in the office's break room. She was sitting there, eating a piece of cheese pizza.8

"Hey Nat," I said.9

"Oh, hey Chad!" She answered. "How's things." I shrugged.10

"Okay," I answered and sat down with my salad.11

"Just okay?"12

"Yeah. Just okay."13

"Why?" She questioned.14

I hesitated before answering, "I love someone. But they don't love me back."15

"That's silly. Everybody loves you," she said.16

"Not you." 17

"Hmm?" She asked. "I missed that."18

"Oh, I just said, 'not her.' That's all?" I lied.19

"Oh...okay. Why not."20

"They love someone else. Simple."21

"Oh, Chad. Don't worry about them. They have no idea what they're missing. Find someone else," she said. 22

She was so right when she said they didn't know. She obviously had no idea that it was her I was talking about. I threw away my salad and walked away.23

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Two weeks later I was woken up by frantic knocks on my front door. I glanced at the clock. 2:00. Who the hell is even up at this time? Then again, it was a Friday night...25

I hobbled to my door and swung it open. Natalie was standing their, fresh bruises on her face.26

"What happened?" I asked and stepped aside to let her in.27

"He hit me." She answered. "Chad, I'm sorry. I wouldn't have woken you up, but I didn't know where else to go. We were living together, I didn't have a house. You're my-"28

"Shh. It's fine," I interrupted her. "I'm just glad you left." I kissed her forehead. "Come on. You can sleep in my room, in the bed. I'll sleep on the couch."29

"Chad, I don't want to. I woke you up. You should at least be able to go back to your own bed."30

I shook my head. "Go. I'll talk to you tomorrow." Then I stumbled over to the closet, found a spare set of sheets, and set up a makeshift bed on the couch.31

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I was up at 8:00. I walked to the kitchen and pulled out some eggs. 33

Natalie stumbled out of the bedroom thirty minutes later. "Breakfast?" She asked hopefull. I nodded, and she grabbed a plate of scrambled eggs and bacon.34

"Thanks Chad. Thanks for everything," she said as she brought up her empty plate. I smiled. "And, I'm sorry."35

"For what?"36

"For not realizing that you're the one that I want to be with."