Heartbreaker

Chapter 19: Announce

He avoided her, this time. Gold continued to flirt with and date every girl in sight, but he felt extremely guilty for doing so every time his thoughts wandered to (Name), which was really quite often.

He was afraid of rejection. (Name) had tried to talk to him on multiple occasions, but the male simply walked in the other direction, sometimes even running to get away. Gold knew he was being a fool, and that avoiding (Name) wouldn't help him in any way. But he had never been in this situation before; it was always the other way around, where the girls would run after him. He wasn't ready to accept that this case was different just yet.

As much as Gold wanted it all to be a cliche, romantic tale where both fell in love at first sight, the truth was, he hadn't. In fact, there were times when he hated her composed yet sarcastic personality. He found it absolutely infuriating, especially when she held grudges against him.

No, it wasn't as if she was some kind of angel that fell from the heavens, nor (Name) wasn't some kind of badass chick that could beat up a wrestler. But she definitely wasn't weak, that was for sure. She had her "moods", her phases, her imperfections. Gold wasn't surprised at the way she reacted to most situations, after all, he had experience with girls.

There was something special about her that he couldn't quite put his finger on. Perhaps it was her compassionate heart, or her humor, or perhaps, it was just that her tolerance level for him was so damn high. Gold didn't know, but it didn't matter, he knew that he loved her.

But there was a huge problem, that the male had not told her about. Her family.

Although Gold tried to play it off as nothing, in reality, bile had built in his throat at the mention of Giovanni Rocket being her father. That in itself seemed like a good enough reason to stop pursuing her.

Besides, he knew that it would be hard for him to settle into a relationship, even if it had been with a girl that he loved. It simply wasn't Gold, no, not at all. He thought himself lucky, that she came during senior year. Because after the next few months were over, he would never have to see her again.

Gold fixed his trusty hat, the only part of (Name) that he currently held close, before sending a charming smile toward a group of girls who were gossiping and giggling.

"Hi, Gold!" one called out, before covering her face in embarrassment, causing her friends to laugh. This is the way it had always been. He liked it this way. He wouldn't let a single person ruin it.

His copper eyes swept through the hallways, scanning for his friends. But the raven-haired boy felt his heart drop to his stomach as he made eye contact with none other than (Name). Shoving his hands into his pockets, he broke the gaze and looked the other way. Gold had used to find it ironic, maybe even pleasant, that they could always catch the other's glances. But now, it didn't seem to be helping him.

Gold swallowed nervously; he could feel sweat prickling the back of his neck, as the scene in the courtyard replayed for the umpteenth time, how she only glanced at him, expressionless, before uttering 'I understand' and leaving him red-faced and desperate.

He tried so hard to hate her for that, but he knew that she wasn't trying to hurt him. Being her best friend, the male knew what was important to her, and dating definitely wasn't one of those things.

(Name) knew that Gold was purposely trying to stay away from her, and it definitely hurt, a lot. The truth was, she had never even thought of the possibility of harboring romantic feelings for him. In fact, when he first confessed, she honestly thought he was joking. But his eyes held the ultimate truth.

Now that she knew of her friend's feelings, she wasn't sure what to do. (Name) had tried to approach him to talk about it all, but he refused to even go within ten feet of her. Sometimes, she couldn't help but wonder... what if she loved him too, and just didn't know it? This had happened before. Her body knew how to push down feelings to the point that she didn't know that they existed. (Name) had taught herself to behave this way, because she knew that showing too many emotions was a sign of weakness. But now, she was in an even more vulnerable position — she couldn't even understand herself.