Letting Go

chapter 2

And here Avi was.

Sitting around a table at a restaurant and listening to wedding talk on a Friday night. He tried so hard to be the best friend that Kirstie needed him to be, but it was really difficult when he nearly choked at the sight of them holding hands or him kissing her on the cheek or just anything affectionate, really.

He thought maybe having a little distance between them would help. So he pulled out a chair opposite Kirstin, but the distance plan flopped after two seconds when Kirstie cried, "Avi! Come and sit next to me." He grimaced slightly and sat down on the seat next to hers. 

"Momma would like to make a toast," Mitch declared, suddenly standing up with a glass of champagne in his hand. They all followed his lead, also standing up and raising their glass. "To Jeremy and Kirstie, may you two live a long life together filled with love, happiness and hopefully lots of Jerstie babies." Everyone cheered and toasted their glasses together while Kirstie and Jeremy locked eyes. Their love for each other was basically radiating off them while Avi just stood there and watched, feeling the pain in his chest deepen.

He excused himself and made his way to the bathroom, but was stopped by Kirstie who grabbed his wrist. "Hey, are you feeling okay? You've been kind of down this whole day." A warm feeling spread throughout his body. Kirstie cared about him. It quickly went away when he was thrown back into reality. Kirstie cared about him as a friend.

"Yeah, I'm sorry for being such a downer today. I've just been really tired but that's no excuse. It's one of the best days of your life and I should be celebrating with you, being a good friend. I'm sorry, Kirst."

"Don't be, we all have bad days, it just happened to be that yours was today." Kirstie locked her arms around Avi's torso and Avi gladly returned the favour. "Thanks for being my best friend in the whole world."

"Thanks for being mine too."

*** 

"So... are you ready to pour out all your feelings that I know you've been keeping in this entire day?" Kevin asked as they were driving home from the celebratory dinner. Avi tried hard, he really did, but he couldn't hold it in anymore. Tears rolled down his cheeks slowly while he whimpered, and Kevin tried his best to comfort him while keeping an eye on the road.

They eventually made it back to their apartment and Kevin made Avi sit down on the sofa and tell him everything. "I don't know what to do anymore, Kev. I lost her this time, I really lost her," he wailed. "I'm trying so hard to be happy for her but I can't help but think how I should be in Jeremy's position. I should be the one making her so happy but I only make her happy as a friend. She'll only ever see me as a friend. God, I'm so pathetic."

Kevin listened intently to every word coming from Avi's mouth, feeling his pain with him. It hurt the beatboxer to see his best friend in pain everyday because of someone else who was his other best friend. What a complicated situation.

"I'm so sorry, bud. I really don't know what to tell you except that you need to move on. It's going to hurt a lot and it's not going to be easy, but you can't live the rest of your life sulking over a woman who is taken." Avi exhaled deeply and nodded his head. Kevin was right, as always.

"Why are you so knowledgeable?" Avi asked, finally cracking a genuine smile for the first time that day.

"I don't know, but I'm going to bed," he grinned widely. "Goodnight, Avi," he patted his arm before trailing off to his room.

"Night, Kev."