Watching Her

Chapter 1 {Three Little Words}

Steven's POV:

I starred at the cold beer propped on the arm of my couch as my hand gripped tightly around the neck of the bottle. My hand was squeezing the glass so tightly I was surprised it didn't bust right there. The anger and regret was rising in my stomach, running through my body and all the way down to the tips of my fingers. I couldn't believe how stupid I had been and how much I resented sitting back all these years, watching as the girl I loved grew from a freckled faced toddler to a beautiful grown woman who held my entire heart right in the palm of her hand. She was also breaking it into a billion tiny pieces with three little words, 

"I'm getting married."

~ 2 HOURS EARLIER ~

"You're what?!" My eyes widened as the sound of her news flew through my ears like needles. How could she be getting married? She was just a kid! But she wasn't and I knew that, starring at her now in her tight black top that made me want to jump her bones, I knew she was no longer the child I used to babysit on Friday nights while our parents went out to the local pubs. She was a beautiful woman that still drove me crazy as she did as a teenager and still made my heart beat out of my chest every time she walked into the room.

"He asked me to marry him the night of graduation." 

She smiles and steps closer to me, holding up her hand that now had a large diamond accessory attached to the fourth finger. I stare down at it as she continues to move closer with a smile that makes my heart sink into my chest because unlike all the other times, I know I'm not the one that put that beautiful smile on her face....and I'm also the idiot who didn't put that ring on her finger.

I finally look back up at her face and I want to slap myself for what comes out of my mouth. "You're not pregnant are you?"

Her jaw drops in disbelief as she slaps me on the arm with a small chuckle. 

"No, I not pregnant, you idiot!" She laughs and shakes her head before starring down at the ring with that beautiful smile and whispering more words that continue to break my heart into even smaller pieces. "I'm in love."

I roll my eyes and step away from her, walking into the kitchen to grab a beer. "You're not in love. You're a child, Abby."

I can almost feel her mouth drop as my back remains to her. "I am not a child! I am almost nineteen for Christ's sake!" I can sense her stepping closer to me as she reaches from behind me into the fridge and pulls out a bottle of beer. She pops the top off and puts it to her lips but before she can take a sip I snatch it from her hands and take her sip.

I lower the beer bottle as the glares at me with those fierce dark brown eyes like she did when we were kids but her glare never seemed to affect me the way she wanted it to. I just simply smirk back at her and slam the fridge door before walking back over to the kitchen entrance of my small apartment. "You just turned eighteen last month, Abigail and even if you were nineteen...you still wouldn't be old enough to have a beer." I take another sip with that smug ass smirk that always seemed to make her previous glare even larger than before.

"Whatever. I'm still getting married and that's one thing...that you've never done." She returns my smart ass smirk, feeling very proud of herself before marching past me into the living room.

I shake my head in disbelief and follow her into the living room. "Do your parents know about this?"

She begins grabbing her coat and purse from my chair before looking up at me with distressed eyes. "I'm telling them tonight but I just wanted to come over here and tell my best friend before anyone else. I thought he would be the one person who would be happy for me...I guess I was wrong." She turns and walks towards my apartment door. 

I could tell she was honestly upset, we bickered all the time but I knew she was expecting me to be a little less of an ass just this once. She didn't understand what I was feeling but then again...how could she? I never told her how I felt even after all these years so here she was...left to wonder why her best friend, whom she's known her whole life, couldn't be happy about her engagement. 

I took a deep breath before setting my beer down on the coffee table and rushing over to push the door shut with one hand just moments after she pulls it open. She stares up at me with sad eyes as I stare down at her with a similar sadness yet completely different in every way imaginable. "I'm sorry, Abby. I want to be happy for you, I honestly do but...I just...I can't."

"Why not?"