Third Person Point of View:
"Sherlyn Marie Duquez, will you please give me the greatest honor of becoming my wife?" Brandon asked with tears in his eyes.
Sherlyn was speechless and everyone witnessing was excited. Everyone except for Zach. The sound of his heart being crushed into tiny pieces seeing how this should've been him rippled through his head. Sherlyn said yes and was really happy. Although she wanted to tell Zach that she sees him. That she sees the pain in those eyes.
It has sat there for 3 years of his lifetime. But she also saw love too, the love he would have given if he wasn't too late. Their feelings were still there, and one day Zach would set her free. He wanted to object and tell Sherlyn that he's not perfect, yet he loves her, and that he knows what love means. She would've given him a chance and prove all the love he claims he has for her.
"I'm so happy for both of you," Zach congratulated them, pain in his voice masked with the smile on his face.
Sherlyn smiled through the tears of joy. "Thanks Zachy,"
They say, emotional pain has a biological purpose, to teach, to educate us away from unhealthy patterns and relationships. Zach's been pushing back against pain for so long, medicating with friendship, with pointless dates, yet it returns in his weaker moments, devastating his mind. To keep repeating this pattern will only prolong it, keep the pain underneath when in truth it must rise. So tonight he made a bold choice, to welcome pain and heartbreak as friends, to let it teach him what it must.
Though he hates being vulnerable, strength will follow afterward. They say only the strongest of warriors choose their battles, this is his. He told himself, one day he'll find the right way to set her free. But for now, at least for now, Sherlyn would be his love. And to her, she will live with the memories of what has been, what could've been, and what was meant to be. She fell in lust for Zach at first but definitely loved him even after the collateral damage. If Brandon never came into her life, she would've taken Zach back although, she knows what she has now is a blessing from God.
A career she loves, friends who make her happy, a family that supports her in everything, and a fiance that does all three. Loves her, makes her happy and supports her in everything she does. Zach still does all those three but is forced to do them on the sidelines. Although he assumes that it's going to waste, Sherlyn knows.
Love was shared between the two, not the same type, but it's there. She saw him as a best friend and he saw her as more, but nobody gotta know... right?