A joking retort, trips off my tongue,
And falls into this jumbled mess of a conversation.
He laughs. I laugh.
I smack his shoulder with my folder.
He smiles his endearing smile.
Speeding my heart till it near gives out.

It should be so easy, him and me.
As easy as thinking, as breathing, as a heartbeat.
It should have been so easy. But fate has other plans.
We should have been, we could be,
but we stand
Stubbornly in the way.

Denial, nervous and false, slips off my tongue, when they inquire.
So much easier, so much simpler than reality.

We’ve been friends for years. We’ve each wanted more,
At various points in our history,
But those points have never overlapped.
All we ever needed was an overlap, something to stand on,
Something to love on.
But fate has other plans.
But fate
Stands as stubbornly as we do,
In the way.
Silencing any thoughts
Of something more than a friendship.
Of something more than a one-sided crush.
Of anything other than what it has been,
Of what it will continue to be.
Of what we are.