*****

Where there is love there is pain.

*****

Sharleen.

Wedding.

Soon.

Devlin felt like a brick had been shoved down his throat and he was forced  to down it with acid instead of water.

Love is never too easy. It comes with complications. And the beauty of love is when you are able to crack the complications and enjoy what's inside, which, ladies and gentlemen, is very exhausting.

Right now Devlin could not believe his ears that the girl he loved, the one he was fantasizing about, the one that was occupying his dreams, is about to get marriage. I mean... how much fucked up can it get?

The worse part about this is that Sharleen could not even look at him at the moment. It was like the tiled floor was much more interesting than his unwanted presence.

He felt like shouting i love you to her, or maybe go down on his knees and confess his love like he sees in movies, but it was as if his whole body had shut down, making him feel like a statue.

"Ahhhh... I gotta go." Was all his mouth was able to formulate the moment he got hold of himself and his legs did not disappoint him and stormed out of the place as fast as they could take him without running.

"That was weird." He heard someone whisper, maybe Nicole or one of the companions, he wasn't sure, but the person surely did not want him to hear the statement. Neither did he.

The cool wind welcomed him the moment he stepped out of the store. Taking in a very deep and needed breath, he tried his hardest to calm his throbbing heart.

Walking can do me good, he thought, and walk he did.

Walking aimlessly while his mind was also doing the same walking but down memory lane.

This bad luck shit started the moment Nicole came in the picture. Ever since she introduced herself to him, fate regarded him as if he was a cursed man.

It was as if the being responsible for planning his life was in a fucking deep sleep that it forgot all about him.

First, Nicole ruined the cake present.

Second, she invited me to her house where, lucky me, you were unfortunately not there.

Third, she took the letter i wrote for YOU... Yeah, it's missing.

Fourth, she just dropped the bomb on me that you are getting married very casually like she was ordering popcorn or ice-cream!

If she wasn't Sharleen's best friend, Devlin could have given Nicole the middle finger... well, figuratively speaking.

But Devlin could not blame Nicole. He was not a fool either, he knew of Nicole's attraction to him. The only problem was that his heart fell for another.

Sharleen.

What was he supposed to do now? She has a man, she is engaged, she is soon to be married, what the fuck should he do?

Should he convince her to leave her fiancee for him? Of course he himself is a good man and he loved her. He could take care of all her needs and always make her happy.

But is that enough?

Is that enough to make her cancel her almost wedding for him? Is that enough reason for Sharleen to look his way and give him a chance at love?

Love sucks!

Big time!

"Jesus Christ!... Is that really you?" Devlin was brought out of his inner discussion by a very familiar voice.

"Has your shitty head already forgotten my name Kevin? Since when am i Jesus?" Devlin greeted his friend sarcastically.

"My shitty head knows your fucking name thank you very much. I've been following you for like an hour! I didn't know you sleepwalk my guy!" Kevin grins.

"I don't sleepwalk, loser. Am just... thinking." Devlin vaguely explained.

"Just to remind you in case you just teleported from another planet, its past 10pm and normal people are supposed to be indoors sleeping not 'thinking' as you call it, in the middle of nowhere!"

Shit! Has it been that long? Have i been roaming around and thinking for all those hours? Damn, time DOES move fast!

As if his body was confirming that he had indeed been walking for that long, Devlin started feeling his joints hurting, the desire to sit down and rest more prominent than ever.

Looking at his surroundings, Devlin discovered they were standing on the pedestrian side of the road, too deep in town and too far from home for his liking.

First things first, Devlin needed to make peace with his complaining legs.

"Can we like find a place to sit down if you are going to bombard me with all these questions?" Devlin pleaded.

"Damn! I never thought the day would come when the big bad Devlin would plead with poor and helpless me! I need to record this for future reference." Kevin said amused.

Devlin glared his friend hoping he would buy his fake anger. He knew that if he continued replying him then they would surely never move from there. It was as if Kevin had comebacks stored in his head ready to be used all the time!

"Fine, lets go! That look can make someone shit in his pants man, save that for the terrorists or something in the barracks. It's not fair using it on my poor soul." Kevin grumbled leading Devlin out there.

"Where are we going?" Devlin found himself asking.

"Don't worry I am not going to kidnap you. I know the perfect place." Kevin answered clapping his hands.

'The perfect place for what?' Devlin wanted to ask but honestly he was too
tired to. Like a sheep following the leader, he followed Kevin without asking anything else.

"What are we doing here?" Devlin asked completely confused.

"It was either here or the cemetery." Kevin shrugged.

The two friends were now standing in front of a very big church. The surrounding was comfortably quiet, added by the fact that it was at night. The security lights decorated all round the church and made the big cross on top of the entrance door visible.

"I thought i told you i wanted a place to sit down and rest, not getting a sermon you dumbass!" Devlin shook his head at his friends stupidity while sitting on one of the chairs at the entrance, too tired to continue standing.

"I brought you here to confess, thank you very much."

"Let me guess, you will play the priest part."

"Of course I will! Unless you want the actual priest."

"Why are you even here? You are supposed to be at home." Devlin asked after some minutes of an uncomfortable silence.

"I know what you are trying to do there," Kevin said pointing his friend "Avoiding the elephant in the house, are we? But to answer your question, i was coming back from visiting my mum." Kevin answered.

"How's she by the way?" Devlin asked, buying himself some time.

"She's there i guess, same old mum." Kevin answered with a sigh.

Kevin's mum was... different. You could say she was the opposite of Devlin's mum. Ever since her husband passed away, Kevin's mum kept everything to herself. She had changed drastically. From a cheerful, kind and caring person to a distant and silent one. The only person who she could have a proper conversation with was now her son and maybe a handful of relatives could be tolerated by her. All in all Kevin seemed to be her only strength and reason to move on so Kevin did his best and tried to visit her as much as he could.

"Okay... Now talk." Kevin said after a short pause.

Devlin did not know where to start from. What he knew was that he needed to let it out or else his head might bust. If not his head then his heart.

"Remember the lady i told you about?" His friend nodded. "She has someone."

Silence prevailed for some minutes. None of them said anything. Each one of them in thoughts.

"Wooow. That's... Is she married?" Kevin asked slowly.

"Does it matter? Whether she has a boyfriend or fiancee or husband, it doesn't matter. The point is she has fucking someone Kevin! And i can't do shit!" Devlin cursed.

"Am starting to think that this needed a real priest." Kevin tried lightening the mood.

"No shit."

"Careful with the cursing, we are at a holy place man, lest thunder strike your dirty mouth." Kevin reminded his friend.

"Sorry."

"Did you tell her? That you love her i mean?" Kevin asked.

"Things got... complicated. I didn't." Devlin sighed. "But i feel it man. I feel the love, and i have been feeling it since the first time i saw her. I can't explain it but i feel it to my bones. Its like her heart is calling me to be with her." Devlin opened up to his friend.

"Look at you going all Shakespeare! Damn, you almost gave me a hard-on here." Kevin grinned but the glare he received from his friend made him stop. "Tell her that." Kevin said to him.

"What do you mean?"

"Tell her what you told me. Tell her how much you love her."

"Did i tell you she is with someone?"

"Yes you did."

"Then you know what you are saying won't work."

"What will you loose if you just tell her that you love her? Best scenario she would kiss you and say she loves you too and worst scenario she would slap you. You are a big man, you can surely take a slap."

Kevin's words made the non existing hope surge in Devlin's heart. Maybe he could have her. Maybe they could have a happy ending after all. He deserved it and she deserved the unconditional love that he was willing to give her.

But...

"What about her lover?" Devlin suddenly asked.

"Well... If they were truly in love then she won't leave him for you." Kevin stated as a matter of fact. "But you can't know unless you try. Maybe they are just together because they are comfortable with each other, maybe because their friends or family fixed their relationship. The point is this might be your only shot at experiencing true love, you have to decide if you have the balls to fight for it."

"Have you ever considered becoming a relationship shrink or something. The world could use some guru like you." Devlin smiled.

"Well those are some perks of being a lawyer i guess." Kevin shrugged. "But that's what i did too, to my one and only fiance aka my next week wife." Kevin said grinning.

"What did you do?" Devlin asked curiously.

"Well, she was this beautiful, kind, sweet and smart girl and day by day she made me love her more. I mean she was better than perfect in everything she was doing. I was afraid of even asking her to be my girlfriend, let alone propose to her. But i guess i have my disease to thank, gave me the courage to propose and she said a fucking yes!" Kevin explained to his friend smiling, while thinking about his fiancee.

"Wow. Okay... I need to pull up my game too. Whatever the outcome, I'll take it as a man." Devlin declared, more to himself than to his friend.

"That's my best friend right there. Am betting all my money on you man, don't let me down." Kevin patted him.

"This isn't a game for you to bet smartass." Devlin warned his friend. "Talking about you, how's the doctor's appointment going?"

"Nothing is coming up. Doctor said I am as clean as a newborn, no trace of the fucking disease." Kevin answered.

"That's good. Let's keep up the appointments for a month or two for us to be really sure." Devlin advised.

"Sure dad. Anything else?" Kevin asked sarcastically while rolling his eyes.

"As much as i would love to chat with you non stop, i am a human being and i deserve some rest." Devlin said yawning.

"Yeah! That's the thank you i get after giving you my precious advice. Not even a fucking hug? God, why did you give me such an ungrateful friend?" Kevin asked dramatically while looking to the sky.

"I will never hug you Kevin, maybe if you go nude to work then i shall reconsider." Devlin suggested smirking.

"I guess that means no hug then."

"You are such a genius, you figured it out!"

"May you choke on your words while confessing your undying love."

"Go home Kevin. Don't start with your bad omens please." Devlin groaned.

"Fine. But make sure you tell her sooner than later. You might not know what tomorrow holds."

"I will keep that in mind. Goodbye Shakespeare."

"Goodbye lovesick puppy."

When Devlin reached home, it was a couple of minutes past midnight and he was thankful his mother did not wait up for him. He quickly warmed up his supper and ate in silence, his mind going back to what his friend told him.

He needed to do something.

And he needed to do it soon.

And when is the soonest than now?

Finishing his meal, Devlin quickly disappeared in his room and fished out his phone. There is only one person who can help him contact Sharleen that very moment.

Nicole.

Not wasting any minute, Devlin called Nicole's number and after two rings his call was picked.

"Hi handsome! How are you?" Nicole's extremely happy but tired voice was heard.

"Hi too Nicole. Sorry to wake you up at this time of the night." Devlin started smoothly.

"It's not a problem really. I am happy you called." Nicole said cheerfully.

"So... Umm...  Could you help me with Sharleen's contact?" Devlin asked awkwardly.

"Oh..." Nicole's very disappointed voice came along.

"There is something i would like to inform her immediately. Please?" Devlin begged. Damn! Love, look what you make me do!

"Let me call her and ask for her permission to give you her contact, if she might be still awake that is." Nicole said and sighed.

The thought of asking for permission to give him the number made him panic a little but he swallowed the fear back. Positive thoughts and feelings dear mind. We got this. "Sure, ask her and call me back."

Ten minutes. Nothing.

Twenty minutes. Nothing.

Devlin was now walking back and forth in his little bedroom. His eyes shooting several glances to his phone for any form of notification. His sweaty fingers were crossed and his heart beating at an abnormal speed.

When the phone vibrated, Devlin dived to his bed quicker than superman to check the message. I think i should apply for goal keeping position in the National team. I have the skills!

The message was indeed from Nicole, and in it a contact information he concluded was for Sharleen. He wanted to scream but couldn't do so freely with his mom in the same house, dead at night, lest he be taken to a mental hospital. So he did the first thing he could; scream in his pillow.

Quickly thanking Nicole, Devlin debated what to do with the contact. He could not call her. He could not trust his voice. Not when it came to Sharleen. She had a way of making him make a fool of himself unknowingly. He smiled.

Deciding that texting was safer, Devlin picked his phone and started typing.

Devlin
Hello Sharleen.

Really sweet man! You are not chatting with your damn sister! Devlin scolded himself.

Counting his own heartbeats, Devlin reached 265 when his phone vibrated. Trying to calm his breath too, he peeped with one eye to read the message.

The One
Hey Devlin. What's up?

The One. That's how Devlin saved Sharleen. Cheesy i know, but she is my one, one shot at love.

Considering his friends words, Devlin did not want to beat around the bush. Gathering enough courage, he typed the words. Did you know typing eight words can drain all your energy and make you hungry too?

Devlin
Can we meet tomorrow? Matters of the heart❤

*****