I was desperate to understand, but I really couldn't wrap my head around what I had just heard from the dark-haired young man that stood in front of me. Maybe it was just a bad dream. That would explain what was happening. It had to be a bad dream, and I was bound to wake up any moment now, right? Any moment now... Please wake up... Please don't let it end like this...

"I'm sorry, but I just think we've gone as far as we can in our relationship. I'm sure you understand. Neither one of us is happy anymore right? After all, it's not like we've even been seeing much of each other lately. I think it's best if we both just move on, find someone else who can make us happy again like we used to do for each other, back before we drifted apart. I'll come by tomorrow while you're at work and get my stuff so we won't have to see each other again. I'll be spending the night at Rin's place, so I won't bother you anymore tonight. Goodbye." With those words, he turned around and walked out the door, leaving me behind as my world came crashing down around me.

Didn't he understand? I'd been putting all those extra hours in for him, not because I didn't want to be around him anymore. I'd wanted to surprise him for our three year anniversary. It was the longest I had been in a steady relationship before and I wanted him to know how special he was to me, sticking with me for so long even though we didn't get to spend as much time together as we both had wanted. But then again, maybe it was just me who had been feeling that way all this time?

Walking into the kitchen, I slid the top drawer open and pulled out the envelope, opening it to look down at the tickets I had gotten. He'd always wanted to go on a trip and I'd wanted to make at least that one dream of his come true, saving up several hundred dollars to buy us each a round-trip ticket to visit the distant hot springs he was always talking about.

It would have been a whole weekend together, just the two of us. It would have been a chance for his shoulder to get some extra recovery after the strain he'd put on it in high school. Did he think I'd not noticed how much it had been bothering him the past few months, as the weather began to get cooler? Or did he think I didn't really care? Did he think so little of me, while to me he was the center of my world?

Giving a broken laugh as I clutched the tickets in my hand, I walked out to the balcony and saw him exiting the building below me. Without a sound, I raised my hand and let go. Of the tickets, of my love for him and of my future at his side. The only words I spoke that night were a softly whispered "Goodbye Sousuke. I'd truly loved you."

I walked back inside without even bothering to look down at the shocked expression on his face as understanding began to dawn painfully upon him. Crumpled tickets in hand, he slowly made his way to the car that was awaiting him.

--------

It took a while before I was able to recover from the heartache I'd felt, over a week before I could return to work without looking haggard, nearly a month before I could give a smile that wasn't at least half faked. At the end of the third month, I was asked to meet with a possible new client for lunch.

Stepping into the quiet restaurant, I gave my name and was escorted to a table near the back of the candle-lit room. As I was early, I sat down at the still empty table and began pulling the paperwork I would be going over with the young man I was set to meet today. From the profile I'd read on him, it should be quite simple to get things started here and figure out what he was looking for from our company.

Several minutes later I almost jumped in shock when I heard the clearing of someone's throat directly across from me. Looking up quickly from the papers I had been reading over, I was met with deep green eyes that I refused to admit had my heart beating a bit faster than usual. It didn't help when he gave me a smile that seemed to make the whole room that much brighter. Giving myself a mental shake, I stood up and gave a small bow as I introduced myself.

"Hello, sir. I take it that you are the client I am here to meet, Tachibana-san?"

--------

Over the weeks that followed, I found myself growing to respect the young man I had met, both for the kindness that he showered upon the people around him and for the way he seemed to pick up on the smallest change in someone's feelings. When one of the children he taught was feeling sad, he was the first to notice it and was just as quick to figure out what was wrong and have the kid back smiling and running around with little more than a smile and a few softly whispered words.

Soon enough that respect grew into an affection that I was doing my best to ignore, not wanting to put my heart at risk again, even if I highly doubted that Tachibana would break it as heartlessly as Sousuke had. That didn't mean he would accept someone as broken as I was and I didn't want him to be with me out of pity either.

So I pushed my feelings to the back of my mind and continued the work I had been hired to do, hiding it from those around me how much my heart would race at the sound of his voice and fighting down the blush that wanted to surface each time our eyes would meet by chance. Knowing that the time I had left on this job was slowly coming to an end was both a curse and a blessing, wanting to stay beside him longer but knowing it was for the best, both for me and for him.

It would be cruel to drag this out longer, especially when the maroon-haired girl started coming around to visit. Having seen the smile when Tachibana greeted her the first time, I'd had to leave early to hide the pain I'd felt, knowing that someone else already had a place in his heart. No matter how big his heart, it wasn't in me to want a piece of what someone else already had.

If I wasn't going to be his, then he wouldn't be mine. I didn't want a repeat of last time. My heart couldn't take it.

--------

"It was a pleasure working with you, Tachibana-san. I am glad our company was able to meet your expectations." I didn't hide the smile as we looked at the finished building in front of us, the newly expanded swim school a true sight to behold with the large glass windows showing off the multiple new pools that were shimmering in the sunlight.

"You went above and beyond anything I could have asked for. The building looks amazing, both inside and out. Thank you for putting so much hard work into seeing this through to the end. I can see why your company praised your skills so much when they recommended you for the job." The brunette smiled at the blush that stained my cheeks.

Flustered, I thanked him and began saying my farewells. I was just about to leave when I felt a pair of gentle hands grip my arms from behind. A head came to rest on my shoulder as I stood there in mild shock, not having expected anything like this to happen, especially with the maroon-haired lady nearby.

"Tachibana-san? What are you doing?" I asked in a shaky voice, not sure what to expect anymore from the young man.

"I don't want you to leave. I like you. I don't want to stop seeing you each day, saying hello in the mornings and goodbye in the evenings. In fact, I would like to someday come to a point where instead of goodbye, I would be telling you goodnight. But that would have to be after we have been dating for some time and are ready to move in together," he spoke so calmly I would think we were discussing something less world-shattering than the current topic.

"B-but aren't you dating her already?" I asked almost brokenly as I pointed to the lady who stood wide-eyed next to the entrance of the building.

"You mean Gou? Goodness no! She's a childhood friend and dating her would be like dating my sister. Besides, I already told her I was interested in you." Feeling him shaking with laughter against my back, I tried and failed to fight down the blush at the thought of him so close to me.

"You... You like me? But why? I'm not-" My words faltered as I was quickly spun around to face him, his lips brushing softly against my own before I was pulled into a hug.

"What I feel for you went beyond just liking quite a while ago. I love you. I love everything about you. The way you smile when you are talking about something you like, the way you almost pout when something doesn't work out how you wanted it to, even the way you refuse to let your feelings for me get in the way of your job. But now that you aren't working for me anymore, I want you to stop hiding your feelings, okay?" I could feel myself begin trembling as he held me against him, his hands warm against my back.

I stayed silent as I couldn't help but remember the pain I'd gone through with Sousuke, the heartache as I'd realized my love for him had outlasted his for me.

"You don't have to worry so much. I love you at least as much as you love me and I don't plan on ever letting that change. If your feelings ever start to fade, I promise I'll do everything I can to bring them back to the same level as what I feel for you." Hearing his heart beating next to my ear as he spoke those words with so much conviction, I asked myself if maybe I could give love another chance, just this once.

--------

It was several years down the road that I saw him again, eyes staring sadly at me as I stood in shock, never having expected to run into him like this. Giving myself an internal shake, I nodded politely and turned to look at Sousuke. Smiling, I looked back and said a quiet goodbye to the man before me, turning around finally and walking to the nearby table where Makoto stood waiting for me.

Behind me the dark-haired man turned away, realizing that although people often get a second chance, his chance had been missed when he'd kept walking to the car. All he'd have needed to do to get me back that night would have been to turn around and come back to me, to ask for that second chance and start over. Instead, he'd gotten in the car and left, never regaining a place in my life.

As for me, my second chance had come in the form of Makoto, the green-eyed man who had given me what I'd needed most in life. Makoto gave me someone who would love me as much as I love him and for that, I would treasure him throughout my life.