Chapter 209 - back to being best friends (1/2)

Leo felt his heart shatter as he watched Claire cry; although he loved her, he didn't want her to feel uncomfortable because of his love for her.

''Please don't cry; I'm so sorry. '' Leo pleaded, closing the gap between them; he enveloped her in a hug. Claire wept in his arms; ''I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.''

She cried, her hands gripping his shirt tightly; ''God, Claire, please don't apologize; it's not your fault. I was the one who fell for you, and I'm sorry for making you cry, I'm so sorry. ''

Leo patted her back; although he would have wished for her to feel the same way about him, he didn't want it to be at the detriment of her own happiness.

They hugged for the longest time before Leo let go of her;

''I'm sorry for making you uncomfortable, I promise it would not happen again.'' Leo apologized sincerely. Even though she didn't love him back, he didn't want their friendship to end.

''Stop apologizing, you're making me feel bad, '' Claire whined, and Leo chuckled;

''Okay, okay, I won't apologize again. So we're good now? '' he asked with a smile and she nodded;

''Yeah, we're good '' Claire nodded.

'Alright, let me let you go, tomorrow's going to be really stressful, you need your sleep. '' Leo smiled standing up from the couch, Claire stood up after him;

''Thank you, I don't know what I would have done if you didn't want to be my friend anymore.''

''How can I not want to be your friend anymore, it's no possible. Come here. '' Leo opened his arms and Claire embraced him in a hug; even without saying anything, Claire knew the hug was just a friendly hug. No strings attached.

''Alright, goodnight now, will see you tomorrow; don't want to keep you up for long, today has been stressful '' Leo smiled and he walked her to the door.

''Goodnight; '' Claire bade him with a smile before walking out the door. As the door closed behind her, she couldn't tell how she felt. Everything was settled now, but why was she still feeling a pang in her heart?

Leo fell on the back of the door after she left, his eyes clouding with tears. He crouched down to the floor, bending his head over his knees. It was done now. She had told him to his face that she didn't love him. A light sigh left his lips;

He wasn't sure if he was glad or saddened by the news, but he was sure he felt sadness than any other feeling. He had waited years, watching her from the sidelines, suppressing his emotions for years unending, wishing that one day, she would see him, but until the very end, she did not. It was finally time… finally time to let her go.

Claire woke up a few minutes past eight, after taking a shower, she dressed up quickly, getting prepared for work. After doing her makeup and making sure she looked good, she picked up her phone from the bed, tapping on the screen to check if there were any calls from last night, her brows creased when she saw she had a message.

Bestie…

When she saw the sender, her heart fell into her stomach. She stared at her phone for the longest time before walking to her bed and sitting down;

'Claire,

I know you would be surprised to see this message, haha, don't worry, it isn't a terrible message wanted to let out the so many things in my heart, so I can finally let go of you.