I didn’t mean to let you down, you have to believe it
I don’t know what went through my mind, but now I can see
That I waited too long to tell you how much it matters
Just to be right here with you
But I couldn’t think of anything better, I should have told you so

She had gone through her closet a dozen times trying to find the perfect dress to wear. She had tried her damnedest to get out of going to the party, but since she was being forced to go, she needed to be a knock out. She finally settled on a fitted, black halter dress. She wore black heels and wore her shoulder-length brown hair down. She heard her phone ringing from the bathroom. She went over to it and picked it up. “Hell?” She answered.

“It’s almost nine o’clock!” Her best friend said frantically. “You promised you would be here.” Her best friend, , was throwing a huge New Year’s Eve party. She had invited their friends, , , , and . had a huge crush on for the entire duration of their friendship, but was too much of a coward to act on it. had tried to convince that liked her, too, but could not accept that to be the truth. “And he’s hardly drinking.” sounded panicked. She had been hoping that would get drunk enough to kiss her when they brought in the New Year.

“Okay, calm down.” laughed. She grabbed her purse and headed for the door. “First of all, I’m sure is going to kiss you whether he’s drunk or not. Second of all, I’m getting in the car now. I’m on my way.” She could hear let out a sigh of relief on the other end. “ …” She began, but stopped before she finished.

“What’s up?” asked.

“Never mind. I’ll see you soon.” hung up the phone and shoved her Blackberry in her pocketbook. She was going to ask if was there, if he had asked about her, if he looked as completely irresistible as she knew he probably did, but she knew would tell she had asked. She locked her door, got into the car, and headed to the party.

Baby open your heart, won’t you give me a second chance

And I’ll be here forever
Open your heart, let me show you how much I care
And I will make you understand, if you open your heart to love me once again

As soon as she walked in, she headed straight to the bar. She wanted to get at least one drink in her before she talked to anyone. She ordered a glass of Jack Daniels on the rocks and chugged the whole glass. Just as she finished, she felt a pair of arms pull her into a hug.

“I knew you’d come.” grinned at her. “You had to spend New Year’s Eve with your favorite people.” Out of the guys, was ’s closes friend. He was one of the main reasons had gone to the party along with moral support for .

“You begged me to.” laughed. “You were so pathetic, I had to come.” hugged her again.

“Care to dance?” He asked her.

“I’d love to, , but I’m afraid if I’m going to survive this night, I’m going to need to get a few more drinks into me.”

“ !” She heard shriek from somewhere across the room. Within seconds, was pulling into a hug. “ ’s here.” grinned.

“Lovely.” rolled her eyes.

“ and I were just dancing.” grinned.

“Fantastic.” laughed. “This creeper is trying to dance with me.” She poked in the stomach. “Take him off my hands, will ya?” She asked .

“Wow, thanks.” mocked a hurt face. grabbed by the arm and dragged him to the dance floor. could be seen from the other side of the room, staring at the two of them. He did not look amused. ordered another drink. She turned around to face the dance floor as she sipped her drink. She scanned the room, looking for a sign of him. Even though she hated him so much at the time, she still longed to see him. She felt a shiver run up her spine as he whispered into her ear, his warm breath causing her body to react. She hadn’t seen or heard him approach.

“You look fantastic.” She heard him clearly. She didn’t know whether to run away from him or turn around and kiss those perfect lips. She stepped away from him and looked him over. He wore a pair of black dress pants, a black dress shirt, and a royal blue tie. His hair stuck out in every direction. He looked fantastic, too, but she wouldn’t tell him that. rolled her eyes at him. “I’m glad you’re here.”

“Yeah, well the feeling is NOT mutual.” She replied. Suddenly, she remembered how angry she was with him. For so long, they were best friends, each of them longing for something more, but neither of them strong enough to act on it. At the beginning of September, when they finished their tour, had confessed to that he had missed her so badly and couldn’t hide his feelings any longer. He said that despite the effects it could have on their friendship, he couldn’t forgive himself if he didn’t try. had feelings for as well and agreed that they should give a romantic relationship a chance. At first, things were great. The couple spent all of their time together. called or text messaged every chance he got. felt like adored her. In November, when the guys started recording their new album, became obsessed with his work. It didn’t really bother that was so passionate about work, but his passion for her seemed to fade. Twice, he stood up, claiming that he had been too engrossed in his recording session and forgotten all about their date. The third time was the time that sent over the edge. had asked to meet him at their favorite park on Christmas Eve. It was freezing and waited over an hour for work. An hour later, when showed up, was in tears. He had been so involved in recording the new album that he had left all of his Christmas shopping until the last minute which made him late for his date with . He had planned on taking their relationship up a level at Christmas by telling he loved her. She couldn’t have been more upset with him. She told him that she couldn’t be with someone who made a habit of forgetting about her and she walked away from him. Despite his several attempts to see , and his consistent phone calls and text messages, refused to talk to . Now, here at her best friend’s New Year’s Eve party, she was forced to do exactly that.

“I’m sorry I hurt you.” looked down at the floor, suddenly not looking like his usually confident self. “I didn’t put you first. I know I should have.” grunted.

“It’s too little too late . You don’t stand up your girlfriend on Christmas Eve. Not to mention the other two times you stood me up or all of the unanswered calls and texts. For all I knew, you had someone else on the side.” gasped and shook his head. He didn’t understand how she could say that. Maybe he was busy with work, but he cared about a lot. He could never hurt her that way. “You did, . That someone else is Westlife.” She sighed. Tears were beginning to form in her eyes. “I would never ask you to put the band on hold for me, but you put me on hold for Westlife. Couldn’t we have coexisted? I wasn’t asking you to take time off, or miss sessions, or anything like that. I was only asking for a simple phone call or text message or an unbroken promise.” Tears began streaming down her cheeks.

“ …” He reached to caress her cheek, but she pushed his hand away. “You mean a lot to me. You were never second to Westlife. It’s been so long since I’ve been in a serious relationship. I didn’t have my priorities straight.”

“Serious? Serious, ? If we were serious, I wouldn’t have been sitting around by myself all the time. Excuse me.” She turned and hurried off towards the bathroom.

I’ll try to make it up to you, I want you to know
Baby I swear that I’ll be true and never let go
If I waited too long to tell you how much it matters
Just to be right here with you
But I couldn’t think of anything better, I should have told you so

sighed deeply. He couldn’t follow into the women’s room. He went to find his friends. , , and were all standing near the DJ. He walked over to them, his hands shoved deep in his pockets. His grin had been wiped from his face. He didn’t know what to do. He had always known he liked and couldn’t have been happier when they became a couple, but he became engrossed in his work. He had let it come between him and . It wasn’t until after she left him that he realized how much he really cared for her. Seeing her hurting made him hurt even more. Somehow, he had to make her realize he was sorry and that she should give him another chance. This time around, he would make sure she knew just how much she meant to him.

“No good news?” asked . She knew what his intentions were and hoped her best friend would forgive him. shook his head.

“I only have one option left.” He shrugged. “I didn’t want to do it like this, to tell her under these circumstances, but I have to.”

“So, midnight is quickly approaching.” winked at his friends and elbowed in his side. “Looks like I’m going to be kissing this year.”

“Yeah, okay.” rolled his eyes. “I will approach some random woman and kiss her if I have to.”

“Who are you gonna kiss?” asked . “Anyone in mind.” glared at . He knew exactly who she wanted to kiss and she couldn’t believe that he put her on the spot like that.

“Not you, .” She teased him.

Baby open your heart, won’t you give me a second chance
And I’ll be here forever
Open your heart, let me show you how much I care
And I will make you understand, if you open your heart to love me once again

As midnight approached, the small group of close friends became antsy. had stayed away from . and continued to dance and flirt with each other. finally agreed to dance with . She felt a hand grab her arm and turned around quickly. She turned back to and he was gone.

“Let go of me!” She ripped her arm from ’s grasp.

“Will you just let me talk?”

“Now you wanna talk to me?!” She was getting angry with him.

“Stop, just listen to me.” stopped arguing and stood with her hands on his hips. took it as an opportunity to begin. “I know that I put work before you. Work is not more important to me than you are. I just didn’t realize I was doing it until it was done. I hate seeing you like this. I hate the fact that I hurt you. If you never want to talk to me again, that’s fine, but it will kill me. I can’t bear to see you like this, but I don’t want you to walk out of my life.” The noise level in the room grew as they people in the room began to count down from twenty.

Twenty, nineteen, eighteen…

“I want you to give me another chance. I promise I will show you just how important you are, not because I have to, but because I want to. You make me happier than I’ve ever been.”

Ten, nine, eight…

“Don’t argue with me, don’t say no. Just accept my apology. I’m sorry for hurting you and I promise you won’t regret being my girlfriend. , take me back because I love you.” ’s head spun. The noise in the room was unbearable and the room was spinning. All she could see was standing in front of her telling her that he loved her. He had never told her that before. She stood there for what felt like hours. Before she could react, grabbed her and pulled her in, kissing her passionately. She allowed him to pull her body as close to his as he possibly could. There was no one else in the room, or at least that’s the way it seemed to them. This was where she belonged. She didn’t fight him off, she let him consume her. After a few seconds, she pulled away. looked confused. He wasn’t sure how she felt or what she was going to do next. She looked around the room frantically, searching for her best friend. She grinned wildly when she found , standing in the middle of the room, engaged in a seemingly passionate kiss of her own with , who was by no means drunk. Once she had seen that her friend’s evening had ended just as wonderfully as hers she, she turned back to and smiled at him.

“Say it again.” She batted her eyes at him.

“I love you.” He smirked. leaned in and kissed him again.

We could relive this pain and sorrow, But we better do it in time
Start over here and save tomorrow, I wanna make you mine

Open your heart with a chance, and I'll be here forever
Open your heart and I'll care, and I will make you understand
Oh baby, If you open your heart to love me once again


THE END



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