Unspoken

Tom always felt like he was living in the background of his own life. He wasn’t the guy who stood out in a crowd, nor was he the one who made heads turn when he walked into a room. He was just...Tom. And he was okay with that. But what he wasn’t okay with was the way he felt about Maya.

Maya was his friend—not his closest companion, but the kind of friend who was there for casual hangouts, deep talks at 2 a.m., and sporadic texts about the randomness of life. She was vibrant, effortlessly drawing people toward her with her bright laugh and easygoing nature. Tom had fallen for her in silence, too afraid to ruin what they had by confessing the feelings he carried.

It wasn't that Maya didn't know about his feelings. On some level, she had to. How could she not notice the way his eyes lingered on her when she laughed or the way he always dropped everything to be there for her? But Maya had her own life, and it always seemed to revolve around other guys—guys who were more confident, more outgoing, more everything that Tom felt he wasn’t.

One evening, they were hanging out in Tom's room, sprawled on the floor surrounded by leftover pizza boxes and soda cans. Maya was ranting about her latest dating disaster. Tom listened, as he always did, offering the same advice: "You deserve better." He meant it every time he said it, but it felt like it was meant for someone else to say to her, not him.

“You know,” Maya sighed, staring at the ceiling, “Sometimes I wonder if I'm just too picky. Like, maybe the right person has been in front of me all this time, and I’m just too blind to see it.”

Tom's heart pounded at her words. Was this his moment? Should he finally tell her how he felt? His mind raced through a thousand scenarios, each ending with her either running away or looking at him with pity. He swallowed hard, the words caught in his throat. But then Maya spoke again.

“Like, maybe it's one of those things where you only realize who you're supposed to be with after you've tried and failed so many times. You know what I mean?” she continued, glancing at Tom.

Tom nodded, his voice betraying him in that crucial moment. "Yeah," he managed to say. "I get it."

He wanted to scream. He wanted to tell her that he was right there, always had been, always would be. But instead, he just lay there beside her, listening to her talk about her dating life, all while keeping his feelings locked up tight.

Over the years, this pattern continued. Maya dated guys who didn’t understand her the way Tom did, guys who didn’t appreciate the small things she did. She cried on Tom’s shoulder, confided in him about her fears and insecurities, but never once did she look at him the way he looked at her. Tom was the safe space, the steady rock, the one who was always there—but not the one.

In the back of his mind, Tom held onto hope. Maybe one day, Maya would wake up and realize that the person who truly loved her had been there all along. Maybe one day, she’d see him not just as her friend but as the person who knew her better than anyone else.

But that day never came.

---

Years Later

Maya moved to a new city for her job, their meetups became less frequent, and their late-night talks dwindled. They still kept in touch, but there was a growing distance that couldn’t be ignored. Tom watched from afar as she started to build a life that he wasn’t a part of anymore.

One day, she called him out of the blue. It was like old times, her voice filling up the empty space of his small apartment.

“Tom,” she said, her voice softer, more contemplative. “I’m getting married.”

His heart dropped. The words hit him like a truck, even though he had known this day would come. Of course, it would. Maya was a catch, and eventually, someone was bound to make her realize that. It just wasn’t him.

“That’s...that’s great, Maya,” he managed to say, forcing his voice to stay even.

“You always said I deserved better, remember?” she continued, laughing lightly. “I think I finally found that.”

Tom laughed along with her, but it felt hollow. He congratulated her, listened to her gush about her fiancé, and assured her that he’d always be there for her, even if he knew it wasn’t true anymore. This was the end of their story, at least the one he had hoped for.

---

The Silence After

Tom didn’t attend the wedding. Instead, he sent a gift with a simple card: "To happiness, always."

On the day of the wedding, he found himself sitting on a park bench, staring out at the city skyline. The world moved on around him—couples walked hand in hand, children played, people rushed by, all wrapped up in their own lives. For the first time, he felt the full weight of what it meant to be alone, to have given so much of himself to someone who was never meant to be his.

In the silence, he replayed every moment with Maya in his head—the laughter, the late-night conversations, the times he almost said what he truly felt but didn’t. All the unspoken words that had built up over the years settled like a weight in his chest.

He thought about what it meant to love someone who would never love you back, to be the one who was always there but never chosen. He had waited so long, hoping that maybe, someday, she would see him. But now, he realized that life isn’t a movie. There are no grand gestures, no last-minute declarations that change everything. Sometimes, you love someone, and it just...isn't enough.

Tom knew he would be okay. He had to be. But that didn’t change the fact that, in this moment, he felt like the guy who had always been left behind—the guy who had watched the person he loved walk away, knowing he had never truly been part of her story.

He stood up from the bench, shoved his hands into his pockets, and began to walk. Where he was going didn’t matter. For now, all he needed was to keep moving forward, even if every step felt like letting go of a dream he’d held onto for too long.

End.

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This ending reflects the harsh reality that sometimes, love remains unrequited. Tom remains alone, carrying the weight of the love he never voiced and the life he never got to live with Maya. It leaves readers with a poignant sense of the unspoken, illustrating that not all stories have happy endings, and sometimes, people end up on their own despite their deepest feelings.