"Long after I've given up, my heart still searches for you without my consent."

-Maddie-

I won't be joining you guys okay? I text in our group chat. I sigh as I put down my phone. Shawn and I are seated at a cafe. He was ordering while I was sipping my soda.

Shawn insisted I go with him so that we can talk. He was pointing at my puffy eyes and was telling me that frowning would make me have more wrinkles. I was hesitant but I joined him anyway. After his lovely chat with waitress, he looks at me. I quirk an eyebrow, still sipping my soda. He taps the table lightly.

"What do want to talk about?" I ask. "Well.." He trails off. "The engagement." I tightly grip on the soda cup. "Can we not talk about this?" I murmur.

I look away as his words repeat in my head.

You mean the world to me Amy...

I love you..

"I knew it!" Shawn exclaims. "What?" "You like him don't you?" He asks, resting his head on his hand. "No..." I trail off. I feel tears brimming my eyes. Gosh, why am I so weak? I thought as I wipe the moisture from my eyes. "Not anymore."

"What happened?" He asks. I do not answer. Thousands of memories flow through my mind at those two words. "Nothing." my grip on the cup tightens. "Like I said earlier, can we just not talk about this?"

He sighs quietly as he faces me. Silence looms the space between the both of us. "You know that you don't have to force yourself to go if you don't want to." He says. "I know. But I am still going." I slump on the table. "Why?" He asks, now with a concerned look on his face. I gave him a half-smile.

"He means a lot to me. Although he might have forgotten about me.." I wince at that sentence. "I haven't." I let out a humorless laugh. "Funny, how things work. One day, you are with that person and you are both so so happy then the next day, that person just vanishes and you are left with memories. Countless of them."

"Then forget about those memories." He states simply. "I wish it was that simple Shawn. I wish I could forget him easily. Forget everything that happened between the both of us. Forget those happy and sad memories. But..."

"I-I can't." I whisper.

"Why not?" He asks.

"Cause the memories are the only thing I have left." I mutter.

He becomes silent. Then, his order arrives and the lady places an ice cream sundae in front of me. I glance at Shawn, and he smiles at me. "C'mon eat up. It's my treat." He smiles. I smile at him too. I thank him as I shove a spoonful in my mouth.

After we finished our sundaes, we decided to walk around a bit.

"Hey Maddie, there is something I want to tell you." He says, looking down. "Go ahead." I answer. He stops walking and faces me. "I-I.." He stammers. His cheeks turn pink. "Yeah?" I ask. "I, uh..." He fumbles for words. "I l-like..."

"Like?"

He looks at me with a determined face. "I like you!" He shouts as he immediately looks down. Some people stopped and stared at the both of us. But later, continued what they were doing. "I m-mean your s-socks.." He adds awkwardly, chuckling nervously as he rubs the back of his neck. I look at him.

"Okay, maybe I do like you." I feel very guilty all of the sudden. I can't just lie to him nor can I straight up reject him since he is my friend. "Sorry Shawn but I don't feel the same way...." He looks down. "O-oh..." "I am sorry."

"I can set you up in a blind date though." I say immediately. I felt bad for hurting the poor guy's feelings. He looks at me. He smiles at me but his eyes were filled with sadness.

"When?"

"Well, tomorrow at nine. I will text you the details." I reply. "Okay, sure." He says. Instead of giving me his usual grin, he gives me a small smile and left. Watching his figure disappear into the shadows, I let out a small sigh.

I walk home, feeling very guilty. What have I done? I sigh. I step in the house and called Capella.

"Hey, what's up?" I hear her say from the other line. I can hear her cat meowing from the other side of the line. Taking in a deep breath, I pick at the bottom of my sweater.

"I've set up a blind date for you." I say.

I hear the phone drop.

"Wait...WHAT?"

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