"Do you regret it now?" Ishang muttered, her voice barely audible over the soft murmurs of the wedding guests.
We were seated next to each other, watching the ceremony unfold before our eyes.
The wedding of my greatest love.
I scoffed, shaking my head slightly. "No, I don’t regret letting him go…"
"But I also never expected things to turn out this way."
I lowered my head, my fingers tightening around the fabric of my dress. My eyes shimmered with unshed grief, but I blinked it back, refusing to let the emotions spill over.
"I… I didn’t think he’d be tied down this quickly," I admitted, my voice betraying the ache in my chest.
"Then why are you here? And why did you drag me along?" she huffed, clearly exasperated.
I let out a hollow chuckle. "Because I thought I was okay… Turns out, I’m not."
"Of course, you’re not," she said, as if the answer was obvious. "You two have been friends for more than a decade, hiding your feelings for each other for over six years. You watched him grow, you were there for every milestone—his highs, his lows. He was your best friend. Of course, it still hurts."
She wasn’t wrong. Lark and I practically grew up together. But we didn’t end up together.
If someone asked me why, I’d simply tell them, ‘We just grew apart.’ Or maybe, ‘Perhaps we weren’t meant to be.’ Because that’s the truth. I don’t even know when or how it happened. It just did.
As we got older, we realized that our lives were heading in different directions. We had different goals, different dreams, and at some point, we just… stopped being compatible.
"But, friend, let me remind you," Ishang said, tilting her head with a teasing smirk. "You and Lark were never even official. So why are you sulking?"
I shot her a glare. "Excuse me, FYI, he courted me for almost three years!"
She scoffed, raising a brow. "I know, I know," she said, taking another bite of her cake. "But weren’t you the one who backed out? You had your chance, girl."
I let out a deep sigh and leaned back against my chair. "I didn’t back out… I just… I just thought we had more time. I thought we didn’t need to rush."
But time didn’t wait for us.
I turned my gaze back to the altar. Lark stood there, looking at his bride with so much love in his eyes—as if she was his entire world.
That smile… It used to be mine.
Ishang nudged me gently. "So, what’s the realization now?"
"That I was stupid," I murmured, forcing a bitter laugh.
"Exactly." She smirked, but her eyes softened with sympathy. "But you’re here, watching him get married. Do you know what that means?"
I clenched my jaw, inhaling deeply, trying to steady my heart. "That it’s time to let go."
She nodded, satisfied with my answer. "You’ve been holding on to those feelings for so long. Maybe it’s finally time to set them free."
I let out another hollow chuckle. "And how do I do that, Ishang?"
She smiled knowingly. "Start by admitting it—not just to me, but to yourself. Then, maybe, just maybe, you’ll realize that while it’s okay to look back, you can’t stay stuck in the past forever."
The wedding bells rang, signaling the couple’s first kiss. I closed my eyes for a moment, allowing myself to feel it—to let the pain wash over me one last time before I finally released it.
When I opened them again, I smiled. It was small, fragile—but real.
Maybe Ishang was right.
Maybe it was time.
Maybe it had always been time.
