Garry leaned back, shaking his head. “Alright, no more joking. I have a meeting, and I don’t have time to waste.”
Lucian blinked. “Meeting? With who?”
Jimmy raised an eyebrow, setting his drink down.
Garry let out a deep breath. “My future father-in-law, of course.”
“F-Father-in-law?!”
Lucian and Jimmy almost fell out of their chairs, their mouths hanging open as they stared at Garry like he’d just spoken in an alien language.
“Wait, what?! When?! Why?! And HOW?!” Lucian asked, utterly baffled. “When did this happen, and why are we only hearing about this NOW?”
Garry scratched the back of his head. “It’s a long story.”
Jimmy crossed his arms. “Well, keep it short. I’m very interested in hearing this.”
Lucian nodded. “Yeah, spill it.”
Sitting beside them, Alex watched with mild amusement. “Kids these days are fast,” he thought to himself, a bit impressed by Garry’s boldness.
The Story Begins
Garry leaned forward slightly, fingers tapping on the table. “Alright, listen. So… I had a Crush. You guys wouldn’t know her, since it hasn’t been that long since we met.”
Lucian and Jimmy nodded along, keeping their expressions neutral, but inside
“Poor Garry… if only he could’ve come back in time like me,” Lucian mused.
“Damn, if only he was like me… Come back in time,” Jimmy thought with a sigh.
Both had the exact same thought, yet neither was aware of the other’s.
“So, there was this girl I really liked, right? One day, I just straight-up proposed to her,” Garry continued. “But she rejected me.”
Lucian’s lips parted, ready to question everything in detail, but when he saw the serious look in Garry’s eyes, he decided against it.
“Alright, let’s save that interrogation for later.”
Garry shrugged, acting casual. “I figured, whatever, no big deal. I moved on. The same day, I met Lucian, we became friends, and I just forgot about it. Like, who cares, right?” He crossed his arms, keeping his tone as indifferent as possible.
Lucian and Jimmy exchanged a glance.
Yeah. He definitely cared.
Jimmy smirked slightly. “Trying to act cool, huh? Some things never change.”
Lucian chuckled inwardly. “Yeah, sure. ‘Moved on.’ I know this idiot better than that.”
“But,” Garry continued, “I was still kinda curious about why she rejected me. I mean, everyone would be, right?”
Jimmy leaned back, watching Garry closely. “This guy is such a tsundere,” he thought, holding back a chuckle at the nostalgic feeling of watching Garry pretend like he didn’t care.
Lucian smiled. He knew the truth too.
“So, honestly, I figured she just wasn’t into me, so I left it alone,” Garry said. “Didn’t push it, didn’t ask. But”
He paused, exhaling sharply.
“Just a few days ago, I met her brother. Completely by accident. And guess what? He told me a lot of things… things that made me realize she had a lot of reasons to reject me.”
Lucian and Jimmy’s expressions shifted.
Their usual teasing demeanor faded into something more contemplative.
Lucian folded his arms, watching him carefully. “And?”
Garry sighed, rubbing his temples.
He wasn’t telling them the full truth. Not now. Not even in his past life.
Some things were better left unsaid.
Not because they didn’t matter but because they did. Too much.
He was lying to both Jimmy and Lucian.
It wasn’t just some girl who had rejected him. It wasn’t just some casual proposal.
He had history with her. A long one.
They had met online.
Discord.
Back when he was just a kid thirteen. And she? She was already eighteen.
It started out innocent.
Late-night chats. Random conversations.
Strangers turned into friends. Then, something more. A crush.
Then, before he even realized it… he was in love.
She was too.
They became something.
She called him her “online husband.” He called her his “online wife.”
It was stupid. A joke at first.
But then, it wasn’t.
The age gap? It was always there, lingering. But they didn’t care.
It was online. It wasn’t like they were doing anything wrong.
And she had told him”I’ll wait for you.”
That was the promise.
“When you turn eighteen, we’ll be together for real.”
So he waited.
For five years.
And then… when he finally turned eighteen, she told him to meet her.
And when they finally did…
It was perfect.
Every late-night conversation, every joke, every moment they had spent together it was real.
He could feel it.
She was everything he had imagined and more.
And so, after months of being together in real life, after waiting for so damn long
He proposed.
He hadn’t planned it. It just… happened.
He got down on one knee.
Told her he wanted to spend his life with her.
And she rejected him.
Just like that.
No hesitation.
Like the past five years had meant nothing.
Like he had meant nothing.
Garry still remembered the way his heart dropped.
The way the world just… stopped.
It was worse than heartbreak.
It was betrayal.
Because hadn’t she said she would wait? Hadn’t she promised?
Hadn’t she loved him, too?
So why?
Why had she walked away?
He never asked.
He never gave her a chance to explain.
Because what explanation could possibly make it okay?
Five years.
Five years of believing in something. Of believing in her.
And she had just thrown it away.
And so, he walked away, too.
And that night he had decided to end it.
Because what was the point anymore?
All that time. All those feelings. All that hope.
It had all been for nothing.
If Lucian hadn’t found him that night, Garry knew he wouldn’t be here right now.
But even after all this time
She never left his mind.
He told himself he had moved on.
That he didn’t care.
That she wasn’t worth it.
Garry exhaled sharply, running a hand through his hair.
Maybe he was looking for answers. Maybe he just wanted closure.
But asking her again?
No.
That was never even a thought.
He wasn’t like Lucian.
Lucian was the kind of person who would chase, who would demand answers, who would fight for what he wanted even if it meant losing himself in the process.
But Garry?
He believed in control.
If someone didn’t choose him the first time, he wouldn’t beg for a second chance.
That’s just who he was.
And back then? He hadn’t been wrong.
He gave her everything.
His feelings. His time. His trust.
And in the end, she hadn’t even given him an answer.
She just walked away.
And that silence?
That hurt more than any rejection ever could.
—–