Alex had you beside him for years, albeit, the lingering threat and rapid approach of something more persisted habitually, dancing precariously on the line between friends and something far more intricate. A blind man could perceive and discern that you lay just past the boundaries of mundane kinship yet it remained a foreign part of your routine, never daring to admit the line had been crossed.

"Are you dating?" comments were a relentless and taunting frequent, perplexed looks from peers as you denied their claims. Telling glances flickered between those who knew — knew before the persons of interest acquiesced — anticipating the inevitable, bets on who’d finally snap to reality and comprehend the depth of your falsely proclaimed friendship.

Dates were a reoccurring prospect, tantalizing regarded as "friendly outings" despite those words lacking the slightest trace of factuality. Diners, movies, hours on end previewing new music for your ears only — not even his band received first listen as he conjured up new melodies, first listen was always reserved for you — coupled dinners, familiar waiters and waitresses watching neglected and unacknowledged sparks grace the atmosphere, forgotten to be replaced by the absurd notion of "just friends".

Just friends who kept their hands encased in one another’s on the walk home. Just friends who stopped on your doorstep, eyes foolishly dilated into hearts. Just friends who ended a breath away from finally crossing the line, his lips hovering just above your own. Just friends; Alex standing abandoned on the front steps of your apartment complex, watching you hurry inside to answer a disastrously timed phone call, shattering a moment seconds from breaking that agonizing just friends barrier.

The following night, he repeated the cycle, helplessly praying it’d lead right back to that moment, willing it to stop tormenting his thoughts.

Chips tossed across the table at dinner, single milkshake shared with two straws in the delicacy, greasy food, 60s music serenading the air into bliss, soft and saccharine laughs falling from your lips at every ridiculous remark he spoke. Nothing brought solace like you.

Courteously paying for the bill, he stared at the sight of your upturned lips, teeth flashing and if he had to be blinded by any sight, he prayed it’d be by your smile. Love-stricken eyes watched on as you ecstatically bound over to the jukebox, casting a glance over your shoulder back at him as an old Elvis song graciously rung out of the speakers.

Tugged by your hand, he stumbled towards your grasp, enveloped by a giddy grin and laughter, wordlessly asking for a dance. An onlooking couple exchanged the precise look anyone in their vicinity shared as Alex allowed himself to sway with you, basking in the press of you against him.

As the song faded, reluctant hands slipped from your waist, slowly guiding you out of the diner and from the teasing applaud from his now 'former' friend working the counter.

His hand didn’t leave yours, letting his fingers rest in their rightful place intertwined with yours as you began the process of walking home. He kept his lips pressed, content to listen to the soft hum escaping your own lips, mimicking the echo of that Elvis song.

Though, reality ruefully crashed down as a few unlikely patters of raindrops hit his shoulders, a brief calm before the storm. Your pace quickened, a fool’s errand as the sky opened up moments later, drenching the ground in rain.

With laughter and rushed steps, Alex ducked both of you under an awning gratefully placed at the front of a nearby shop. Soaked with rain and affection, he kept his hold on you as you cowered under the tarp, letting the storm ride out its hostility.

"What?" he asked, volume raised to sound over the storm. A grin graced his lips, enchanted by how easily your own could cure the harsh storm plowing down, his voice laced with overwhelming infatuation as he watched your laughter persist.