Disclaimer: I'm not an owner, I'm just a random shipper.
I'll See You Maybe
"Another."
The bartender slid a glass over. Tai examined the contents carefully for absolutely no reason. It gave his eyes something to do.
He wondered for the thousandth time why he even came here. Out of boredom? Social convention? It was a brainless choice for a single guy in his 30's with no real interests or hobbies outside of work. A way to kill time. He was an expert at it by now. A time assassin. Time didn't stand a chance.
The nice thing about this bar in particular was that nothing ever happened. Bar fights were rare and brief. Belligerent pickup artists of either gender were few and far between. The culture here was come alone, drink alone, leave alone. A bunch of loners, mostly quite a few years older than him, were the other regulars. Nothing ever happened, and that's exactly how he liked it. He could get lost in the swirling colors of his drink and lose track of the world.
He didn't notice the blond taking the stool next to him until he spoke.
"Whatever he's having."
Tai turned to look with eyes that were not deep enough into the night to be blurred, but he didn't really need to. It wasn't like that was a voice he would ever forget.
"'Sup." Matt said casually. He threw out a fist. Tai chuckled a little and bumped it.
"You're a long way from home." He not-quite-asked. Matt shrugged.
"I had some business in town. Figured I'd stop in and see how my old friend's doing."
"Fine. Same old, same old." Tai said, going back to his drink.
"Really? Nothing new going on? Promotion? New apartment? Meet someone?"
"Nope. Nada."
"Wow." Matt went quiet for a moment. "That's not good, Tai. It's been so long since we talked. You should have something going on by now."
"It hasn't been that long. It's only been..." Tai struggled to remember the last time. Matt watched him guardedly.
"Yeah. It has. And that's what I came to talk to you about, actually." He took a deep breath and squeezed his eyes shut, like he was bracing himself for something. "Tai. Tell me the truth. Are we friends?"
"Of course we are." Tai said easily.
"You didn't come to my wedding-"
"This again?! Man, it's been 13 years already! Let it go! I had to work, okay?"
Matt shook his head sadly. "Stop, Tai. Just stop. I've been pretending I don't know what's going on for years to save our friendship, but what I've been trying to save has been nothing but a shell of what it used to be, and I'm done trying. So no more playing pretend. I'm going to say everything we've been avoiding talking about, and if we're friends after, it'll be for the first time in decades."
Tai stared a hole in the wall. "I don't know what you're talking about, but knock yourself out."
Matt ran his fingers through his hair in frustration. "Fine. You keep pretending, then. I'll say it anyway. You never answer when I call. When I text you, it's weeks before you respond, if at all. We meet up maybe one time in every twenty that I ask, and you'll notice I've been asking less over time. You never contact me of your own accord, and you've never once been the one to ask to meet."
Tai shrugged. "I'm more busy and less sociable than I used to be, Matt. It's not a crime."
"If we want to trace when this behavior started, it's stupidly easy. You started acting like this when Sora and I started dating. You didn't come to our wedding, and the few time you've met with me over the years, it's been only when it was painfully obvious Sora wouldn't be there, too. You haven't seen her or even talked to her in almost twenty years, Tai."
Tai took a long pull and licked his lips. "Coincidence."
"Yeah? How's this for coincidence? You are NOT busier than you used to be. You work less than I do, and you do practically nothing outside of work. You may be less sociable, but you still meet up with Izzy all the time, and you still hang with Joe and Mimi whenever they're in town. But you haven't had a girlfriend since Sora, not even short term, and from the sounds of it you're not even looking for one."
One last long pull finished off the glass. "So what's your point?"
"The point," Matt said with a long sigh, "Is that I'm done trying with you. I'm not going to beat my head against the wall trying to contact you anymore, and from the looks of things, as soon as I stop doing that, our friendship dies the rest of the way off. When I walk out that door, I doubt we ever see each other again. But for the sake of what we used to have, I'm going to give you one last piece of advice. Get over it. Let it go. She chose me, but you don't have to let that ruin you. Get out, meet someone new, move on with your life. I'm not asking your forgiveness for myself, because I don't need it. I've done nothing wrong. You need to forgive us for your own sake. Your grudge is killing you."
Tai spoke calmly. "That an interesting theory, Matt, but I'm not holding any grudges. You've got me wrong. I meet with Izzy more because he lives in town. I'm not going out of my way to find a girlfriend because I don't want one. It's got nothing to do with you two. As far as I'm concerned, we're still friends, same as always."
"Alright." Matt said with a sad nod. "Your denial is no longer my problem. Goodbye, Tai."
"Later, Matt." Tai said as Matt gathered himself and walked toward the door. "I'll hit you up sometime."
"Sure you will, Tai. Sure you will."