.

..


Her heart was too precious to be wounded. It needed to be protected all costs. She knew that, of course. She did everything in her power to shield the girl from harm. But when the ecstatic girl walked through the door and felt as if her heart had been crushed by a bulldozer, there wasn't just one girl that was devastated; there were two.

—"I wish the world was just you and me."

The girl was too young and naive to fully understand the ache that threatened to pierce her soul. All the girl knew was that she was hurting and that her sunshine and warmth was lying right next to her. The same way she had been there all along, all these years before he had arrived.

—"Then it is."

And that was enough for the both of them.

If that's not love then what is?


The problem with the innocent girl was just that-she was innocent. She didn't understand the concept of trouble. She never understood wrongdoing. She had had no reason to-until her best friend came along. She didn't know that she was destined to be herself, that the other girl was destined to be herself, and that their friendship was in the safe, steady hands of fate. She should have known better, she should have known to prevent her best friend from her wrongdoing. But her innocent curiosity got the best of her. The girl was tired of trying to be herself, so she tried to be her best friend; she took the fall with her, rather than stopping the fall in the first place.

—"I just wanna stand by my girl."

But her friend, though wrong in many ways, was never wrong when it came to matters of their friendship. It was always about keeping the girl safe. About keeping the girl happy. Even if it meant that she, herself, wasn't a part of it. So when the girl became unhappy, she took it as her cue to leave.

—"I haven't been your good friend."

She knew long ago that it was in her blood to push people away. It came rather naturally to her to push her best friend away, for the sake of her best friend's happiness.

—"You're my best friend."

Not that the girl cared. The girl would rather be hurt over and over again by her best friend than ever let another soul in as far as she had been.

—"You're not allowed to abandon our friendship."

Hurt was inevitable in any and every relationship. The girl couldn't care less.

—"Riley, I'm pushing you away because I'm not good for you anymore."

It was wrong. So, so, wrong. She had done everything she could to care for the girl's heart but she had screwed up and she had to accept the blame. She had to walk away for once. The girl deserved to have an untainted heart for as long as possible. But the girl thought otherwise.

—"Only I decide that."

Why couldn't the girl save herself?

—"Because, if this is my world now, the first person I want in it is you."

The girl didn't just care about herself; she cared about her best friend too.

And the best love only works if it's both ways.

If that's not friendship then what is?

—"Partners?"

—"Forever."

If that's not music then what is?

...

..

.


a/n: hello everybody! hope you enjoyed this little songfic/vignette. it's based off of my "If That's Not Love" video which you can checkout on my YouTube.

Note: This was previously in my "If That's Not Love" series but I decided to merge it with this series as they are pretty similar.