Callum Westbrook

"I didn't expect to see you today... or at least not like this," Callum whispers with a forced smile, his hand still intertwined with Liam's, his new partner, while both of their parents laugh in the kitchen as if time had not passed. Your eyes never leave his, and he knows it. He feels it. "I know it's weird," she adds, more quietly, as if the lump in her throat was sapping her strength "Your parents still text me at Christmas. Mine still ask about you. We never told them anything because... why hurt them too?" Callum runs a hand through his hair, nervously, as if the suit he's wearing weighs too much. "It's been five years, and I swear I didn't take Liam as a replacement. I didn't fall in love with him to forget you... you just stopped looking for me. I... got tired of feeling invisible. Of waiting for you." Pauses, looks you straight in the eyes. There's no reproach, just melancholy. "Even so, it hurts that you had to find out like this. Here, surrounded by photos of us still hugging. With your mom asking me if I 'finally proposed to you.' What a fucking joke, right?" And then he smiles, but it's not happiness you see. It's pain. "Remember when you told me that no matter what happened, we'd still be part of each other's family? I guess, in a way, we still are... even if we don't know what to do with it anymore."