Accidentally in Love by James D. Irwin

I always thought of her as a sister to me, so it came as dizzying but pleasant surprise when I realised that I had--- quite accidentally--- fallen in love with her. But now, about three years later, it just hurts. It hurts, and there's nothing I can do about it.

Gatsby threw parties for the same reason I write stories-- I write them just for her.

She reads them, I think. But I don't know if she ever realises that they are all about her.

Accidentally in Love by Sara Travis

It happened very suddenly on a rainy Tuesday afternoon. I remember it was Tuesday because I was supposed to be working, but the basement at the store had flooded so we’d all been sent home early. He said, ‘Let’s chill,’ and I said, ‘Sure,’ so he came over and we dug out our pyjamas and ordered pizza and stuck on some old Friends re-runs. We ate strawberry ice cream from the tub and sat under a wooly blanket and turned the volume up to drown out the rain pounding at the windows. And he sat close to me. And my gut squirmed when his hand brushed mine. And I liked it. And I noticed that he smelled of sawdust and cologne and coffee and something slightly sweet and musky that I couldn’t put my finger on. And I’d never noticed that before. Because he was who he was, and that was my friend, and you don’t really notice stuff like that about your friends, do you? Or do you? I don’t know, but I never did. Until Tuesday.

And then out of nowhere he says, ‘Oh hey, I’m seeing Celia this weekend. Like, you know, a date. Can you loan me twenty quid?’ And all of a sudden I was very cold, and my mouth was dry, and my heart was pounding in the back of my throat and I thought I actually might die. Because he was going on a date with Celia, and that meant he liked her and she liked him back. And it didn’t matter that I’d had an epiphany, that I’d finally noticed what had been staring me in the face for fourteen years, that I’d realised – holy shit – he smelt bloody fantastic and there was a very good chance that he was the one. And that everyday I’d thought about the future, every time I’d fantasised about jobs and houses and new cars and road trips, he was standing right next to me in a suit and tie, or signing his name next to mine on the deeds, or sat in the passenger seat feeding me biscuits, or taking my picture next to the Taj Mahal. And now he was going on a date with Celia. And he was going to marry Celia, and have a baby with Celia and there’d be no room for me in his new life with a wife and baby. Even though we’ve been friends since we were eight years old, and he calls my parents ‘Mum’ and ‘Dad’, and we’d holidayed together every other year since forever, and I’d seen him naked on two separate occasions that he may or may not know about.

And then I realised we were still sat on the sofa under the blanket, and the chill from the ice cream tub had made my thigh go numb. So I arranged my face to resemble a smile and said, ‘Sure,’ and I got my purse and I handed over the cash and I winked at him and said, ‘Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do,’ and he laughed and I laughed but really I was crying except on the inside.

Accidentally in Love by Nick Trussler

‘You’re so beautiful,’ the boy smiled to the other.

“You’re so beautiful,” the other replied.

The boy stared at the other dreamingly. He tried to reach out and touch him but the other boy disappeared.

‘Who are you?’ he asked the boy.

“Who are you?” replied the other.

There was silence between the two, but a happy silence. Both smiled the exact same smile

‘I wish I could be with you,’ the boy said.

“I wish I could be with you,” the other replied.

The boy could not bear the pain of separation any longer. He leaned forward, getting closer and closer to the other boy’s face until he fell into the water and was lost to its depths.

Accidentally in Love by Lesley Whyte

"It wasn't supposed to happen this way. I wasn't supposed to fall in love with you."

"What was supposed to happen?"

I sigh. He isn't taking this the right way at all. You'd think I'd just confessed some sort of crime instead of telling him I was in love with him. I mean, sure, starting the conversation with 'I'm running away to Mexico and never coming back, please don't call me,' may not have been the best way to go. But I maintain he's focusing on the wrong thing.

"Just a bit fun, really. You were a distraction."

"Well, I'm glad I could help you out."

"Aren't you listening? You didn't help at all. You completely fucked everything up. You made me fall in love with you."

"Oh, I am so sorry." He snatches up his jacket and leaves.

I don't follow him. It'll just make things worse. I should have ended things weeks ago, when I realised what was going on. This is my fault. But then, he shouldn't have made me fall in love with him.

That's never happened before.

Day Twenty-One

And today's prompt is...

Accidentally in Love