Loving you from the sideline

There she was—everything I lacked, and suddenly, the world went quiet. Just you and me, framed in a silence I didn't know I needed. Mesmerized by a smile that sees the grace in every broken soul, I stood still. I couldn’t believe my eyes; beauty that rivals the stillness of a lake at dawn had finally taken a human form.

You kept approaching, and for the first time, the cliché of "love at first sight" became my gospel. Then, you reached the bench where I sat with my brother— my best friend, my blood. One close-up gaze from those eyes turned me to stone; a Medusa-touch that froze the breath in my lungs. In that heartbeat, I thought I’d found the missing rib, the piece of me the world had stolen. But then he spoke. He introduced you as his better half, and I watched my entire world crumble into the dust at your feet.

Now, I am bound by the silence of the "bro code." Even if things fall apart, I cannot reach for the fragments of what he broke. I have to watch him make you happy, and though it burns, I must want that for you. From the moment he claimed you, I took my seat in the stands. I’ll love you from the distance of the sidelines, cheering his win like a fan at the World Cup Final, forever holding my peace while my heart stays on the field