How Ironic Life Is

You never minded being the sidekick. Merlin, every hero needed one. And if there was anything that your best friend was, it was a hero. And you were his right hand man, his confident, and his support.

You knew that phrase "the hero gets the girl." You hated that phrase, because you know that was how it would always turn out. Sure you might get a girl, but it wouldn't be that girl...the girl you really wanted.

So you were surprised to find that not only was your hero not interested in getting that girl, but he was interested in getting your little sister.

How ironic life is.

Abandoning all morals you had ever had as an overprotective brother, you wished him luck and forced your baby sister to promise not to break his heart. That was the last thing you needed at the moment, another big blow to come to the hero when he was already dealing with too much.

One obstacle covered, you turned your attention to her again, hardly daring to realize that you might just "get the girl" after all. Maybe you were somewhat of a hero. Maybe things would be looking your way from now on.

How ironic life is.

How come your palms kept getting sweaty around her? Why did your mind always go blank? On top of the feeling of wanting to throw up your latest meal, you found that life could not get any worse. Every time you were near her, your body didn't seem to cooperate and you had to get away just to start breathing again.

He asked you why you hadn't done it yet, and you tried to explain what was wrong. He blew it off just as nerves and convinced you to try again.

For the next week you spent every minute possible around her, trying to force your heart to stay the same speed and your face not to turn bright red. It got easier as time passed and you eventually got to the point where you were both back to normal around each other again. It was almost as if no feelings beyond friendship were present there.

How ironic life is.

What did that mean exactly? Surely she had to feel something back towards you?

But you studied her. You watched patiently but found nothing. No blushes, no sighs, nothing at all.

Both he and your little sister comforted you, saying that she really did have feelings and that she was just better at hiding them.

Why would she hide them? You had wondered aloud. Both responded by explaining the concept of "fear of rejection". How well you knew that concept yourself.

You started making the plan to ask her. The graduation ball was coming up and you were set and determined to make her see your feelings by them, starting with you asking her to the ball.

How ironic life is.

You must have gotten up on the wrong side of the bed that morning, for it seemed that no matter what you said, nothing came out right. You ended up getting a a huge row with her after she took something you said the completely wrong way. You don't even remember what you had said, all you knew was that one minute you were opening your mouth to ask her and the next minute you were both standing on opposite side of the common room, scream your heads off.

You stormed up to your room, fuming and mumbling about how you could have fallen for her when you couldn't even have a decent conversation with her.

Your hero was there, smirking as he had obviously heard the storm that had unleashed minute before. You wanted to punch him in his cocky face, but restrained yourself, mostly for the sake of your little sister. She was there too and they both sat you down, explaining that you need to go back down at that exact moment and ask her right then.

You were flabbergasted. Why would she even consider going with you now?

You listened to their arguments, and finally, mostly to get them to shut up, you stormed back downstairs, walked right up to her and (surprised at your own daring) blurted out the question.

How ironic life is.

Her face seemed to relax completely and the next moment she had jumped up and was kissing you. Hard.

You made a mental note to thank your sister and her boyfriend later.

She said yes very softly after she pulled away and to cover her embarrassment, you pulled her back in for another kiss, realizing how long you had been wanting this and how perfect it felt.

The ball came faster than you could ever imagine and you felt the old symptoms of sweaty palms, butterflies in the stomach and loss of memory while you waited in the common room for her to come down to meet you.

How ironic life is.

Then she came down, and all doubt vanished.

She was gorgeous and though you still felt at a loss for words, the first thing you did was grab her hand and pull her into a firm kiss which she responded to nicely.

She blushed at how much you couldn't take your eyes off her, but you didn't stop. You were afraid that this was all a dream, that any minute you would wake up and find yourself asleep back in your bed, still unattached and still stuttering around your words.

How ironic life is.

You bolt out of bed, your breath coming fast and your heart pounding. As you take in your surroundings you cringe, realizing it really was a dream.

Then she mumbles something and stirs next to you. Your eyes go wide with realization and you feel your heart slow down.

How ironic life is.

You quietly lay back down again next to your wife, once again not able to take your eyes off of her. She is sleeping soundly, her breathing coming regular and her lips slightly open. You reach down and take her hand in your underneath the covers and squeeze it slightly.

She opens her eyes slightly and gives you a sleepy smile, squeezing back on your hand.

You lean forward and give her a short and sweet kiss, mumbling that you love her for, what you were sure was the 50^th time that day. She dreamily says it back before being overcome by sleep again.

You want to stay up watching her, just looking at her, but sleep finds you as well and you drift back into your dreams, making sure to keep your hand safely around hers.