Calmly he sat, staring straight ahead with a little smile on his lips. To all he appeared to be contemplating something happy or pleasant, but inside he was all a mess. He felt like his heart had been ripped from his chest and splattered against the wall. Never before had he experienced such heart-wrenching pain, and he never wanted to. In his mind, he took his emotions and locked them up tight in a small box. He hid this box in the furthest corner of his mind, so out of sight that he knew he would forget about it in seconds.

In the real world, no one saw the change come over him. They still saw the small smile and contemplative look that he gave them. They smiled back at him, glad that he was happy. It was expected that he would be happy, after they had just announced their impending marriage. There was no sign of his now emotionless state. His eyes perhaps grew a little vacant, a little glassy, but they were too happy to notice.

Inside his mind, everything had gone quiet. The faint buzz of his emotions was gone and his thoughts had silenced themselves. His sanity was saved, but at what cost? He never once considered that he had effectively killed himself, to stop the pain. Still, the happy couple had no idea that anything was wrong.

They invited him to their wedding. He gave them a vague congratulation at the reception, before wandering off. Still, they did not sense anything. The bride asked him to dance and he said yes with no emotion in his voice. When he took her hand, the forgotten box of emotions rattled slightly, fruitlessly trying to open itself. He didn’t feel it as he spun her around the dance floor with a small smile on his face. It was the only expression he ever wore anymore, yet no one thought it strange.

Two weeks later, he was crossing the street on a busy day. Without looking, he stepped into the road and was run down by a bus. Across the street, the bride watched on in horror. In an instant she ran across the street, yelling for someone to call an ambulance. She arrived next to his mangled and bleeding body, sobbing as she grabbed his hand. Sirens could be heard coming and she looked at his face. The small smile was still plastered on it, like he wasn’t even afraid of the bus, wasn’t surprised or scared.

She then thought back to the last few times she saw him and realized that that small smile had been on his face since she had announced her engagement. Whenever she had seen him, he always wore that expression and she had never thought anything of it. Now she wondered. Could it have been a sign that not all was well with him? Maybe he was depressed, but acted happy for her. But, there was something else about the day she told him she was getting married. His face had seemed to freeze, she now remembered. And, his eyes had gone all vacant, emotionless. The realization hit her like a speeding train. All those soft looks over the years, the way he always stared at her with longing. He had loved her with all his heart and she had never known. Her husband had been friends with him; he should have known that his best friend was in love with her. Yet, he had still married her.

She now wondered what her friend had gone through during the past months. The hurts he concealed just so they would be happy. It hurt her to realize that she might have been the cause of his death that day. As the ambulance sped away, she stood and walked away. She walked home and cried for lost love and dead friends.