Jigsaw.

“Sean, where are you going?” Aled shouted over the blaring music emanating from the CD player beside him.
“Going to find something.” Sean yelled back from where he was standing next to the wide open glass patio doors, across the room from Aled. His companion nodded and began a conversation with Rhys. Sean smiled contently and turned, leaving through the doorway he had, up until then, been leaning on.
It was Joel’s birthday, and Aled being Aled, he’d decided that a party was a total necessity. So, he’d insisted that entirety of Sean’s band, The Blackout, showed up, as well as the occasional Lostprophet.
Sean stumbled out of the house and into Aled’s poorly lit back garden. It was monstrous, a combination of tiles and grass that stretched on for what seemed like forever, punctuated by the appearance of a few white plastic lawn chairs surrounding a suitably lacklustre garden table. The many solar lamps Aled had “strategically” placed around were blocked by trees or bushes, so weren’t lighting up.
Needless to say, this didn’t aid Sean in any way, shape, or form. He lost track of how many rocks and half-laid patio tiles he tripped over. At one point, he had a scary incident with Aled’s demonic rotary washing line.
He wiped down his jeans after yet another fall and sighed, beginning to walk again. He stopped suddenly when he heard a sniff and shoe soles scuffing on tiles. He turned quickly and squinted into the darkness, searching for any movement.
“Shay?” He asked quietly, looking towards the fence separating Aled’s garden from his neighbours. No reply.
“Come on Shay, it has to be you.” Sean continued, talking into the blackness, “I’ve been looking for you all night. It’s Sean, if you haven’t guessed.”
Sean stepped blindly forward into the darkness. A hand gently tapped him on the shoulder and he twisted around rapidly.
“I’m over here, you idiot.” Shay laughed weakly. He flicked a switch and the torch he held in his left hand illuminated Sean’s pale face. Sean sighed in relief and threw his arms around his friend in a bone-smashing hug. Shay tried desperately to beat him away after a few seconds but Sean failed to get the message. He eventually managed to push him away and Sean cocked his head to one side.
“What’s wrong?” He asked quietly.
“Nothing.” Shay replied hastily, scuffing his shoes against the poorly-lain tiles. He flicked the torch off quickly.
“Shay.” Sean replied sternly “Something must be up; why else would you be outside in this.” Sean gestured at his surroundings.
“Suppose…” Shay muttered back, staring at his shoes.
“Shay, just tell me what’s getting at you, I can try to help…” Sean reasoned, throwing an arm around Shay. He felt the younger shake and Shay let out a choked sob.
With it being dark, Sean had had absolutely no idea that Shay had been crying the whole time they’d been talking.
“Oh Shay…” Sean whispered sympathetically, hugging Shay tight “Tell me what’s wrong.”
“I’m in love.” He whimpered against Sean’s chest “But he doesn’t know, he’ll never even think of me like that…” He started to cry again, the tears flowing faster.
“He?” Sean asked, gulping quietly “Shay, who is he?”
“I’ve said too much…” Shay replied quietly, and then the soft sobbing returned.
“Shay, let me tell you something,” Sean said, rubbing circles on his friend’s back “Sometimes, you love someone so much, and it hurts so, so bad that they’ll never know you love them more than anyone else ever could. Well, this is where this comes in.”
“Think of your life as a jigsaw. Have you put the pieces together? Have you done everything you wanted, made the friends you needed, achieved everything you hoped to achieve?” He felt Shay nod his head.
“Well, even with all that done, one central piece will be missing. You can look everywhere for that piece and never find it, but most people find someone that fits exactly. You see Shay, someone out there fits the gap in your jigsaw perfectly, and they just don’t know it yet.”
“When you find them, they’ll realise that you both complete each other. Sometimes, you actually know the person who completes you, and you can try and try to get them to see how much you need each other, and when they finally see it, neither of you have ever felt happier.” Sean smiled weakly and looked down at Shay. His eyes were adjusted to the dark by now, and he could make out things a little better.
“Very deep,” Shay laughed gently “But the thing is, he isn’t just anyone.” He looked up and pulled away from Sean’s chest slightly. He moved his arms so they were loosely attached around Sean’s waist.
“I love you Sean.” Shay whispered, closing his eyes in fear of his friend’s reaction. The butterflies in Sean’s stomach were flying around manically and all he could think was ‘Say it back like you mean it, dumbass!’ Sean placed his hands on Shay’s hips gently and looked down at him.
“You don’t know how long I’ve been waiting to hear you say that.” Sean replied quietly “I love you too, Shay.”
Shay reached up and moved Sean’s messy blonde fringe away from his eyes and lightly attached their lips.
Sean was right.
Shay’d been trying and trying to let Sean know how much he meant for all these years, and now Sean’s finally seen it, neither could be happier.