| "You have to go away again? You don't get a load of time at home just to hang out do ya" Aisling said to Shane with a slight disappointment in her voice. "I know Ash, it seems like we never get to spend any good time together anymore" Shane replied placing his hand on her shoulder to comfort her. "But this is the last leg of our World tour and then we'll be home for at least 2 weeks. We'll spend every day together, I promise". "I'm gonna hold ya to that, you know" Aisling smirked. "I know Ash, I know!!". Shane and Aisling had met in the summer just before she made a move back to Ireland. Shane had nothing to do with her decision, at least he wasn't a major reason. Aisling had grown up in Ireland and had lived not far from Shane. But in all those years, the two never crossed paths until that fateful day in June. Now both in their 20's, the two friends were practically inseparable. Shane was one-fifth of the Irish boy band "Westlife" and didn't ever really have a settled address unless he was at his parents' house in Sligo. Aisling was now living in Dublin as a student. She was finally fulfilling her dream to be a songwriter. Because of Shane's hectic schedule and Aisling's constant need to sit down and write, the two found it hard to make time for each other, if there ever was any free time for either of them. For any other friendship, the time apart would have caused a "break-down", but Shane and Aisling believed that there was a reason they only met a year ago in the adult stages of their lives and not when they were younger. This made them cherish their friendship all the more and work hard at keeping it the best friendship they'd ever had. "Call me when you get to Milan, eh" Aisling reminded Shane as he stepped up to the departure gate. Shane laughed "I can't believe after a year, you're accent is still as strong as ever. I thought for sure you would have lost it by now". Shane was always slagging Aisling about her Canadian accent and her common use of words like "Eh", and "Awesome". But she held onto her accent with great pride. After all, it was her accent that caused Shane to chat her up in the first place!! "I'll call as soon as I get settled in the hotel" Shane reassured her. "But it'll be late, you don't have to wait up for me to call". "Well, if I don't answer, just leave a message to say you're there and safe" Aisling said. This was her best mate taking off yet again to another country. She wanted to make sure he was gonna be coming back in one piece. The phone calls were something that Shane and Aisling had always done since they'd met. It was a reminder that their friendship would last forever, that no matter where they were in the world, they'd always think of each other. Shane was gone for 2 months this time. First Milan, then Rome, then onto Paris and Stockholm. He made sure he called Aisling from each city to fill her in on the latest antics that he and the lads had been up to. Aisling knew she'd always have a good laugh at the other lads' expense. Bryan was always getting into some sort of trouble, Nicky was constantly egging the lads on with his outrageous dress sense and Mark, well he liked to take a "female souvenir" from each city they visited. Then there was Kian. He'd been so much like Mark before, but something had changed in him. Shane seemed to think he knew what was going on. He was convinced it had to do with a girl, but didn't know which girl. Kian had dated many but always found a reason not to take the relationship into the more serious level of long-term. Aisling listened intently while Shane spoke of Kian and the changes he'd seen in him. "Ash, I don't have a clue what to do. I've never seen Ki like this before. He's got it bad for someone. Hell, I don't even know if it's even a girl that's got him like this" Shane told Aisling, looking for advice. "The only thing I can suggest is for you to talk to him. You've been mates for years. He's bound to open up to you" Aisling said without hesitation. Shane knew that Aisling was right. He needed to ask Kian what was up and just hope that Kian would be honest with him. That evening in Stockholm, Shane knocked on Kian's hotel room door. "Ya?" Kian asked. "It's me. Open up man" Shane said sternly. "Right! Coming!" Kian replied and unlocked the door for Shane to enter. "Who is she, man?" Shane said not even waiting til he was fully in the room. Kian was taken aback by Shane's adamant nature and seemed confused by the question. "Who's the girl that's got ya all wound up and not acting like yourself?" Shane repeated. "It doesn't matter who she is. I'm pretty sure she doesn't have the time of day for me" Kian answered. "Phew" Shane thought to himself "at least it IS a girl he's got on his mind!!". Shane and Kian headed down to the hotel bar to have a beer to talk things through. Shane was really concerned that whoever this girl was, she'd really done a number on Kian. Was it one that he'd dated and she'd dropped him? Maybe it was a fan he liked, but she was into one of the other lads? Or could it be someone he's known for years that just didn't see him as more than a friend? As Kian's best friend, he had to help him if he could. As they sipped on their beers, Kian began to open up about this girl he'd met about a year ago. "Man Shane, she's the most beautiful girl I've ever seen in my life" Kian explained. He went on to describe this girl - dark hair that reached just to her shoulders, blue eyes that sparkled in the sun and moonlight and a smile that could light up any room. Shane was astounded. It appeared that Kian was in love. "Have ya ever talked to her?" Shane asked. "Ya I have, quite a bit" Kian replied "I don't even know if she's dating anyone, but I can't see how she couldn't be. There always seems to be one guy or another chatting her up. Even Mark, Nicky and Bryan have done it". Shane knew that Mark, Nicky and Bryan chatting up this mystery girl was nothing for Kian to worry about. After all, Nicky had Georgina, Bryan had Kerry and Molly and Mark, well Mark was too much into being a player to settle for one girl just yet! "Have I met her?" Shane asked, dying to know the name of this girl. "Actually Shane, you probably have talked to her the most out of everyone. In fact, you know her better than anyone" Kian answered. Almost at the instant that Kian had finished his sentence did Shane realize that this mystery girl Kian was talking about was Aisling. "Aisling?" Shane questioned. Kian nodded his head in agreement. "Aisling?" Shane repeated again. "Yes Shane, Aisling" Kian said reassuring Shane he had figured it out! Kian admitted to Shane that he hadn't told him about his feelings before because he knew of his brief "affair" with Aisling just shortly after they'd met. When Shane and Aisling first met, there was an instant connection, both physical and emotional, between them. Aisling and Shane dated each other exclusively for about 3 months, but despite the intense physical nature of their relationship in the beginning, it wore off and the relationship became more of an emotional one. It wasn't that they weren't physically attracted to each other anymore - they certainly were - but they found that they started to rely on each other much more as friends than lovers. As such, Aisling and Shane mutually agreed that even though they loved each other, it was more as friends than anything else and from that day on they were strictly that - friends. They both just wanted happiness for the other and both felt that the kind of happiness they were looking for in love was not with each other. Aisling also admitted to Shane that there was someone else she had feelings for and that she couldn't continue to date Shane knowing that in her heart she wasn't being completely true to him or to herself. Even after a year of friendship, she'd never told Shane who this other person was, but sitting there talking to Kian made Shane's mind flashback to several occasions where he remembered interaction between Kian and Aisling. The first time was when Aisling came into Louie Walsh's office to drop off some songs for him to look at. The lads were sitting in Louie's office waiting for him to arrive when Kian noticed Aisling talking to Florence, the office secretary. Shane saw Kian's face light up at the sight of this girl standing in the foyer, so he had to take a look for himself. Shane wasted no time in going to assist the girl with whatever she needed, even offering to show her around after noticing her accent and that she wasn't from the area. But the most significant interaction Shane recalled between Aisling and Kian was on New Year's Eve. It was about a month after Shane and Aisling had decided to be strictly friends and they were attending a big bash that Louie was hosting. Bryan was with Kerry, Nicky with Georgina, Mark had some fresh new face to hang on his arm for the evening and Aisling, Shane and Kian went solo. The lads had hired a limousine for the evening and they picked Aisling up at her apartment. Since Shane was her closest friend in the group, he went and brought her down to the car. Her beauty mesmerized even Shane, such that he could barely take his eyes off her. So you can only imagine what Kian was feeling when he saw her come down the apartment steps and towards the car. Even though he knew Aisling and Shane were only friends now, it drove Kian crazy to see her on Shane's arm. Since it was her first New Year's Eve in Ireland and on her own, Aisling spared no expense and made sure she looked better than she ever had. She wore a long, navy blue skirt, with a slit up the right leg to her mid-thigh, a matching navy blue top that sat just above her belly-button (to add to the already sexy look she had going on) and her hair was swept up in curls, held together with small ivory roses. At the party, Kian didn't want to seem too obvious so he made sure he mingled and chatted with other girls there. But no matter how hard he tried, his eyes always led him back to Aisling. At one point, he saw her standing alone in the corner, almost looking lost so he immediately went over to "save" her. "What's a pretty girl like you doing here all by herself?" he joked. "Oh I'm not alone. I'm actually here with two very handsome young men" She smirked. "And I'm hoping one of them is going to ask me to dance". Kian was sure she was referring to Shane, but he didn't want to lose this opportunity to have Aisling so close to him, to be able to hold her in his arms. "Well, shall we?" Kian asked nervously. "I'd be honoured, thank you" Aisling replied with a smile. Damn, that smile gets him every time. It wouldn't matter what kind of day Kian was having but as soon as he saw Aisling and she smiled at him, all his cares seem to disappear. "I can't believe I didn't see it then Kian, on New Year's Eve" Shane said. "It was so obvious, but none of us saw it". "What do you mean?" Kian questioned. "Man, I saw the two of you dancing that night. You barely let each other go the whole time" Shane explained. "And that first song you danced to, one of ours. It's like fate was trying to tell you two something" >From what Shane was seeing that night as he watched Kian and Aisling in each other's arms, he recalled the words of the song "The song of a little bird The joy in three little words I know it's real That's how it feels To be loved by you The stars from a midnight sky The melody from a lullaby There's nothing real That I wouldn't steal To be loved by you" "I wanted to tell her Shane, I did. I wanted to sing those words to her. I didn't want to let her go, but she probably would have danced with anyone else if they'd asked" Kian said. "Ya, but Kian. You were dancing with her, holding her close to you. Could you not see it in her eyes? She's in love with you man". Shane had just realized who Aisling had meant when she told him she had feelings for someone else the day they broke up. Shane noticed Kian's face light up as soon as he said those words "She's in love with you...". Now all he needed to hear was those words from Aisling "I love you Kian". But it was months after New Years Eve. What if she didn't feel that way anymore. "You've got to tell her Kian. You can't lose her. Believe me, I know. Aisling is the best thing that's ever happened in my life. I'm glad that I got to love her, but I'm most grateful that she is best friend. You've got to tell her you love her" Shane said in a panic, practically pushing Kian back upstairs to his hotel room to pack. It was the last night of the tour and the lad were heading home the next day anyways. Shane insisted that Kian get on a plane early and go find Aisling. Once the other lads had been filled in on what was going on, they gladly helped Shane get Kian back to Ireland. "Meet me at 11:55pm tonight in the ballroom at The Shelbourne Hotel" said the note slipped under Aisling's apartment door. "What the heck is he up to?" Aisling laughed, thinking it had to be Shane that dropped off the note. She knew they had gotten home earlier that day and he always did little things to surprise her when he was home from touring. Thinking of the New Year's Eve party, Aisling decided that she would re-create her look from that night. She couldn't help but notice Shane's constant glances and even though they were only friends now, she still had a soft spot in her heart for him. As she was doing her hair to get ready for her secret rendezvous, she also remembered dancing in Kian's arms that night and how she longed to be like that with him again. Aisling got in her car at 11:30pm and drove to The Shelbourne Hotel, arriving with a few minutes to spare. "I'm supposed to meeting someone here in the ballroom at 11:55pm" she told the desk clerk. "Right this way" the girl said and she led Aisling to the ballroom where Louie had hosted his party just months earlier. The room was exactly how it had been on New Year's Eve, minus the crowd of people. Soft music was playing, but Aisling couldn't see anyone there. "Hello?" she said quietly. "It's Aisling. Shane is that you?". "Would you rather it be Shane?" a voice asked from behind her. Aisling turned to find Kian standing there, also dressed exactly how he'd been at the party. Aisling took a moment to catch her breath. The one man she'd always wanted was right there in front of her, recreating the night they had held each other so close. She bit her lip and then looked up at him and said "No Kian. The only person I wanted it to be was you". She'd finally said it. He had to know that she loved him. Suddenly, the music changed and a familiar song began to play. Kian took Aisling's hand and led her out onto the floor. "Oh with all the power of a symphony, That's how my heart beats when you're holding me. I can't conceal, this is how it feels To be loved by you. Oh yeah, to be loved by you. If everybody knows, it's only 'cause it shows. Because I take your love, Everywhere I go. I know what it is I need, it's clear as a shallow stream. It's as it seems, my only dream's To be loved by you" "Aisling you have to know what you do to me. I can't stop thinking about you. My whole life has changed since the day I met you, but I didn't want to come between you and Shane" Kian explained. "You could never come between me and Shane because we are only friends now. Nothing more than friends. I love Shane very much, but it's different from...." Aisling paused "...from how I love you. Kian, I want to be with you, I want to love you and only you". "I love you, Aisling" Kian said, his heart lighting up at the sound of those words from Aisling's lips. As the clock struck midnight, Kian looked deep into Aisling's eyes and said "Happy New Year". Aisling and Kian kissed while continuing to dance to the song with the perfect words. They had found love with each other and wanted to stay like they were at this very moment forever, holding each other close and saying nothing at all. Aisling and Kian's eyes locked, never looking away, the song expressing exactly what they wanted to say "It's as it seems. My only dream's to be loved by you". |
| To Be Loved |
| By �isl�ng |