Childhood Friends

"Hey, congrats man," I said with a fake smile plastered on my face. I never thought this would be so hard.
"Thanks. I'm glad it's finally happened," he replied back. Hesitantly, he reached his arm out and gave me an awkward side hug. I always hated those kinds of hugs. It was as if they were only given because someone felt obligated to do so; they meant nothing. Which was really hard for me to handle, considering he'd been my best friend for so long.
"Yeah, who knew you'd be married first eh? 20 and married. Never saw that one coming. I'm a bit envious."
"Don't worry about it. Nathaniel will be home soon and you'll get this too," he said reassuringly. But I didn't need reassurance. I already knew what was going to happen in my life. I was more concerned about what was going to happen in his.
"Oh, yeah. Of course. It'll be great having him back. Only a year away now..." I drifted off. I looked around the reception hall and sighed. And one point, we both thought we would be doing this together. A long time ago, in a whole different life, we believed we were the ones who were to get married. They called us Nala and Simba for years; best friends since childhood, bound to marry at one point. But we both knew our story wouldn't end that way.
"I'm really happy for you Dayne," I honestly told him. And I was. Jealous, sure, but I was glad he finally found the happiness he'd been searching for for years.
"Thanks Peyton, that means a lot to me." And this time, he gave me a real hug. The kind of siblings. And with that, I was able to let go of my best friend, and give him to her. I just hoped she knew that if she ever hurt him, I'd be the first to hunt her down.