When

When she smiled at him, he told himself he would be acting selfishly if he told her how he felt about her.

When she batted her eyes toward him, he told himself he valued her friendship too much to put it at risk.

When she was lonely and heartbroken, he told himself it was not his place to comfort her in her grief.

When she found comfort in the arms of another man, he told himself he was happy for her.

When she stopped thinking of him ever again, he told himself there was nothing else he could have possibly done.