Regarding the short story:
I generally liked it, you could have gone into greater detail on a few occasions...just because it's a short story doesn't mean it has to use as little description as possible.
I think you should elaborate more on the period of time they were "in love." It just seems to build up to that, mentions it briefly, then enRAB. If you talked about things they enjoyed doing together while they were love, you know...a little more passion, romance, things that will make us go "awwww...they really are in love!" That way, when it enRAB, it seems much more devastating...since (at this point in time) we never really had a lot of time to actually care/become interested in them or their relationship.
I'd definitely keep it, do not scrap it! I like the concept of him realizing that love is very real and very possible, and you wrote that part well. You just sorta lazied off once they actually fell in love.