haley watched lucas from across the room, noting the way he sat a little further from her than usual, the way his eyes didn’t meet hers quite as readily. it wasn’t like him to pull away, at least not this deliberately. there had been a change in him over the past few days, something she couldn’t quite put her finger on, but she could feel it in the spaces between their conversations, in the moments when he didn’t say anything, but she could see that he was thinking. she wasn’t blind — she could sense the way he was trying to pretend it wasn’t bothering him, trying to bury whatever it was that had started to fester between them. she didn’t say anything at first, though. sometimes, the best way to approach it was to wait. to see if he’d come to her in his own time, if he’d be ready to say what was really on his mind. but she knew better than to believe he’d ever say it directly. @faeful didn’t operate that way. he never had.
she set her book down with a soft exhale, deciding the silence was stretching just a bit too far. ❝ you’ve been quiet, ❞ she said, her voice even but not cold. it was a simple observation, but the way it came out made it feel like more than that. it felt like an invitation, a chance for him to admit whatever it was that had been eating at him. he didn’t respond immediately, of course. he never did when it came to the important stuff. but haley didn’t let it drop. she never did when it came to lucas, not when she knew he was holding something back. ❝ you’ve been distant, ❞ she added, her eyes meeting his, steady and calm, unwilling to let him hide behind his silence any longer. ❝ i don’t know what’s going on, but i can tell something’s bothering you. and it’s not like you to hide it, lucas. ❞ she paused, letting the words settle between them. it wasn’t about pushing him to say something he wasn’t ready to. it was about making sure he knew she wasn’t blind to the shift. he didn’t have to speak, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t acknowledge the change. ❝ i’m not asking you to talk about it if you’re not ready, ❞ she said, softer now, more careful. ❝ but you don’t have to shut me out either. we've always been able to talk about stuff, you know. ❞