How can people with such beauty not stare at the mirror every hour of the day just because they can?
Why can’t she see it?
She blinks at me with those tired eyes, but even tired, they are stunning.
I have always loved her eyes.
One of them is a beautiful light shade of blue, a pale blue that makes her skin look warm and glowing, and the other one is a shade of green that I can never seem to find the perfect comparison for.
All I know is that they are beautiful.
“Tills?” My voice comes out softer than I intend. “What are you doing awake?”
“I could ask you the same thing,” she says, lips curling into a half-smile as she shuffles in.
I turn back to the counter, grabbing another bowl automatically. “Couldn’t sleep. You?”
“Same.” She whispers, looking down, and lowers herself onto the stool across from me, pulling her sleeves over her hands like she always does.
“Well, tomorrow we’re going to live on coffee alone, but whatever.” I try to make it sound light.
She giggles quietly, and it’s like the tiniest crack of sunlight through a storm cloud.
We eat in silence for a while, the sound of spoons scraping against bowls filling the air.
It isn’t the easy silence we used to have.
This one is heavy with words that aren’t being said, and it’s almost painful.
“So…” I finally break it.
“So…” she echoes, eyes dancing just a little. “Is this weird for you too, or…?”
“Yeah,” I admit. “It is.”
She sets her spoon down and looks at me.
I look at her and tilt my head, smiling. “Let’s change that.”
“Ok, I’m going to be honest with you, Luca — you’ve been distant from me, again. Are you good?”
Her voice isn’t sharp.
It’s curious, but it lands like a punch anyway.
“Yeah,” I say slowly. “It’s just, I feel like I have nothing to talk about with you anymore.”
She blinks, surprised, and then picks at the edge of her bowl. “Well, that’s not good,” she says finally. “You know you can talk to me about everything, right?”
I nod, but my throat feels tight. “Do you know the fact is reciprocated?”
She gives me a weird look. “Yeah.”
She’s lying.
I can see it in the way her bottom lip catches between her teeth, in the way her nostrils flare just slightly.
She always does that when she isn't telling the full truth.
