Inside, the silence clawed at Savannah’s skin.
Tilly looked away first, shoulders tight. “You see what I mean? This is what I’m talking about. I don’t know what any of this is. I don’t know how to talk to you without messing up.”
Savannah’s lips parted. She hated how much those words stung. “I’m not asking for perfection.”
“No,” Tilly said. “You’re asking for clarity you don’t give.”
The heater wheezed again. Savannah felt heat rise to her face — from frustration, embarrassment, something else she didn’t want to name.
She spoke quietly. “I’m trying to figure things out.”
“That makes one of us.”
“Tilly—”
“Savannah.” Their voice cracked. “Please. I don’t have the energy for half-answers tonight.”
Her chest tightened. “Then what do you want?”
The answer sat somewhere in her chest, loud and unhelpful.
Tilly laughed under their breath — a tired, fraying sound. “Honestly? I just want one conversation with you that doesn’t feel like I’m stepping on a tripwire.”
Savannah inhaled sharply. “You think I’m explosive?”
“I think you’re… unpredictable.” Their voice softened in a way that felt worse. “And I don’t know how to brace for you anymore.”
The words landed heavy, right in her center.
A beat.
Two.
The storm was roaring like static around them.
Savannah forced her voice steady. “I’m not avoiding you on purpose.”
Tilly didn’t look at her. “Intent doesn’t change how it feels.”
That was somehow worse than yelling.
Savannah dropped her gaze to her lap, pulse thudding in her ears. “So what do we do? Just keep… tiptoeing around each other?”
Tilly gripped the wheel harder. “I don’t know. But this…” they motioned between them “…is exhausting.”
Savannah’s breath caught. “Is that why you keep pulling back?”
Tilly looked at her, eyes sharp with confusion and something else — something she didn’t dare identify. “You think I’m pulling back?”
“Yes,” she said, heat in her voice. “Don’t act surprised.”
For a moment, they just stared at each other — trapped in the storm, trapped in the silence, trapped in something neither of them had language for.
Then Tilly broke the gaze and turned on the headlights.
The movement was sharp. Final.
“We’re done talking,” they said quietly.
