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Pause…

“I hope you don’t mind. When I didn’t hear from you I snagged your spare key from Wren. I did knock before I barged in.”

Her fingers began mindlessly scratching along the back of Ali’s neck and across her shoulders.

Ali’s voice was hollow, lost. “I’m sorry.”

Charlotte followed her intuition and wrapped her arms around Ali from behind.

“Why are you sorry?”

Tap, tap, tap, tap.

Pause…

Tap, tap, tap, tap.

Pause…

“For worrying everyone. I should have done better.”

The words were a shock to hear. Ali was possibly the most understanding and patient person she knew. To hear her not extending that kindness to herself… Charlotte’s chest tightened.

“You’ve done nothing wrong. But I wanted to see you. I hope you don’t have plans.”

Tap, tap, tap, tap.

Pause…

Tap, tap, tap, tap.

Pause…

“I was probably going to go be a waste of space in my bed.”

Charlotte hugged her a little tighter, feeling her body start to sag as whatever pent up tension began to ease from the pressure. She pressed a kiss to her temple.

“Please don’t talk about my friend that way.”

“Sorry.”

“I’m not certain what’s running through your mind right now or what exactly you need but I’m here, okay. Your feelings are valid and we can talk about it if you want.”

Tap, tap, tap, tap.

Pause…

Tap, tap, tap, tap.

Pause…

“Assuming what you’re working on isn’t terribly important, I thought we might order pizza. If you lend me some comfy clothes we can go watch the new true crime documentary you were eyeing the other day.”

Tap, tap, tap… tap.

The stutter in the rhythm seemed promising. Charlotte barreled on, hoping to wade through the gloom leaching from Ali. Maybe even absorb it into herself and spare Ali from whatever lies it seemed to be whispering to her.

“We can run down the street and get snacks.”