Wait for me to come home elavan

Wait what?

The day the text shows up in her inbox is the day she realizes she'd been wrong.

Hey Liz. So Zoey and I wanted to let you know that we're together now .

Before she'd been content with the way things were. Casual flirting. Sometimes she'd catch him staring off in her direction, and she'd smile back, and he'd smile too, and she thought he knew, so she never did anything. She figured what was meant to happen would happen. She figured one day he'd casually ask her out, and she'd smile and accept, and that's the way things would go. But he didn't.

And now the situation is completely different.

She almost thinks about texting him. Her fingers almost find the keys, almost ask him how he could do this, almost ask him if he'd even thought about her feelings at all – even known about her feelings at all – but she doesn't. Instead, she fires back, Happy for you, Jogia, and decides not to think for the rest of the night. Especially not about how much it hurts.

.

And so she does nothing. She pretends to be happy for him. She finds another guy, someone different than Avan, with a different sense of humor, but it never really feels quite so right. After a time, she breaks up with him, and she feels this sort of emptiness inside. That is, until Avan texts her.

Hey can I ask you something?

Frowning, she types back, Sure, yeah, what's up?

I don't know. Ive been thinking a lot lately and well Liz did you ever have feelings for me?

She hesitates. Her fingers hover above the keyboard. She knows the consequences, and it's absolutely the wrong thing to do, and everything is telling her no, but then there's her heart. It's saying a vehement yes. I still kind of do.

Oh.

Oh? She questions. It feels almost like a rejection. I'm sorry. Shouldn't have said anything. I know you're in a relationship.

Im sorry for asking. But, you don't have to be sorry for how you feel.

The sickening feeling in her stomach tells her the opposite. No, it's okay. Text me when you're in town yeah? We'll meet up.

Of course.

.

The next time she sees him she feels like her heart is going to explode.

He looks even better than before, and she has to remind herself that he's taken, that she has to protect herself from being hurt again. He grins that lopsided grin at her. "Hey, Gillies."

"Thanks for the excessive promo of my show," she gripes. "Literally had to spend hours brainstorming on how I could begin to catch up with you. But seriously, Tut was fantastic. Probably the best 3 nights I've spent this summer."

Laughing, he replies, "Your show was even better. Looking at your face is never a waste of time."

She tries to keep the blush off of her face from the (unintended?) flirting. "Whatever you say. You in the mood for some good food?"

"Always," he replies with a grin.

They walk down the street together, close so that their arms sometimes (unintentionally?) brush and she wonders what it would be like to be with him like this. She wonders if he ever thinks of her the same way. In times like this it might be nice to read minds, to know what exactly he thinks of her, to know that at some point in time her feelings have been returned.

But she says nothing. Instead, while they eat, she glances up at him and realizes that he's looking at her, too, and she continues to wonder.

.