When Beth decided to stay in Seattle, a tiny part of her wondered how long it would be until she regretted it–– and that part came quickly, all in the form of the four words that came out of Archer Montgomery's lips:
He's got a crush.
Oh, for fuck's sake.
She'd been able to see it in Archer's eyes, the promise of something too elusive to put a name to, an admirer, the promise of something delicate, of flushed cheeks and sweaty palms.
It hadn't settled right with her. For such a small man with such a small voice, for eyes that were fleeting and barely able to touch hers, for stumbling over words and sentences––
No, Beth couldn't imagine it.
He was so impersonal with her, seemed to constantly be stuck in his head that she was surprised he even remembered her name. He seemed distracted every moment of every day.
(For the record, too, she couldn't quite say he fit her type. He was too nice. She had the tendency to go for the ones who seemed like they'd ruin her some day.)
It was that, and the fact that the idea of someone having a crush on her made her want to skin herself alive.
She'd once considered love to be something that fit her, that loved her back. She'd understood exactly why people went to war for that sensation, why people got married and made promises over paper rings–– then reality had come in the form of a cheating asshole with a god complex and Beth considered herself scorned.
Was it cliche to say that that little girl who held onto love with every part of her had changed?
She'd withered somewhere, left lovers to the voicemail inbox and felt like retching over a single diamond ring in a velvet box.
But what if?
She was pretty sure Archer was wrong, but what if?
No, she couldn't even entertain it.
Hi, She almost felt like saying to the universe, I can't exactly handle any romantic attention right now. I'd appreciate it if you diverted that traffic into another lane. If not I'll probably start crying at some point and never be able to stop.
So it was decided, George didn't had a crush on her at all. He didn't. He DIDN'T. Beth wouldn't fucking allow it––
