her. -- an original short story

she smiled.

it wasn't anything like the usual smiles he'd seen. everyone smiled, especially if you got them laughing or if you manged to do something that they liked. but she just never stopped. even if it was the smallest smile and even if she was crying, there was always a smile through those tears. it always amazed him how she could smile.

she didn't just smile physically too, you could always hear it in her voice. again, even if she cried, you could hear the happiness and you could hear the warmth. you loved it...he loved it.

she had made him smile all the time. she made it easy, so much so that others that they hung out with had commented about it, mentioning how she was the one for him because she was able to bring a part of him out that made all of them envious. they wanted to be able to connect with their friend like that, and instead it seemed so easy for her when they all had to try.

he didn't even know how she did it. she just, appeared and he couldn't help it, even if it was just a half-smile. she always greeted him the same way, silently sitting next to him, and if she was tired enough because of those late night calls or those late nights spent awake for whatever reason, she'd use his shoulder as a pillow. not that he stopped her, and not that it bothered him. sometimes she even fell asleep, and she'd smile during that too.

there was only one moment where she wasn't smiling, and he hadn't known how to react. he'd been frozen, watching as she clutched her shoulders so tightly, tears and snot running down her face because she couldn't control how much she was shaking. how she lost her footing and she fell and she just curled into the ground because she couldn't handle what was happening.

he'd been frozen, and while everyone had leaped to her side, he'd just stood there. and he hadn't realized what was happening to her.