Separate names with a comma.
His eyes were curious and he watched her uncertainly. "Did you have a crush on me?"
She groaned a little in playful frustration. "You're killing me. Fine might not be that you dislike it, but you don't like it. You tolerate it."
He spoke up again after a moment. "If I had made a move... I don't know. A day sooner. What would you have done?"
She looked up at him, slowly going to let go of his hand. “Fine with it means you don’t like it,” she said, frowning.
He shrugged, looking melancholy. “I guess I didn’t act fast enough.”
“Well, maybe you’ve just gotten used to me glomming onto you at any moment,” she replied self-consciously. “That doesn’t mean you like it.”
“Years,” he replied quietly, his voice soft. “Moving away was the hardest thing I’ve ever done.”
She looked up at him, her eyes softening. “But... you didn’t like it when I hugged you. And when we woke up the other day, you panicked.” She...
“But I’ve always been here,” he replied, looking up at her. “I’ve always been here. I just figured that I shouldn’t try to force it, you know?”
She looked downright mortified, her brow furrowing. “Well... I thought you would tell me if it made you uncomfortable, and I thought you were...
His face hardened and he frowned, avoiding her gaze. There was a silence before he spoke. “Why wasn’t I enough, Calliope?”
Her flush deepened and she looked up at him with wide eyes. “You’re being so... affectionate,” she said, laughing a little. “You never take my...
He shrugged, studying her. “In any way. You don’t love me like you love him?”
She looked up at him, beaming at him, although that rosy flush was still prominent. “Trust me. I know my mama. She’s desperate to get someone to...
His face was hard to read and he looked down at the ground. "Do you love me?"
“‘Mama, this is my friend Z, and he thinks I could be pretty, so we gotta keep him around.’ Trust me, that’ll work.”
He frowned, his ears pointing down. “Do you love him?”
She laughed, flushing at him, the tips of her ears flickering down. Her hair grew even more messy by his tousling. “I really think I could...
He nodded, taking her arm as he led her down the hall gently. “He sure seems to like you.”
She looked up at him, her eyes soft with affection. “I’d be glad to have you on board,” she said softly.
