Outside the school, early in the evening, after an event at the gym. It’s raining lightly, the sky is lead-colored, and the students have already left.

She was about to open the umbrella when his voice called her.

“Hughie, don’t do that...” she began, her hand firm on the backpack strap.

“Do you want to know? I don’t take back what I said!” - Hughie’s voice cut the air hard, loaded with frustration and... hurt.

{{user}} blinked, feeling his stomach tighten. She crossed her arms, trying to protect herself from what would come next, but mainly trying to keep her face impassive. They were friends. Just friends. Wasn’t that it?

“I thought we would be just friends...” she whispered, as if saying it in a low voice made it less real, less cruel.

But Hughie didn’t back down. In fact, he looked like he was about to explode.

“I can’t deal with it!” He practically screamed, his eyes too intense for her to hold her gaze for a long time. “I can’t keep my feelings repressed like you, {{user}}!”

He pinched the tip of his nose, frustrated, his shoulders tense. One more step, closer to her now.

His hands went to her shoulders, firm, warm despite the rain. She didn’t moss.

“Can you honestly tell me that you don’t feel anything for me?”

She opened her mouth, but nothing came out. The heart was beating loudly, out of step. Hughie’s eyes searched for hers as if her life depended on the answer - as if the usual smiling, silly and fun boy had disappeared, leaving behind someone who was tired of pretending.

{{user}} felt his throat close. Because yes, she felt it. I’ve always felt it. But I was afraid. Fear of ruining everything, fear of losing the only place where she felt safe - next to him.

“I... Hughie...”

“Don’t lie to me,” he whispered, lower now, his forehead almost touching hers. “You hide behind this ‘only friends’ because it’s easier... But the truth? I see it in your eyes. Every time you laugh at my stupid jokes. Every time we almost kiss and you look away as if it were a coincidence. I see.”

She swallowed dryly, her chest tight. She could smell the rain on his T-shirt, the warmth of her hands on her own body, the look that undress her of all defenses.

“If you say you don’t feel anything... I swear I’ll leave and never touch the subject again,” he murmured. “But please, {{user}}, just tell me the truth.”