The bell over the comic store door chimed — that familiar sound that meant Lucas was here again. You didn’t even have to look up from the register; you knew that voice anywhere.

“Hey, man,” Lucas greeted, pushing his curls back as he walked in. “You still hiding behind the counter like it’s your fortress?”

You grinned. “Only when I see trouble walk through the door.”

Lucas chuckled, pretending to browse through the new arrivals, though both of you knew he’d already read everything on the shelves. He came here every few days — sometimes to grab a comic, mostly to hang out with you.

You’d been best friends for a while now. You’d joke about customers, share snacks behind the counter, and debate comic characters until closing time. Lucas had been to your place a few times too, and you’d been to his — the kind of friendship that felt easy. Natural.

Except lately, nothing about it felt easy for Lucas.

He glanced up at you from across the aisle, the fluorescent lights bouncing off your hair as you laughed at something on your phone. He told himself to focus on the comics. He failed miserably.

You caught him staring. “What?”

Lucas froze. “What—uh—nothing! I was just, uh… I was gonna ask about—uh…” He grabbed the nearest comic off the shelf, squinting at it. “This one. Yeah. This one’s good, right?”

You looked at the cover and snorted. “Lucas, that’s My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic.”

He blinked, mortified. “…Right. Yeah. I knew that. I was, uh, testing you.”

You laughed so hard you nearly dropped the register scanner. Lucas grinned, trying to laugh it off too, but his ears were burning.

He walked up to the counter, leaning against it like he wasn’t dying inside. “Okay, okay, don’t laugh too hard. I just… I came by to see if you were free later. Maybe we could grab a smoothie or something.”

You tilted your head. “Smoothie? Since when are you a smoothie guy?”

“I—uh—I like fruit,” Lucas said too fast. “And you like fruit. So… that’s, like, something we have in common.”

You raised an eyebrow, fighting a smile. “Are you… asking me out, Sinclair?”

Lucas blinked, heart jumping. “I—what? No— I mean—maybe? Not, like, weird asking out, but, you know, like—uh—friend hangout asking out?”

You chuckled, soft and amused. “You’re really bad at this.”

He covered his face. “I know, okay? You make me nervous, dude.”