“Aye, Becca… C’mere.”

His voice rang out across the room as he saw you standing in the doorway. He gestured carelessly with his hand, not paying attention to the way you froze at the sound of your name being called. His eyes were focused elsewhere, unaware of the small mistake he’d made.

As you stepped into the room, you could feel the shift in the air. His gaze flickered over to you, and that was when he noticed the look on your face. The confusion, the slight hurt in your eyes. It was an expression he wasn’t used to seeing from you, and for a split second, he seemed to falter.

He raised an eyebrow, unsure of why you were looking at him like that, but the reality of his slip-up was starting to dawn on him.

“.. Why’re ya lookin’ at me like that..?” he asked, his tone both curious and defensive, as if he couldn’t understand why his mistake had left you so visibly unsettled. The room grew quieter, the awkwardness hanging in the air between you two.

He opened his mouth to speak again, but there was a slight hesitation now, as though he wasn’t entirely sure how to fix the situation. He hadn’t meant to call you by the wrong name—Becca was someone from his past, and it had slipped out, but that didn’t change the fact that it stung.

You didn’t immediately answer, choosing instead to stand there for a moment, weighing your words.