& if you never bleed you're never gonna grow
Flora lets herself be swept into the hug, arms wrapping tight around Sohalia with a firmness that says she’d needed this even if she hadn’t known it until just now. But it does feel like goodbye, and that feeling sinks sharp into her stomach. It makes her grip linger, her chin tuck just a little tighter against Soh’s shoulder like she’s bracing for something.
Flora leans back, brows lifting as she watches her best friend spiral in real time. Her fingers catch one of Soh’s fluttering hands mid-fidget, squeezing it lightly in hers. "Okay," she says, the word slow and steady, trying to anchor them both. "Not bad. Just complicated. That’s fine. We do complicated all the time." There’s a smile in her voice—small, wry, trying.
But when Sohalia says you know I adore you, right?, something shifts behind Flora’s aqua eyes. They narrow just slightly, her hand still holding Soh’s but her shoulders tensing all over again. "That’s usually something people say right before they drop a bomb," she says, trying for light, but there’s a crack in the middle of it that wasn’t there before. "Soo....bombs away?"
Flora leans back, brows lifting as she watches her best friend spiral in real time. Her fingers catch one of Soh’s fluttering hands mid-fidget, squeezing it lightly in hers. "Okay," she says, the word slow and steady, trying to anchor them both. "Not bad. Just complicated. That’s fine. We do complicated all the time." There’s a smile in her voice—small, wry, trying.
But when Sohalia says you know I adore you, right?, something shifts behind Flora’s aqua eyes. They narrow just slightly, her hand still holding Soh’s but her shoulders tensing all over again. "That’s usually something people say right before they drop a bomb," she says, trying for light, but there’s a crack in the middle of it that wasn’t there before. "Soo....bombs away?"
