Before everything became complicated,
it was simple.
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Not the kind of simple
that comes from effort.
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But the kind that just... existed.
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They never needed to try.
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It was in the way their conversations flowed...
from the most random topics
to the quietest moments in between.
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No pressure.
No expectations.
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Just... ease.
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Sometimes, they didn't even talk much.
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And yet,
it never felt awkward.
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She remembered those days.
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Sitting across from him,
books open in front of them...
but barely touched.
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He would say something small.
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Something ordinary.
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And somehow,
she would find herself smiling without realizing.
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"Why are you smiling?"
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He asked once,
looking at her with that familiar curiosity.
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She shook her head.
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"Nothing."
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But it wasn't nothing.
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It was everything.
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It was the comfort she didn't know she needed.
The calm she didn't have to search for.
The presence that felt... right.
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He didn't question further.
-----
He never did.
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And that was what made it different.
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He didn't push.
Didn't demand explanations.
Didn't make her feel like she had to prove anything.
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He just... stayed.
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In his own quiet way.
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There were moments...
small, almost unnoticeable ones...
that meant more than they should have.
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Like the way he would look at her
when she wasn't paying attention.
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Or the way his voice softened
when he spoke to her,
even when others were around.
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It was never obvious.
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Never something anyone else would point out.
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But she felt it.
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And somehow,
she knew...
-----
he felt it too.
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Not in words.
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But in the silence they shared.
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In the way neither of them
ever tried to replace that connection
with something louder.
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It was enough.
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Or at least...
-----
it felt like it was.
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She never rushed it.
-----
Never questioned where it was going.
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Because deep down,
she believed something rare
didn't need to be forced.
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If it was meant to be,
it would find its way.
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So she stayed patient.
-----
Stayed quiet.
-----
Stayed where she was.
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Not knowing
that while she was protecting something real...
-----
he was slowly learning
how to choose something easier.