Peaches

There was something in the way he spoke to her.

She had never been particularly good at reading peoples' feeling towards her.
And when she did manage to do so successfully, she'd often convince herself that she must be wrong.

No one would feel that way about her.
Not her.
Surely, not her.

And so it was with him.

He'd hold her, but sometimes not as tight as she held him.

He'd kiss her, but she'd wonder if it meant nothing to him.

He'd smile at her, but sometimes his smile would not be as wide as hers.

In private little moments, he'd disclose some intimate feeling to her, and yet when he didn't reciprocate if she did the same, she'd fear the worst.

But it was in his goodbyes that she felt it.

Not in the way he struggled to let her leave his arms.

Not in the lingering kisses.

Perhaps not even in the way he stared into her eyes.

But in that one little word, she heard more affection than she ever had.

That one little word that she knew he had never spoken in such a way to any girl before her.

The way it left his lips in a voice soft and low, unlike his usual way of speech.

Bye.