Silence, a thick, palpable presence, descended upon them, a quiet that was so great it felt as if it could swallow them whole. Eirin, her body a tight, coiled spring of nerves, could feel the awkwardness filling through her, a cold, suffocating weight that she wanted to break. She didn't want to make the atmosphere sad, didn't want to dwell in the aching sorrow of their shared past.
"B-But you know, even if it was just my grandma and me, I met my friends there, Ava and Bright. And now I also met Coleen and the others. I'm not… I'm not alone anymore."
The words, though true, felt like a desperate, flimsy barrier against the truth of her heartbreaking loneliness.
Shade smiled, a soft, tender curve of his lips, a look in his eyes that was so gentle it made Eirin's heart ache with a strange, beautiful emotion.
"I'll be your friend, too. If you'll have me."
