When Lyra laughs, she has a tendency to hide her lips. Sometimes her eyes would clench shut as well, as if trying hold back. Whitney found this adorable. Every time she saw it, she would like nothing more than to pry her hands away and kiss those thin lips.
When Lyra cries, Whitney felt her heart stop. She didn't often break her cheerful persona, but when she saw tears trail down the side of Lyra's face, her smile would too, fade away. A phase of rare gentleness emerged, and she would hold the sobbing girl in her arms, muttering words of comforts.
"Hey, Lyra! I like you!" Whitney would say out of the blue sometimes. Caught off guard, Lyra would blush profusely. The pigtailed girl would stutter, looking for an appropriate response. "I... I-I love you!"
"I really love you!"
It was a competition between them, to show which one loved the other more. Lyra never really cared to win. She knew whatever she did, she can never win. Whitney will always a way to love her more and more.