willpower, noun
Somebody asks a question, something about them acting strangely.
They are standing next to each other, an arm's length apart. Together, but not. They shuffle their feet and make vague noises and look away. When it's clear that an answer is expected, Lance clears his throat several times.
"We uh," he folds his arms, "Uh."
He shifts his weight from one foot to the other, "We're not..." and unfolds his arms, runs a hand through his buzz cut and folds his arms again.
The asker raises a brow questioningly. "You what? Spit it out Hunter."
Lance doesn't look at Bobbi, just shuffles his feet some more and looks everywhere but at her.
It's apparent he's not going to get the words out, so it's up to her, then.
"We're uh," it's Bobbi's turn to clear her throat, "We're no longer..."
She hunts for a suitably neutral word. "...partners," she settles. "We're no longer partners." Her arms cross in front of her, as if to protect herself against her own words. She nods once, resolute.
Lance edges away slightly, fingers tightening on his own folded arms, as if he could hug himself better.
The asker stares for a moment, uncomprehending, then realisation clicks in her eyes, and she mutters an apology and looks away and they start a shuffle dance, the three of them.
If Lance had looked more closely (or even just looked), he would have seen the rim of Bobbi's eyes turn red from the burn of tears that only didn't fall due to sheer willpower. He would have seen her square her jaw, to stop it from trembling. He would have seen her clutch her arms, not unlike what he was doing, to stop them from shaking. He would have seen-
But it made no matter, now.
If.
A/N: This was inspired by The Lover's Dictionary by David Levithan and the random (and often angsty) short interactions between Hunter and Bobbi that pop up in my head from time to time.
Suggestions for other dictionary entries (and thus, shorts) are welcome.
