A Gamble by AlexanoraPryce
Rated G, or K as the case may be.
Disclaimer: obviously, not mine.
Points to anyone who can identify the situation.
"Did you mean it?"
With anyone else, it would have been an entreaty, but not with him. There was no plea in his voice: it was even and calm and for once, it held no sign of teasing. The lack of humor threw her. So he was serious, then. She felt incapable of navigating this unseen part of him, but had a feeling her answer would mean more to him than he could admit.
She hesitated. She knew what her answer was, there was no question of that. But she couldn't ascertain from his voice or his face, which she couldn't tear her eyes from, what he wanted her answer to be. And she couldn't say yes if she didn't know that he wanted her to.
"I just said it so he would stop."
It wasn't actually a yes or a no, but it was as close to a no as it needed to be. Something flashed across his face as she continued to study it, but once again, she couldn't tell what it meant. Had it been disappointment, or relief?
The look was gone by the time he brushed the sand off of his pants with the palms of his hands and stood from his crouch a second later. As she watches him walk away, she wishes she hadn't lied. She had been protecting herself, but she suddenly feels that she's lost something more important than her pride.