Phillip thought he’d seen her cheeks redden, but it was probably just the shadows from the fire that was struggling to stay lit, and he pushed any thoughts that stemmed from that away. She was getting up, listening to what he had said, and Phillip remained seated. He didn’t want to stand up and crowd her space, and it wasn’t as if he could walk her to the stairs up to her dorm anymore. Those days were gone, just like everything else.
“Goodnight, Phillip†His stomach dropped at the words, at how she had whispered them as she passed by, at everything it reminded him of, and Phillip didn’t say it back until she was too far away to hear it. It was too familiar and yet so far away. It was too much and not enough. Phillip missed her, it was beyond obvious, but he didn’t want to. He slumped back into the chair as she passed by, head turned to watch as she disappeared up the staircase. Just for a moment, forgetting that he shouldn’t have been staring, and then he sighed.
He’d planned to give her a few minutes head start before he went back to his dorms, but instead, Phillip fell asleep in the chair as the fire finally died out.
/end
