Page 4 of Safe With You

Then I asked the question that had been sitting in my chest for months.

“Do you ever think maybe you only love me in moments?”

Lucas went still. I could tell by the look on his face that he wasn’t expecting that. Honestly, neither was I, but the words had come out raw, quiet, and far too honest to take back.

“Where is this coming from?” he asked after a long pause.

I looked away from him. “That right there.”

“What?”

“You always answer my questions with another question.”

“Because I’m trying to understand what you mean.”

“No.” I shook my head softly. “You’re trying to avoid answering.”

“That’s not fair.”

I finally looked back at him. “You know what’s not fair? Feeling like I have to squeeze reassurance out of somebody who says they love me.”

Lucas leaned back against the seat quietly. For once, he didn’t interrupt me, so I kept going.

“I just...” I swallowed hard. “I don’t know how to keep doing this version of us.”

“What version?”

“The one where I only feel important when it’s convenient.”

His gaze drifted toward the rain sliding down the windshield. “I don’t know what you want me to say.”

“I want you to hear me.”

“I am hearing you.”

“No.” I shook my head. “You’re listening so you can respond. That’s different.”

His jaw tightened. “So now I don’t know how to listen either?”

I closed my eyes for a second.

This was what I meant. Every conversation somehow became about proving I wasn’t asking for too much instead of him wondering why I felt unseen in the first place.

“I’m not trying to argue with you.”

“It kinda feels like you are.”

“I’m trying to tell you how I feel.”

“And I’m telling you I think you’re making something out of nothing.”

The words settled between us, not because they were new, but because they weren’t. I’d heard different versions of them for years.

You’re overthinking.

It ain’t that deep.

Why you always assume the worst?