While Raleigh didn't mean for her eyes to widen in surprise, they did. It was only a second later that they softened, and even though she could feel her cheeks turn red, she nodded while she stared out in the ocean. That was the weirdest thing about it, honestly. If it had been anyone else, the first thing would be disbelief -- because it's flattery, and it wouldn't make sense to her, but the thing with Coop... the thing that it's always been with Coop, is that he doesn't lie.
Even if he's telling you that you're being an asshole, or that your friendship with his ex-fiance is more than a little weird (because she's heard both from him), he still doesn't lie. Unless being in California somehow fundamentally changed who he was... "You can't think I'd be unhappy to see you." There was a sort of disbelieving laugh behind the words, just a touch.
"I mean..." Looking back at him, Raleigh's cheek leaned against her shoulder. "You have to know I'd never be mad at you for leaving, right? Like-- I want you to have the best life, and if that's not here, then I will totally support wherever you need to land." It was the only thing she could think of that would make her mad at him, so now that's sort of addressed, there was the other part. The very last thing he said, that he missed her the most.
Raleigh had a habit of Avoiding Feelings By Throwing Herself Into Work. It was enough of a thing that it had capital letters in her mind, but at least she knew it was a thing, right? Progress. Bad things happened, friends left, people got hurt -- and every day there was the bakery, the work to get lost in so you don't really have to think. Looking back at the ocean, she shook her head a tiny bit, underlining that there really was no way she'd be mad at him for doing what he'd needed to do. "When you left, I didn't know if I'd see you again, but-- I just really... hoped I would, I guess? Not even that you'd come back, just... Paths crossing, you know?"
A million other people he could have missed more had popped up in her mind -- all the other people who she would have guessed knew him better, or meant more, but finally she just simply reached over and squeezed his hand where it was on the sand.
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Even if he's telling you that you're being an asshole, or that your friendship with his ex-fiance is more than a little weird (because she's heard both from him), he still doesn't lie. Unless being in California somehow fundamentally changed who he was... "You can't think I'd be unhappy to see you." There was a sort of disbelieving laugh behind the words, just a touch.
"I mean..." Looking back at him, Raleigh's cheek leaned against her shoulder. "You have to know I'd never be mad at you for leaving, right? Like-- I want you to have the best life, and if that's not here, then I will totally support wherever you need to land." It was the only thing she could think of that would make her mad at him, so now that's sort of addressed, there was the other part. The very last thing he said, that he missed her the most.
Raleigh had a habit of Avoiding Feelings By Throwing Herself Into Work. It was enough of a thing that it had capital letters in her mind, but at least she knew it was a thing, right? Progress. Bad things happened, friends left, people got hurt -- and every day there was the bakery, the work to get lost in so you don't really have to think. Looking back at the ocean, she shook her head a tiny bit, underlining that there really was no way she'd be mad at him for doing what he'd needed to do. "When you left, I didn't know if I'd see you again, but-- I just really... hoped I would, I guess? Not even that you'd come back, just... Paths crossing, you know?"
A million other people he could have missed more had popped up in her mind -- all the other people who she would have guessed knew him better, or meant more, but finally she just simply reached over and squeezed his hand where it was on the sand.