hiraeth ; harry lewis

xx. good for him

New Year's had changed everything, and not just the calendar. Val had gone into 2020 expecting things to continue being on the up and up - her social life was as active as it had been in a long time, she was loving the company of her friends, even her career was blossoming as she found herself acquiring higher-paying contracts and projects - but while some aspects of that were met, others fell far short.

Harry had been avoiding her, and she couldn't figure out why. Maybe he had been put off by the impulsive cheek kiss she had pulled on him, but she had given him the option to move away, and he'd let her go ahead. For the next week, he'd seemed perfectly content with it anyway, and their relationship had been normal, but then he started pulling away. Their texting history became a one-sided conversation with herself until she stopped trying, his schedule suddenly didn't align with hers, and he spent less time with her at group functions. It had been three weeks since this inexplicable shift; February was beginning to set in, and she felt the chill left by his absence all the same. The world felt a bit dimmer when he wasn't around with his bright smile and boisterous energy to light it up.

It wasn't like he had cut her off. She couldn't say that he had ditched her as a friend. He had simply fostered a distance between them that she couldn't comprehend.

When she spoke to Flo about it, the other girl hadn't been any help either, though she had clearly had an inkling of what was happening.

---

"Flo," she said, striding into her friend's room and trying not to step on any of the garments littered on the floor, "I have a problem."

"Sorry," came the reply. "I'm occupied at the moment."

"I can see you," Val deadpanned, crossing her arms and tapping her foot pointedly.

"Wait a moment. I'm putting you on hold."

"Florence."

"Sorry, Florence is unavailable at the moment. Please refer all inquiries to her assistant, Geoffrey."

"Geoffrey is a plant." Val side-eyed the plant in question, dark green and wide-leafed, before directing her scowl back at her nuisance of a best friend.

"He's a very wise plant! He gives very good advice."

She rolled her eyes. "Hurry up and lose your Best Fiends game so I can talk to you, best friend of mine."

A minute later, Flo sat up, hair rumpled and falling out of its bun. She had been sprawled on top of her cotton-candy pink sheets, holding her phone above her head and poking her tongue out slightly as she tried to beat the level on Best Fiends. "Thanks for jinxing me," she huffed, tossing her device aside and moving to recline against the headboard. "What's the problem?"

"Harry's avoiding me," she said, trying not to whine too much. It sounded so pathetic out loud; she couldn't help but feel like she had regressed to her pre-teen self, crying rivers of over-applied mascara down her cheeks when her older boyfriend didn't respond to her texts.

Thankfully, Flo didn't make fun of her. Instead, she cocked her head in thought. "Now that you say that, you haven't been going over to his place recently"

"That's just it," she said, tugging at her hair and letting out a sigh through her teeth. "He's - he's being distant, and I don't get what I did."

If she had glasses, Flo would have adjusted them. "When did this start?" she said in a business-like tone.

"A week ago," she said. "So, a week after New Year's."