Zoe smiled wryly and wiped at her eyes again, as she whispered, "But I'm not.." she wanted to be enough too but she wasn't, she never would be. She closed her eyes and held on to him as well, as if this would be the last time because in a way it was. She shook her head, it wasn't about what she wanted. Because she didn't get to have that. "You said yourself.. being friends is for the best. I don't think starting the new year together is going to help with that.."
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He couldn't respond. The words were stuck. He didn't want to agree, but those were his words being used against him. He had made the deal, he had to seal it. "After New Years?"
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Zoe nodded vigrously, a hand curling into his shirt, "Of course.. we're friends. Friends see each other now and then, right?" but she wasn't holding on to him like a friend.
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"Then I'm making a non-date date. When we get back. You can't say no." He rubbed her shoulders lightly, digging his fingers into flesh. "Alright"
After a few minutes the both of them fell out exhausted, still wrapped up in each other as if they'd not split from each other a third time. It was starting to become a habit.