Alex stayed quieter than usual when Gael drove her to debate practice that afternoon.
Not awkwardly quiet.
Just thoughtful.
Haley had gone shopping with Gloria earlier, leaving the two of them alone in the car for the first ti in a while without the usual family chaos filling every silence.
The city moved lazily outside the windows while soft music played through the speakers.
Gael glanced briefly toward her at a red light.
"You're doing the thinking thing."
Alex looked up from her phone imdiately.
"That's normally your line."
"You stole it."
"Improved it."
Fair enough.
For a mont the conversation faded again.
Then Alex sighed softly and leaned back against the seat.
"You know Haley's never letting the 'calming' thing die, right?"
"That sounds very accurate."
"She texted a at two in the morning."
Gael laughed quietly.
Honestly?
That also sounded accurate.
Alex looked sideways toward him briefly.
"You weren't weirded out by it?"
Gael kept one hand loosely against the steering wheel.
"By what?"
"The comnt."
"You called calming, not irresistible."
"Keep dreaming."
Gael smirked faintly.
Alex rolled her eyes before looking back out the window.
Still—
sothing about the question lingered.
Because she normally didn't care this much about how people interpreted her words.
"You know what's annoying?" she muttered after a second.
"What?"
"You and Haley both read too easily now."
"That sounds like a skill issue."
"That sounds smug."
"Also accurate."
Alex tried not to smile.
Failed slightly anyway.
The shift between them lately wasn't dramatic.
It was subtle:
longer conversations,
easier silence,
the instinct to look for his reaction first during family argunts.
Comfort forming gradually.
"You know Mom asked sothing weird yesterday?" Alex said suddenly. "She asked if you and I were becoming close."
Gael narrowed his eyes slightly.
"And?"
Alex shrugged lightly.
"I said obviously."
"That feels vague."
"Well, we are."
Matter-of-fact.
Like she didn't realize how loaded the statent actually sounded.
Or maybe she did.
Hard to tell with Alex sotis.
"What exactly did she an by 'close'?" Gael asked carefully.
Alex looked toward him now with visible amusent.
"You got nervous fast."
"That's not an answer."
"She ant emotionally."
That sohow helped only slightly.
Gael exhaled quietly through his nose while Alex watched him for another second.
Then:
"You know she likes you, right?"
"There's that sentence again."
Alex smiled faintly to herself before looking back out the window.
"No, I an specifically."
The car slowed at another light.
Outside, afternoon traffic stretched endlessly beneath bright California sunlight.
"She trusts you around all of us," Alex continued more quietly. "That's a bigger deal than people think."
Hearing it phrased that directly settled strangely in Gael's chest.
Not because he wanted Claire's approval specifically.
Because he'd started valuing it without fully noticing when it happened.
"You disappeared into your head again," Alex murmured.
"I'm driving."
"You do realize that excuse stopped working months ago."
Unfortunately?
She wasn't wrong.
The school parking lot appeared ahead a few minutes later.
Alex gathered her debate papers slowly before pausing with her hand against the door handle.
Then glanced toward him again.
"You know what's actually unfair?"
"You make people feel relaxed around you too quickly."
Gael blinked once.
"That sounded psychological."
"It was psychological."
Then, before he could answer properly, Alex opened the car door and stepped outside.
But not before he caught the tiny smile she failed to hide first.
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