The space between them felt smaller than ever, not because the room had changed, but because the tension between them had grown into something impossible to overlook, something that made every movement, every glance, every word feel heavier than it should have been.
"Don't come closer," Zein said as Ace stepped forward.
"Why?" he asked.
"Just don't," she replied.
"I need a reason," he said.
"I don't owe you one," she answered.
"You do if you expect me to listen," he replied.
Zein stepped back instinctively.
"See?" Ace said. "You're avoiding."
"I'm not avoiding," she said.
"You just stepped back," he pointed out.
"That doesn't mean anything," she replied.
"It means everything," he said.
Zein shook her head slightly.
"You don't understand me," she said.
"I understand enough," he replied.
"No, you don't," she insisted.
"Then prove me wrong," he said.
Zein hesitated.
"…you're too close," she said quietly.
"And yet you're still here," he replied.
"That's different," she said.
"How?" he asked.
"…because leaving is harder," she admitted.
Ace's expression softened—just slightly.
"Exactly," he said.