Summer dropped the doughnut like it burned her and hit herself in the forehead. “Don’t you two even talk?” she said, under the hand. “Good grief, Jane. Look, I’m not going to say this to hurt you, but seriously, I never thought of you as a coward.”
Summer dropped her hand and looked into Jane’s eyes, her face very serious. “You’re not doing yourself any favours being afraid. You say he’s sincere and honest and wonderful, so hold on to that and be honest back to him.” She leaned back in the chair, arms folded. “You’re serious about him, right? Do it right from the beginning.”
Jane raised an eyebrow. “I am not a coward,” she said. “We talk all the time, but we talk about things that are a bit more pressing than sex. He’s got enough to worry about without worrying about literally breaking me.” She rolled her eyes.
“It’s more complicated than that, okay? And besides, I’m not in any rush, and neither is he. It’s not like we haven’t done it just because we’re both nervous. It feels… I don’t know. It feels right taking things slow with him.”
Summer rolled her eyes right back. “I didn’t say jump right into bed. I said be honest. If you talk about everything, then let everything include why you think he might be offended. Or ask him why he thinks you might be offended.”
“Jane, I’m really serious about this. I — you’re my friend, and I don’t want to see you hurt because the two of you fumbled around trying /not/ to hurt each other.” Summer looked away, at the city skyline, her mouth crimping. “I tried that. I won’t let what happened to me, happen to you. I just won’t.”
Jane smiled, her expression sort. “Summer. Trust me, that’s not going to happen,” she said. “I know I probably made it sound like the two of us never talk, but… like I said, it’s just.. it’s complicated.” She shrugged. They talked, but they also just sort of had a lot of silent understandings of each other. They’d been that way since the beginning. It was why they worked together.
“What happened to you, though?” She raised an eyebrow, suddenly curious. She didn’t know much of anything about Summer’s personal life outside of what she’d known in high school.
“I fell in love,” Summer said lightly, blinking a few times before looking back at Jane. “I fell in love, and they never loved me back. And I always knew. No matter how much we tried not to hurt each other with that knowledge … ” She shook her head. “You don’t know how lucky you are, Jane, being ordinary.”