“Well, look, I don’t know — I’m not — ” Summer clears her throat. “Without talking to Tony, I don’t know for sure that he likes you,” a partial truth at best, but using her gift by rummaging around in people’s lives is not — it’s just not okay, really, “but it wouldn’t surprise me. People do that. They think they’ve gone too far, committed too much, and they pull back. He’s probably afraid of hurting you. But if you want him, if you want this, you need to put that out there. It’ll always hurt worse not knowing.”
[ ❧ ─ “I… thanks, Summer.” Xavier gave the other a grateful smile. So it was possible that Tony liked him then? After all, he was the one who told the younger boy to stay away for a while. Just until he was ready to talk to him again, of course. “I’ll – I’ll do that, promise.”
She gets up and goes over to him, putting an arm around his shoulders and hugging. “I’m glad to help. You better tell me how it goes, though, I’m going to be eaten up with curiosity!” Smiling into his eyes, she goes on, “I assure you, from the perspective of my vast age, even a little time with someone you care about is worth it.”