VALOR MORGHULIS.

’ yeah.. ’   his  voice  soft  and  his  tone  low,   shocked  a   little,  since  he  hadn’t  ever  really  lied  to  her  before. at  least,  not  to  her   face.  not  like  this.    gaze  trails  off  momentarily,     even   though  frank  hadn’t  much  of anything  to  do  with  his  choices,   he  definitely  had  acted  opposite  of  fiona.    there’s  just  as  much  as  anger in  him  as  there  is  in  her  tone,     regardless   of   how     the   money  was   made,     it   was   still  useful.    or,   so he   had  thought.    there’s   still   some  hope   in   his   mind   that  she’ll  eventually  come  around  to  taking  it. until  then,   he’d  hold  on  to  it.   there’s  a  lingering   silence  from   him,   taking  in  her  lectured  words,    causes  his  gaze to  drop  completely.    it’s  not  until  she  reassures  him  that  he  doesn’t  have  to  find  somewhere  else  to  stay, that  he  relocates  his  hues  on  her  own.      ’ FINE,    i  won’t   do  it  anymore. ’       his  voice  is  more  firm,  never making  any  promises.

      It had come out wrong, it had come out SO wrong.  Or maybe Clay had just taken it wrong.  He did that.  Jumped to conclusions, dug too far beneath the surface of a few words.  But then, they were probably both to blame.  Maybe Tony wasn’t taking his friend’s words seriously enough.  That was the hard part, though.  Trying to find that balance between cheering up and tearing down, and these days, there didn’t seem to be much balance to be found.

Tony was completely silence, letting Clay get out what he felt he needed to get out.  He always was.  Listening was Tony Padilla’s strongpoint, and maybe that was exactly why Clay was so GOOD at just letting it all out.  It led to some harsh words sometimes, but Tony could take them.  He had to, for Clay’s sake.

“You know that’s not what I meant, Clay,” he finally told him after silence began to stretch between the pair of them.  Tony’s words were quiet.  Slow.  As though he wanted to make sure Clay was really hearing him.  “But hey.  You caught me,” he added with a faint but wry smile, the kind that was gone a second later and replaced with something more serious and more genuine.  “I wanted to make sure you’re okay.  It’s not about Hannah.  It’s not about the tapes, it’s about YOU.”

     maybe he had OVERREACTED - - - he seemed to be doing a lot of that these days , everything triggering a larger reaction that needed . he was so ON EDGE most days , barely holding it together the more he listened to what hannah had to say , the more he learned about what had happened to her . . . and most of all ? the more anxious he became with the whole NOT KNOWING thing . WHY WAS HE ON THESE TAPES ? why couldn’t tony tell him ANYTHING other than to listen to them ? 

     ❝ YEAH . . . yeah , i know . i’m sorry . ❞ a breath parts from him , as if he had just let a load off of his chest , and he gives tony a motion of his head that could maybe pass for a nod if he were paying attention .  ❝ i’m fine , tony . GREAT , actually . you know , i’ve only been listening to hannah’s voice for the past few days and learning how BIG of an asshole everyone really is in this town . ❞ the tone he chooses lacks more emotion than it is sarcastic , the exhaustion and frustration clear if tony’s listening , which he’s sure he is . 

                THAT’S PROBABLY THE ONLY THING TONY’S BEEN GOOD AT RECENTLY.  

   ❝ You mean you haven’t tried this? Here-. ❞ A playful roll of Hannah’s eyes as she lowered her book to lean over the table and put it as close to him as it had been to her. ❝ See that? You really immerse yourself in the story this way. ❞ A slight chuckle escaped her as she set her book down onto the table. 

“ Perfekt. “ Isak will be gone for at least two hours to talk with his dad about the new rent and have lunch with him. “ By the way, if you feel like talking, don’t hesitate to do so. I’m still a good listener “ he offers with a furrow of his brows before he walks next to her. 

        ocean coloured eyes blink at her friend,  noora’s soft pink tongue licking at her red painted lips only for a moment.    ‘  ah  …  a little,  ja.  mostly just small talk,  –  ’    a white lie;  her and william haven’t talked in a few  MONTHS  now.    ‘  why  ??  ’