Silence.

Silence.

Silence.

Ugh, I hated this silence! I swirled my vegetable soup in figure eight motions, stopping every now and then to watch the tiny maelstrom in my bowl. This was supposed to be fun. Lunch with one of your best friends was supposed to be fun. But Vaughn was moody today, and I didn't know if it had to do with the fact that today was the coldest day of the year, or if Mirabelle had tried to force feed the poor man carrots again.

I gazed up at Vaughn, who was picking at a plate of mushroom rice. In attempt to break the silence, I cleared my throat. "So, cowboy, can I buy you a glass of hot milk? You've gotta be freezing."

His amethyst eyes caught mine. "That's okay. Not thirsty."

I blinked, taken aback by his blunter-than-usual tone, but determined to cheer him up. I continued the conversation. "Ever told you about the time I found that enormous pineapple on my farm?" I enthusiastically began to retell my unforgettable tale, explaining how Taro had never seen one that big in all his years as a rancher.

"Yup, it took three of us to finally get it in the shipping bin," I finished. Although he had nodded a few times, Vaughn hadn't said anything throughout the entire story. He looked bored. "So, uh, how's work? Y'know, with the traveling and all."

Vaughn gave a delicate shrug. "I dunno, it's about the same as it's always been." And just like that, we were stuck inside that unbearable, itchy silence again. I finally couldn't take it anymore.

I slammed my fist on the table, causing my soup to splash the table cloth. Vaughn jumped, his eyes snapping up. "What is your problem? You invite me here to lunch and you're just ignoring me!" I stood up from my seat. "Do you even know how rude you're being?! I am making every effort possible to be super friendly so you'll talk to me! You can't just invite someone to lunch and, and-," I could feel my face heating up. Why was this making me so mad?

Across the table, I saw Vaughn's mouth creep into a tiny grin, amusement dancing in his eyes.

"Oh, now you're smiling!?" I huffed. "What do you think is so funny?"

He smiled wider, enough to where I could see his adorable dimples I so rarely saw. "Nothing, Chels, you're just cute when you're flushed."