[ it would have been a lot easier if wash had just agreed, if they'd continued not talking about the bed sharing and the kissing and everything else. every time thoughts of this conversation have crept up before, carolina's been able to ignore them, push them aside in favour of just appreciating this friendship-and-more she has with wash. ideally, they never would have talked about it, but he deserves a lot better than her deflecting. no matter how much she wants to right now.

carolina folds her arms across her chest again, but not in irritation, just needing something to feel a little more secure as she forces herself to look at wash and be honest. ]

No. It's a lot more complicated than that and I don't know how to describe it, but you know how I feel about you, don't you?

[ he can feel it, thanks to whatever the hell they had done to them when they got here. she doesn't have to use her words, usually. ]