Road trips aren’t really Jessica’s thing. Well, not anymore.

Not since Taeyeon’s been actively engaging in this cold war (Is it even a war if it’s one sided?) and the fact that the two oldest had their assigned seats in the van next to each other makes for a very uncomfortable experience.

An hour passes without any words exchanged between the two.

Jessica shifts her focus from the passing view outside to Taeyeon’s reflection in the window. Does she even blink? Jessica muses, after staring at Taeyeon for five minutes straight, as though this is the first time she has seen the girl. A strange hollowness creeps into her chest at the thought of how absurd she was acting.

Since when did I have to resort to this?

God must be playing a cruel joke on them, Jessica reasons. She (Jessica has always thought of God as a woman, for some reason) must be on her period too. It is as though those excruciating hours in the van weren’t enough. Now the two most awkward members are stuck sitting together on the beach while the rest of the girls are frolicking away in the water.

Jessica, having mastered the art of subtlety long ago from all the stolen glances at Taeyeon all these years, turns her head ever so slightly to catch a glimpse of the girl beside her. By some of luck (or misfortune), Taeyeon decides to turn at the exact same time and their eyes meet before Taeyeon looks away again so quickly that if Jessica didn’t know better, she’d think Taeyeon just saw a ghost.

But Jessica knows better.

“Is it really that hard?” The words tumble out of before she could stop them.

“H-huh?”

“To just look at me in the eye. Is it really that hard?”

“W-what do you mean?”

Jessica almost scoffs at the look of surprise on Taeyeon’s face.

“Come on Taeyeon, it’s just you and me here. You don’t have to pretend to—”

“I’m not pretending anything.” Taeyeon blurts out, having been caught completely off guard by Jessica’s sudden interrogation.

Silence swells like a water blister, and Taeyeon is the first to look away, unable to withstand the imploring gaze in Jessica’s eyes.

Since when did Jessica become so…

Intense?

“You can tell me if I did something wrong you know. Just. Not this.” Jessica whispers, and Taeyeon feels her chest clench at the hurt in Jessica’s voice.

She tugs at the corner of her shorts uncomfort