Nice Surprise

"How long have you known?" Carson asked faintly after what seemed like hours.

Ivy shrugged. "Only since right before spring break."

"Why didn't you say anything?!"

"I didn't want to add to your stress," she confessed. "I figured I could wait until the school stuff was over and I couldn't hear you anymore. You deserve your privacy. I'm sorry you felt like you always had to change your thoughts around me. You did it so I wouldn't feel weirded out, right?"

He deflated. "Yeah. I guess all the stress got to me and I wasn't fast enough that time. I'm sorry. I didn't want you to find out like that. I thought my feelings would burden you."

Burden her? She was the one always burdening him!

Sure, Ivy had been confused when she found out and had a lot of mixed feelings but burdened was never one of them. How could her favorite person liking her more than expected be a burden?

"You didn't burden me," she promised. "But you didn't answer my question."