"Oh Kia."
Adri groaned and dropped her head into her hands, but she was quick to shake herself and rush to assure him, "You're not—I mean not really—gods, this whole thing is so awkward."
She sighed and looked up at him with a small, almost shy smile. "And that's my fault. I'm sorry, I didn't... I wasn't very clear." She coughed lightly and scuffed one toe against the floor before taking a breath and continuing carefully, "I don't...know if ah, kisses is exactly what I was...meaning. And more importantly, I would only be interested in that if you wanted to, not just...felt like you should."
Eyes on the floor between them, she shifted her weight from foot to foot and murmured, "I've...never had anybody like you in my life before. Someone I could count on, who I cared about...someone like family."
The gang was the closest she's ever been to that, but it was just different. They'd all cared for one another, but there was a certain barrier you had to keep around your heart when you lived that kind of life, or the life itself would just...break you.
She didn't have to do that with Idris. It was new and exhilarating and terrifying.
"That's what I meant," she said quietly. "You're not just the best friend I've ever had, you're...you're the closest thing I've got to family, and I love you." She shrugged. "I just...wanted you to know that."