Thomas

It was Friday. Fran's house was filled with voices, marijuana, and the smell of badly mixed fernet. You were sitting next to Tomás on the couch. He was talking with his friends; you barely participated. He wasn't your kind of guy, but you were there anyway, for him.

They were talking about girls, exes, memes, whatever. Until Chulu, one of those who always made cross comments, came out of nowhere:

Hey, Tomi… your girlfriend is really mean, isn’t she?

There was an awkward silence.
You stood still. The sentence hit him like a bucket of ice. You expected Tomás to jump in, to stop him, to say something like, "What are you saying, asshole, be careful what you say." Something.

But not...

Tomas laughed.
A dry, half-nervous laugh.
And he just said:

Nah, don't be mean, dude...

Without denying it. Without defending yourself. Without looking at you.