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Earlier tonight I was having dinner out with my daughter and a friend of mine. We got to talking and she ended up telling me she had to put her dog down earlier in the day. After a few min I excused myself to the bathroom. When I came back I saw her scrolling through pictures of her dog on her phone. As we continued to talk I could hear her sniffle every once in a while. When she finally put her phone away and looked up I noticed her eyes were slightly red and there may have been a slight sparkle in her eye (it was hard to tell from the lighting). No tears were ever actually shed, unfortunately. Also I knew she wasn't much for pda so I avoided giving her a hug or any other form of physical contact, I just tried to say a few comforting words to her.
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I'm used to the red eye effect when unshed tears are forced back, I have seen it in a few friends (all female), it can be quite frustrating, unable to wipe their tears.
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I could literally tell how upset she was and noticed how hard she was holding back. All I wanted to do was give her a hug and tell her I'd comfort her, but I didn't want to make her uncomfortable or push any boundaries. I think the situation was frustrating for both of us.
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I would have taken the risk of hugging her tight, experience has given me many pleasant surprises, a few unpleasant ones, but the only way to know how far you can get is going, stopping midway only leaves you speculating and with a lot of what ifs in your mind.
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Unfortunately, I know how my friend is and know she is not the touchy feely type. I know which friends I could get away with that though. She prefers someone to just listen as she talks about whatever it is. I was debating that at one point though but refrained. If it was one of my other more touchy feely friends I may have taken the risk.