Your friend who’s slow to open up isn’t cold. Some people trust like a slow cooker: low heat, long time, worth it.

Reserve is not the same as indifference. Opening up slowly is often a sign that somebody takes it seriously rather than that they do not care, and the warmth is there the whole time, arriving on a longer schedule. Reading that as coldness usually says more about how fast you expected it to go.

Stop testing the quiet friend this week and simply keep showing up. Share something of your own without requiring an exchange. Let a few months go by, and notice that people who take longest to let you in rarely let you back out.