Something in me broke so quietly it didn't even make a sound.
"I'm sorry…" I whispered, my voice barely audible above the rush of wind. "I shouldn't have asked you that."
He didn't say anything right away. Just looked at me. Long and searching.
Then softly, almost like a thought slipping out, he said, "I've never seen you cry before."
My heart squeezed. Only then did I realize a teardrop had fallen.
"Don't look so sad," he murmured. "It's in the past."
I shook my head gently. "That doesn't matter, Kael." My voice wavered, but I held his gaze. "Even if it happened years ago… something like that never really stays in the past. It still hurts. Like it happened just yesterday."
There was silence. A thick, stretching kind. And then he kissed me.
Not rushed. Not demanding. Just… soft. Like a thank you. Like a sorry. Like a piece of him slipping into my hands that he didn't know how else to give.
I wrapped my arms around him and hugged him tight.
