❝ no— ❞ a sharp whisper; he won’t let her pull herself apart with guilt the way he has for years. they will lose themselves in a web of apologies if they are not careful, torn further apart by their own regrets. it’s there in her eyes, that deep, dark ocean of guilt he has drowned himself in too many a time. the last thing he wishes is for her to succumb to it too. ❝ you didn’t… you didn’t. ❞ a truth and a lie. the hurt is there, written across every inch of his body, evident in every way from the marks of self-destruction to the way he looks at her with a twisted mixture of fear and longing. but he would never — could never — believe it was her fault. this was not her doing. a cruel game played by the universe, maybe. fate turned against them. punishment for the crime of simply existing and daring to love in a merciless world. all of that and none of it — he doesn’t know. but what he does know is that there is not a single part of him that blames her. ❝ this isn’t your fault, either. ❞
HE WILL DEFEND HER WITH HIS DYING breath, choking out excuses with blood & ash in his lungs ( but when he says her name he’ll swear it tastes like s t a r d u s t ). it breaks her heart. she is not the celestial being he believes she is - not anymore. she is full of mistakes & false promises & apologies. she is HUMAN. but she doesn’t correct him this time. maybe, out of selfishness, she wants him to still believe that there is sunlight in her veins & flowers in her lungs. every inch of stella aches to reach out to him - to raise a trembling hand & cup his cheek, to trace the tender skin at the corner of his mouth ( & try not to note the absence of dimples & smile lines she should have given him ). she doesn’t dare, terrified of the cold knife of rejection poised over her heart, afraid that any wrong move will leave her wounded again. he tells her it isn’t her fault & she crumbles beneath the weight of his forgiveness, her mismatched hues glassy as her lower lip trembles. the words spill between her lips before she can swallow them down, spoken in a whisper. ‘ i love you. i’ve missed you so much... ‘