Lingering Glance

Just added another addition that hurt my heart to write. Just like Alessa's angsty argument, this one is also hard to come by, so I think most people won't read it. So, I'm leaving it here!

I'm sorry, Hadrian! Why did you fall in love with such a complicated person? 😭

(The worst parts are after the choices, so this one is lighter than Alessa's 😋).

- - -

Hadrian turns his head and settles his eyes on you. He waits for a beat, with an expression that it’s hard to read. He seems both weary and hopeful, as one who prepares for the darkest night still searches the horizon for the dawn.

You remain seated, wondering if you staying it's his dawn or his black night. "Are you sure?" Hadrian suddenly speaks, his voice a mirror to his expression.

You lift your chin. "I would like to hear what you have to say, Hadrian," you say, and can't help but add. "I wanted you to hear what I had to say before, but you left. I don't want to do the same to you."

Hadrian's eyes widen. "Is that how you see it?" he asks, half-rising from the crate.

"How else am I to see it?" you ask. "You left me behind, and act like the victim."

"I didn't leave you," Hadrian argues. "Lord, ${Name}, I wanted to protect you."

You laugh bitterly. "Hadrian, when did I ever say I needed protecting?"

He shakes his head, holding onto his cross. "Maybe you don't," he says. His voice is raw and hoarse. "But you didn't have to treat me the way you did. If every time we have a disagreement you treat me like... like the waste you find at the bottom of your shoe, then—"

He shuts his mouth, his throat bobbing up and down. "I've spent most of my life feeling like nothing, ${Name}. I don't want to feel that way anymore. Not with you."

*choice

1) Your heart falls to your feet. "Hadrian," you say, and reach out to him. "I'm sorry. I— You're right."

2) "I… apologize," you say, closing your ${mc_left} hand. "My temper got the better of me."

3) You scoff at his pathetic self. "Spare me the tears, Hadrian. If you can't handle a little argument, then you're not the man I thought you were."